Oct. 19, 2003
Los Angeles, Calif. - Top-ranked and defending national champion UCLA (12-1-0, 5-0-0 Pac-10) rolled to its tenth straight victory with a 3-0 win over Stanford (2-10-2, 0-5-0 Pac-10) on Sunday before a crowd of 1244 at Drake Stadium. Stanford suffered its fifth consecutive Pac-10 loss and its fourth straight shutout in a rematch of last year's NCAA championship game. UCLA scored all three of its goals in the first half, while Zach Wells and Eric Reed combined on the shutout. Sunday's game was televised by CSTV and will be shown tape-delayed on Monday, October 20 (7:30 pm, PT).
Matt Taylor picked up his team-leading 13th goal to give UCLA an early 1-0 lead when he one-timed a cross from Adolfo Gregorio into the net at 11:19. Leonard Griffin was also credited with an assist on the goal. Gregorio would score just 2:37 later at 13:56 when he took a cross by Taylor and put a shot by Cardinal goalkeeper Robby Fulton with Ryan Valdez also earning an assist. Jordan Harvey finished the game's scoring just before halftime at 44:47 when he converted a cross from Chad Barrett, while Mike Enfield also picked up an assist.
UCLA outshot Stanford, 23-5, and held the Cardinal without an attempt after halftime. The Bruins also held a decisive 9-1 lead in corner kicks.
Barrett took a game-high six shots for the Bruins, while no Stanford player attempted a shot more than once.
Fulton (1-6-1) took the loss despite recording 11 saves for the Cardinal, while Wells (12-1-0) played the first half in the net for the Bruins and was credited with the win. Wells also picked up the only UCLA save of the contest.
Stanford played the game without injured starters Chad Marshall and James Twellman, while starters Bronson McDonald and Matt Janusz suffered first half injuries and did not return to the contest.
"We played with a young crew that fought hard and gave it their best effort," said Stanford head coach Bret Simon. "UCLA is a tremendously talented team with lots of experience and was the best team today."
Four yellow cards were called in the contest with three on the Bruins and Stanford whistled once. UCLA amassed 22 fouls, while the Cardinal was called just eight times.
UCLA has now won four straight games in the all-time series with Stanford and has shutout the Cardinal five straight times with the last Stanford victory coming in a 2-1 decision at UCLA on October 14, 2001.
Stanford and UCLA will meet again in a rematch on The Farm next Friday, October 24 (7 pm, PT). The Cardinal will also host Fresno State on Sunday, October 26 (1 pm, PT).