It took Jorge Salcedo eight years to climb back to the top of college soccer's highest mountain.
But it took just one afternoon for him and his UCLA team to be knocked off, with Virginia winning last December's national championship game in the most deflating way possible — on penalty kicks.
Now Salcedo is hoping that experience will fuel another push toward an NCAA title, a journey that will begin in earnest when the Bruins travel to Oregon State for their conference opener in 12 days.
"It was motivation throughout the off-season. It's been motivation during our preseason," said Salcedo, who won national championships as a player and assistant coach at UCLA but has come up short in two trips to the title game as a head coach.