LOS ANGELES (U-WIRE) -- It was a sight Scot Thompson won't soon forget.

Indiana had just defeated the UCLA men's soccer team 3-2 in a quadruple overtime NCAA semifinal, ending not only the Bruins' 1999 season, but the collegiate careers of 10 players, several of whom just lost it.

The players fell to the ground in disgust after the game and began to cry as their last shot for a national title fell to the wayside.

"I felt so sorry for (Steve) Shak, Sasha (Victorine) and all the seniors because they were just bawling on the field," said Thompson, who as a freshman had scored the game-tying goal to push the game into overtime.

"It was hard to watch."

Thompson has used the memory of that difficult defeat to inspire himself in the off-season and he has carried that into the regular season. Behind the sophomore defender's leadership and play, the Bruins are 3-0 and after four weeks of play are ranked No. 1 in the nation.

The speedy and athletic Thompson already has two goals in the young season, including a goal against archrival Indiana. Spearheaded by Thompson's goal, the Bruins beat the then-No. 1 Hoosiers 2-1 in Bloomington, Ind., on Sept. 2.

While Thompson admits Indiana is not close to the team it was last season, it was still sweet to get some revenge.

"I was going crazy after I scored," he said. "I wanted to go in the stands and laugh at all of them."

UCLA head coach Todd Saldaña said, "Before the game, I talked a lot about the players that couldn't be there to seek the revenge. We weren't just playing for ourselves; we were playing for the 10 players that had to leave with that bad taste in their mouth.

"I think Scot, in particular, took last year's result to heart and wanted to set it straight," he added.

He took it to heart because he had grown close to the seniors last season, learning from the likes of current Los Angeles Galaxy midfielders Victorine and Pete Vagenas, and New York/New Jersey Metrostars defender Shak. To see them leave college with a loss was tough to swallow.

Last year's UCLA Rookie of the Year, who started eight games as a freshman, constantly received instruction from the upperclassmen.

He said, in the end, that he learned from the seniors how to use his speed with skill. He learned where to find guys and who to play the ball to.

With the seniors gone, Thompson has taken more of a leadership role this season.

"He wants to be a team leader this year," senior defender Ryan Lee said. "Last year he kind of took the back seat, he didn't really want the ball. He'd be in the game but he didn't ask for the ball.

"This year he's demanding the ball," Lee added.

Thompson sees the difference as well.

"I'm a lot more focused on what I need to do," he said. "I'm not saying I'm the perfect player now. I'm saying I'm getting better as a player, I'm making fewer mistakes. I think now as an older player I have to set the example for the freshman coming in."

The transformation really began during that fateful Final Four match.

After being inserted into the game with 14 minutes left and his Bruins down two goals, Thompson gave a preview of what to expect from him in the coming years.

Hoping for a spark, Saldaña decided to send Thompson in not as a defender but as a forward.

"I hadn't played forward since I was a little kid," Thompson said. "So I have no idea what I'm doing. At first I wasn't doing the stuff they wanted me to do. So they had to calm me down and say, 'Scot, win head balls and stay close to Sasha.'"

The coaching staff had to calm him down because he had a good case of the butterflies.

"I was so nervous going into the game," he said. "I've never been on live television before. It was a huge stadium (Erickson stadium in Charlotte, N.C.). Lights everywhere."

A minute after he entered the game, Shak was able to find the net after a Bruin corner kick.

Instead of celebrating, Thompson, thinking like a senior, immediately jumped into the goal to grab the ball in order to get play re-started as quickly as possible.

"That's the type of player he is," Saldaña said. "He's a winner. In every game in practice he's the guy that's keeping score. Whether it's a one-on-one drill or it's 11-on-11 full field he's the guy whose always paying attention to the score."

Then at the 82nd minute mark, Thompson broke free from the defense and Victorine found him with a perfect crossing ball that Thompson headed past the Indiana keeper to complete the Bruin comeback.

"That's the most important goal of my life so far," he said. "But I'd rather not have scored that goal than not have us win the game. To me the win is the important thing, not the goal."

Lee said, "He played solid for us in that game. He did what he was asked to do. They gave him a specific job and he performed it perfectly. Scot was a good addition to our team last year and we expect a lot out of him this year."

While UCLA didn't end up winning that day, Thompson figures the Bruins will get other chances at winning a national title during his stay in Westwood. And he'll use the memory of that tough loss to help get his team back to the Final Four.

"I remember after the game thinking in the back of my mind that I still have three more years," Thompson said. "I knew I had to work my butt off in the next three."