Friday, October 16, 1998
Women’s soccer ready to make, break history records
W.SOCCER: Big matches against UC Berkeley, No. 25 Stanford have
post-season implications
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
Apparently last year’s record-breaking season wasn’t good enough
for the UCLA women’s soccer program.
After an historic season which saw the team rack up a
program-best 19-3 record, the program’s first Pac-10 championship
and a third-round playoff appearance in the NCAA tournament, the
1998 team has started this season like they want to make some
history of their own.
The Bruins have already raced out to the best start in school
history, winning twelve of their first 14 games. They are on pace
to top the record 19 wins the team set last year. And they’ve done
so despite losing coach Joy Fawcett and six starters from last
year’s team to graduation, including arguably the best player to
ever play women’s soccer at UCLA in Traci Arkenberg.
The No. 14 Bruins (12-1-1, 2-0 Pac-10) will try to continue
their already memorable season when they take on California (7-5,
2-0 Pac-10) today at 7:30 p.m. on Spaulding Field and No. 25
Stanford (7-3-2, 1-1 Pac-10) on Sunday at 1 p.m. on the North
Athletic Field.
UCLA, which comes into the weekend riding an eleven-game
unbeaten streak, has a chance to make some more history over the
weekend. If the team comes up with two more wins over the weekend,
the team will break the twelve-game unbeaten streak record that was
set last season.
If the team is able to garner two more shutouts over the
weekend, they will also have broken the school record for most
shutouts in a season with eleven. And if goalkeeper Lindsay Culp,
who currently has 8.5 shutouts on the year, records at least one
shutout over the weekend she will topple her own record of 8.5
shutouts, set last year.
But these records will be tough to come by as the Bruins are
facing two quality opponents in California and Stanford.
After its rough start, California is banking on winning the
Pac-10 conference and getting an automatic bid into the NCAA
tournament. So far, so good for the Bears, as they won their first
two conference games last weekend against the Arizona schools.
‘Basically they are going to live for the Pac-10,’ UCLA women’s
soccer head coach Todd Saldaña said. ‘They know that a stellar
Pac-10 year will be the only way they will make the NCAA
tournament.’
Next for the Bruins will be a very talented and experienced
Stanford squad. With both teams coming into the match with solid
records, the game has playoff and Pac-10 implications written all
over it.
‘Our game against (Stanford) will be our chance to show that we
are the top team in the conference,’ Saldaña said. ‘It will be
our chance to end the speculation of who’s the best in the
Pac-10.’
The Cardinal will come into the match with revenge on their
minds. Last year, the Bruins went up to Palo Alto and beat Stanford
for the first time in UCLA school history. Spearheaded by Traci
Arkenberg’s goal and assist, the Bruins downed the Cardinal 2-1
last year.
This year the Bruins will depend on another Traci  Tracey
Milburn that is. The red-hot Milburn torched the Washington schools
last weekend, scoring three goals to lead the Bruins past the
Huskies and Cougars. The Pepperdine transfer currently has six
goals and an assist (13 points) on the year.
As the season rolls on, the team is bearing down and
concentrating on staying focused and intense.
‘We have to be really focused and ready to play hard from the
start,’ Milburn said. ‘We know how important these two games
are.’
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