Tuesday, October 21, 1997
UCLA kicks some butt in Oregon
RECAP Learning from embarassing loss at BYU gives team
perspective
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
It’s easy to be forgotten when you are on a team that has Traci
Arkenberg, the 10th leading scorer in the nation.
And it’s easy to get placed in the shadow of a team that has a
powerful offense like that of the No. 15 UCLA women’s soccer
team.
But sophomore goalie Lindsay Culp is doing all she can to step
out of that shadow.
With two shutouts this weekend against the Oregon schools, a 6-0
win over Oregon on Friday and a 3-0 win over Oregon State on
Sunday, Culp is quietly putting together a great season.
The two shutouts bring her season total to six. It will lower
her 0.85 goals against average, which was second in the Pac-10
before the weekend’s games.
In just two years, Culp has already garnered 14 shutouts. The
total is one away from Gretchen Overgaard’s career UCLA record 15
shutouts.
But once again, when one looks in the boxscore they won’t notice
Culp’s two shutouts, but the nine Bruin goals scored over the
weekend.
UCLA’s (12-2-0, 4-0) offense made Culp’s job a little easier as
the Bruins were able to find the net often over the weekend.
The team scored a school record six goals against Oregon
(3-10-1). It tied the record of six goals that UCLA scored against
Southern Cal in 1993, and against Arizona in 1996.
Five different players scored goals against the outgunned Ducks,
including senior Sarah Miller with two goals.
Senior Traci Arkenberg scored her conference-leading 14th goal
to open the flood gates for the Bruins.
After Miller’s first goal of the game at 32:30 made the score
2-0, UCLA scored three goals in a span of five minutes to put the
game out of reach.
"We played decent early, but when they scored three goals in a
five-minute period, that took the wind out of our sails," Oregon
head coach Bill Steffen said. "You can’t have lapses against a team
like this that can finish."
Ironically, finishing scoring chances became a problem for the
Bruins when the team took on Oregon State on Sunday.
Don’t be misled by the 3-0 drubbing of Oregon State. The game
was not as easy a victory as the score implies.
The Bruins weren’t able to score until the second half when
Arkenberg, as she has so many times in her career, stepped up for
the squad and found the net.
The game was still in doubt with five minutes left in the game.
But Arkenberg was able to push two past the Beaver goalie in the
last 5 minutes to put the game out of reach.
Arkenberg’s hat trick against Oregon State came one goal away
from tying her record four goals she scored against UC Irvine in
1996. The tenth-ranked scorer in the nation, Arkenberg pushed her
goal total to 17 with the four goals over the weekend.
Last weekend’s powerful offensive performance puts Arkenberg in
position to capture her second straight Pac-10 player of the week
award.
Before Arkenberg’s two goals late in the match, the game was
looking a lot like the BYU game in which the Bruins heavily outshot
the Cougars but weren’t able to convert their scoring chances as
the team lost 3-1 on Sept. 29th.
"The Oregon State game could have been the same as the BYU game
but (Arkenberg) was able to put one through and break the ice,"
UCLA head coach Joy Fawcett said, whose team outshot the Beavers
35-4.
Fawcett believes the Bruins learned from the BYU setback and
used that experience to keep their composure when they couldn’t
take advantage of scoring chances early in the Oregon State
game.
"They were a lot more patient," Fawcett said. "They didn’t get
frustrated this time. They stayed focused for 90 minutes."
The two wins over the weekend give the Bruins a five-game
winning streak. They have won five straight games since the BYU
debacle.
So what has been the recipe for the winning streak?
"They realized that they can’t take anyone for granted," Fawcett
responded. "They just know that they can’t afford to lose another
game. They’ve been very focused (over the last five games)."
The Bruins will hope to continue their focus of late when they
head into Sunday’s game against USC (13-1-1, 4-0) at UCLA’s
Spaulding field. It will not only be a clash between two cross-town
rivals but against two undefeated Pac-10 teams.
"The Pac-10 championship could be decided on Sunday. The game
could be the deciding factor as to who wins the Pac-10," Fawcett
said.
This might also be the game that Culp completely steps out of
her shadow and deservingly gets some credit for her great play this
season.
Daily Bruin File Photo
Senior Traci Arkenberg guards the ball against Stanford.