Friday, October 2, 1998
Bruins seek pre-Pac-10 boost
PREVIEW: UCLA hopes to better play before beginning difficult
schedule against conference foes
By A. CinQue Carter
Daily Bruin Contributor
The trek to the women’s soccer Final Four is a road that the
UCLA Bruins (8-1-1) have yet to complete. Last season, the Bruins
began down that road and reached the Elite Eight before falling
short against Notre Dame to end their campaign.
This season, UCLA – under new head coach Todd Saldana – plans to
make even more waves than they did last season. They do not feel
that another Pac-10 championship is enough. Last season’s
post-season finish was a Bruin best, but this year’s squad plans to
accomplish even more. And these Bruins feel that everything needs
to fall into place now before Pac-10 competition begins.
This weekend, the Bruins travel to Hawaii to take on Villanova
(4-4-2) and Hawaii (6-1-0) in the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts No
Ka Oi Tournament.
Those will be the final two warm-ups before conference play
begins next Friday with a road trip against the Washington
schools.
"We’ve been in a slump," Bruin forward Staci Duncan said
following Wednesday’s victory at UC Irvine. "Hopefully we’ll pick
things up. We haven’t been playing too well, so it’ll be good to
get back into our groove going into Pac-10."
Though they are on a nine-game unbeaten streak, the Bruins have
outscored their opponents by only two goals in their last three
games – 2-1 vs. CSU Fullerton, 2-2 vs. University of San Diego and
1-0 vs. Irvine.
"It’s getting hard now," Saldana said. "It’s getting very
difficult to come and get a (positive) result. We’re facing some
really good local competition. We squeaked through against
Fullerton and then we had the tie (against USD), but we’ll be
OK.
The Bruins lead the all-time series with Hawaii 2-0 and have
never played Villanova. A road sweep in the Rainbow State would
suit the Bruins just fine. In addition, winning both games would
put UCLA back in good favor with the rankings. Following the tie
with USD, the Bruins dropped from ninth in the NSCAA poll to No.
18. Despite the fall in the national soccer poll, UCLA retained its
No. 5 West Regional ranking.
The beginning of the rest of the season is now, and the Bruins
understand what they need to do to attain their goals. Now all that
is remaining is the execution.
"We will be successful if we play like we know we can play,"
sophomore midfielder Sommer Hammoud said. "In essence, that’s all
that matters."
BAHMAN FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin
Forward starter Venus James passes the ball during a game
against Baylor University earlier this season.
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© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board