Tuesday, October 7, 1997
Team kicks into focus for Pac-10
WSOCCER: Win against Lady Dons puts Bruins in sync for the
playoffs
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
After a crushing and frustrating 3-1 loss to the Brigham Young
Cougars, the UCLA women’s soccer team (8-2) bounced back on Sunday
with a 3-1 win over the University of San Francisco in a match
played at El Camino College.
The Bruins showed little ill effects from Monday’s loss, as they
came out ready for the Lady Dons from the opening kickoff.
Freshman sensation Venus James began the scoring when she headed
in a goal. It was the forward’s fifth goal of the season and 13th
point this year, putting her second on the team in both
categories.
Goals from Traci Arkenberg, her 11th goal of the year, and Sarah
Miller’s goal, both off corner kicks, put the game out of reach for
the Cougars.
"It was very important for us to get back on track and get our
confidence back before we get in the Pac-10 (matches)," UCLA head
coach Joy Fawcett said.
The team’s confidence had been at a season low after the defeat
to BYU. Although the Bruins outshot the Cougars 33-14 and hit two
goal posts, UCLA failed to finish their scoring chances.
After a long week of completing scoring chances in practice, the
Bruins proved that practice makes perfect as they showed a dramatic
improvement in finishing scoring chances in Sunday’s game.
"They did a lot better," Fawcett said. "They were mentally
focused when they got in the (goal) box."
Fawcett hopes her Bruins will continue their focus of late, as
the team travels to the Bay area this weekend for a twin bill,
taking on the Stanford Cardinal and the California Bears. The road
trip, which is UCLA’s last trip away from Westwood, will begin
Pac-10 play for the Bruins.
"I think we have been building up for this moment all year,"
Fawcett said. "They are ready and happy to get (Pac-10 play)
started with."
Although the Bruins hold a 8-2 record in non-conference play,
UCLA hasn’t beaten any ranked team on the year. With the team’s
recent defeat to BYU, a highly ranked team in their region, UCLA
will be hard pressed to get an at-large bid to the playoffs. If the
Bruins do not end up winning the Pac-10 conference and the
automatic berth to the playoffs, UCLA’s loss to BYU might come back
to haunt them and hurt the team’s playoff chances.
Fawcett believes the team’s playoff hopes depend on winning the
Pac-10, which makes this weekend’s games crucial for the Bruins’
playoff dreams.