The Bruins, UCLA 2019

UCLA is one of 5 teams that can win a national title this season, and have been in that group since the beginning of the season.

Your 2019 National Champion will be Stanford, UCLA, UNC, USC or FSU - I’m really going out on a limb here... Everyone else is a level behind.

The PAC 12 should have 3 of the 4 #1 seeds with UNC the 4th - assuming the season plays out as it should. But we all know that the NCAA won’t let that happen.

 

I think FSU is a level behind those you mentioned as of now.

 

UVA may not win, but they are not a level behind.

 

Well, from what's been said here, they've been really leaning on their starters. Maybe there was a reason they were so sluggish.

 

Imagine Santa Clara who had an East Coast trip to recover from. UCLA got outplayed in almost every way. Santa Clara wasn't as bad as their record, and UCLA isn't as good as theirs either.

 

I must say that although they didn't get results in their North Carolina road trip, Santa Clara is a very good team. When playing 12th ranked Duke it could have gone either way. SC got off to a slow start but got stronger throughout the game and looked to be dominating in the last 20 minutes of regulation. SC was taking it to Duke in the OT and the Dookies got one good chance before the CS defense got back and organized and it was all over.

I didn't see the Wake forest game, but it sounded as though the same thing happened there too. SC getting off to a slow start and Wake scoring and then desperately holding off SC's dominance to win the game.

So it looks to me that SC has solved their slow start issues and now are ready to compete at the level of their considerable talent. (And UCLA had a bad day?)

 

What UCLA misjudged is playing an 0-3 team that lost to top 25 teams in all 3. I watched all or most of every one of those games and SC had an argument to win them all. UCLA went into that game thinking it was a walkthrough and got it handed to them. It seems to happen once every year and then they wake up. They will be in San Jose in December

 

UCLA must of been extra motivated against FSU, or FSU is average this season. They looked the the best team in the country in that game.

 

players form ebbs and flows this early, not to mention the impact of travel. Both are elite teams

 

Santa Clara is very well coached. It matters. They're a mid-major team, and they still can compete at the highest level. There are very vew coaches that can accomplish that.

 

You say this, but Santa Clara got jobbed on an offside at Duke last week. They're a tremendous side, give them some credit in the defeat. You don't have to worry about this result keeping UCLA out of the 1 seed discussion. The refs didn't singleHANDedly keep UCLA off the board.

 

I thought the ref was poor for both teams. The first minutes (2:22) of the first half the SC midfielder Gonzales was tackled from behind which prevented a clear 3 v 1 scoring opportunity. The ref called the foul and the announcer said Marley Canales got a "talking to." She should have received a yellow card. It was a great tactical foul but a clear yellow card offense. The player understood what was about to happen and stopped it(great soccer IQ) but the ref only did 1/2 of his job on that one.

Same can be said of the early PK call. How is the UCLA defender(#5 McCullough) not cautioned with the PK at 3:43 when she gambled and recklessly took out the SC player from behind. She had cover for sure so no red but easily a yellow, but not from this ref.

7:41 First half- UCLA Sanchez got wrecked at midfield and the ref basically says play on, the crowd moans and rightfully so. Game is going downhill and the ref doesn't even recognize it.

Could go on with other examples but overall this ref had a bad evening.

Even with that said, I thought SC played solidly and they definitely capitalized on some of their chances. They didn't sit back and let UCLA knock the ball around. They pressed with 5 early in the game and high up the pitch (9:13) and had a 3v2 as a result of picking the ball off UCLA's pivot. UCLA looked flat to me at that point in the game. Their backs were under pressure and often passed the ball to SC(10:06).

If SC made that early PK the score would have been 3 to nil. If Doyle scores early (5:45 first half) they add another. Sometimes the game is cruel but I thought this result was fair. SC had solid scoring chances. I thought they deserved to win.

 

I wouldn't read too much into that loss. As has been noted, Santa Clara is a very good team this year that had a horrible start to the season. They were the best 1-3 team in the universe, should have been at least 3-1 if not 4-0 or 3-0-1. They were not going to go 1-4 and I don't think it mattered who was next, they had a massive amount of frustration to take out on whoever was next and next just happened to be the Bruins. They came out on fire and never let up.

I'm a Santa Clara grad (1968) so of course I enjoyed watching the stream. And I'm not familiar with the Bruins, so I don't know if they were playing well or not. But they looked pretty awesome to me, especially the last 20 minutes. I think Santa Clara is ALMOST as good as the Bruins, not quite but reasonably close, and it was just the wrong night for UCLA or anybody else to be their opponent.

 

There was no close-up, but it did look like a handball.

USC had one at Colorado last year that everybody including my grandmother who has been dead and buried in Moss Landing, California since 1971, saw. No call. Colorado's penalty kicker has never missed one in four years, and since the game ended 1-0 USC, a correct call would likely have tied the game and put the Buffaloes into the playoffs. Yes, it is frustrating.

 

There is quite a bit of bad refereeing in college soccer, I'm sorry to say. There are some good refs, to be sure, but also quite a few that don't get calls right. Not an easy sport to officiate, to be sure, but some refs have to be better.

 

For a discussion of refereeing in one particular game, check out the Colorado and FSU (Florida State) threads or whatever they're called. FSU is a better team, but last night the Buffaloes got one stolen from them.

 

You mentioned a no call on a possible/probably handball. I find in college soccer that the opposite is more often the case--that there are way too many phantom or questionable PKs calls that decide games. Refs shouldn't call penalties in the box unless it is clear and unquestionable, IMO. Better not to blow the whistle on a borderline call and play on then make a dubious call that decides a game. I'm not referring to this handball call you mention, just generally. Saw a PK call last night in South Carolina-Notre Dame game in which a South Carolina player with the ball either in or near the box, with back to goal, turned and kicked the ball, which hit the arm of a Notre Player in the box. The player's arm was straight down at her side; she did not move her arm when the ball was kicked, as I think she was caught unaware by the turn and kick. Ref calls a handball, SC scores a goal. I say BS call.

 

Colorado at Florida State last night.

 

Is this thread dying? Why? I hope it's just taking a nap. You have an awesome team this year. Looks like I'll be there when the Buffs play the Bruins October 10.