09-30-2018, 07:26 PM
Following a sputtering start to the season, the men's soccer team really put it together in the second half tonight against UCLA, winning 3-0. In what until recently has been a very one-sided rivalry, with UCLA having won about 85% of the matches, Stanford is now 6-0-3 in the last nine games against UCLA. Unbelievable.
This year's UCLA is, as is often the case, loaded with talent, and they had the better of the first half tonight, with a 5-1 advantage in shots, and a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks. (It was 0-0 at half.) When interviewed at the start of the second half, the UCLA coach pointed out those stats, and seemed pretty confident that his team would start converting its chances. But Stanford played beautifully in the second half, both in being more aggressive in winning 50-50 balls and in some really nice passing combinations.
Special props to a couple of players, neither of whom will show up on the stats sheet. Derek Waldeck was everywhere tonight, and he very rarely had a bad touch. It was almost like there were identical twins of his on the field, as he would be defending near the goal line, then part of the offensive thrust that followed, and on one side or the other. The other is Collin Liberty, a redshirt senior. He's been "waiting his turn" to play behind a lot of talented defenders. Then lo and behold, Jeremy Gunn starts a freshman at right back to begin the year, and Liberty is relegated to mop-up duty. A few games ago, the starter, Ryan Ludwick, gets injured, and Liberty has been playing full games since. And playing well. He's got an amazing throw in, which is a real weapon, he's good in the air, and he makes smart passes. I'm thrilled to see him not only getting a chance to make a contribution, but to do so in winning games. He may have earned himself the position when Ludwick, who appeared to suffer a pretty badly sprained ankle, comes back.
If they replay the soccer games on the Pac-12 channel, I highly recommend viewing the second half of tonight's game.
This year's UCLA is, as is often the case, loaded with talent, and they had the better of the first half tonight, with a 5-1 advantage in shots, and a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks. (It was 0-0 at half.) When interviewed at the start of the second half, the UCLA coach pointed out those stats, and seemed pretty confident that his team would start converting its chances. But Stanford played beautifully in the second half, both in being more aggressive in winning 50-50 balls and in some really nice passing combinations.
Special props to a couple of players, neither of whom will show up on the stats sheet. Derek Waldeck was everywhere tonight, and he very rarely had a bad touch. It was almost like there were identical twins of his on the field, as he would be defending near the goal line, then part of the offensive thrust that followed, and on one side or the other. The other is Collin Liberty, a redshirt senior. He's been "waiting his turn" to play behind a lot of talented defenders. Then lo and behold, Jeremy Gunn starts a freshman at right back to begin the year, and Liberty is relegated to mop-up duty. A few games ago, the starter, Ryan Ludwick, gets injured, and Liberty has been playing full games since. And playing well. He's got an amazing throw in, which is a real weapon, he's good in the air, and he makes smart passes. I'm thrilled to see him not only getting a chance to make a contribution, but to do so in winning games. He may have earned himself the position when Ludwick, who appeared to suffer a pretty badly sprained ankle, comes back.
If they replay the soccer games on the Pac-12 channel, I highly recommend viewing the second half of tonight's game.