Mexico’s U-17 Team Will Face UCLA Men’s Soccer Team In Exhibition Match August 18th
Soccer News: In preparation for the 2015 campaign, the UCLA Men’s Soccer team will host an exhibition match against the Mexican U-17 National Team on Tuesday, August 18 at North Athletic Field.
“We are very excited to kick off our 2015 season against a high quality opponent,” said Head Coach Jorge Salcedo. “The U-17 Mexican National Team has traditionally been a global power, recently winning world titles. Our group is looking forward to hosting the Mexican National team in our first exhibition match of pre-season. This will be a great game to help us prepare for the season.”
The exhibition is set to begin at 5:00pm PT and will mark the first of two pre-season matches scheduled for UCLA. The Bruins will face off with the University of San Francisco on August 22 in their final pre-season contest.
This past March, the Mexican U-17 National Team won their 6th CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Honduras to secure their place in the upcoming U-17 World Cup that will be hosted in Chile this October. The Mexican U-17 National Team will attempt to win their third U-17 World Cup, previously winning in 2005 (Peru) and in 2011 (Mexico).
“We are well aware of the academic and athletic excellence at UCLA,” said Mexican U-17 National Team Head Coach Mario Arteaga. “Each year UCLA has a competitive men’s soccer team that attempts to capture the NCAA National Championship. As we prepare for the upcoming World Cup in Chile, we gladly accept the opportunity to face such a great college soccer program and we look forward to giving an exciting match.”
The Mexican U-17 National Team features players from many of the prominent clubs in Liga MX. Chivas Guadalajara and Pachuca FC are represented by five players each, while Santos Laguna has three players and Club America has two players competing for the U-17 side.
The scrimmage against the Bruins is one of three scheduled exhibition matches for the Mexican U-17 National Team in Southern California. The group will also face Ventura County Fusion on August 20 and Cal State Fullerton on August 22.
The Bruins come into the 2015 season looking to build off of a successful year in 2014 which saw the group advance to the program’s ninth College Cup final. This season, UCLA returns seven of their top-10 scorers and brings in the nation’s number one recruiting class for the third season in-a-row.
UCLA will open the regular season on August 29 when they host New Mexico at Drake Stadium.
