Tuesday, November 10, 1998
Bruins pounce on Arizona teams
RECAP: Dual wins provide share in conference title, trip to NCAA
tournament
By A. CinQue Carter
Daily Bruin Contributor
The mission at hand for the UCLA women’s soccer team was to
search and destroy.
The Bruins were to search for Arizona and Arizona State and
destroy them en route to a 7-2 Pac-10 record and an overall record
of 17-3-1.
"Our mission was to blow the Arizona schools out this weekend,"
Bruin defender Karissa Hampton said, "and show whoever was deciding
the NCAAs that we should be going to the tournament."
Mission accomplished.
Not only did the Bruins extinguish Arizona State on Friday and
Arizona on Sunday but they also earned a share of the Pac-10 title,
giving them two crowns in as many seasons.
Last season, a share of the Pac-10 crown would not have been
enough to get into the tournament. UCLA got the Pac-10s automatic
bid and everybody else in the conference was sent packing. Despite
USC finishing at 16-3-1, 7-2 and Stanford finishing 6-2-1 in
conference, they were snubbed by the NCAA.
This season, parity makes the Pac-10 one of the dominant
conferences represented in the tournament. The Pac-10 and the
Atlantic Coast Conference each send five teams and the Southeastern
Conference and Big 10 send six teams each.
The reason for the jump in conference representation is the
parity in the Pac-10 this season. UCLA, USC and UC Berkeley all
finished as co-champions with 7-2 records, followed by fourth-place
Washington (6-3) and fifth place Stanford (5-4).
Heading into the last weekend of play the top four teams each
had chances to win the title outright. Three of those teams each
went 2-0 last weekend to share the title, while Washington faltered
against Washington State and dropped out of contention.
During the Pac-10 season, USC defeated Berkeley, Stanford and
UCLA while the Bruins defeated both Berkeley and Stanford.
Berkeley, in turn, defeated UCLA and Stanford . Washington defeated
USC. And Stanford defeated Washington.
Each of the top five teams was victorious against at least one
of the others creating an unparalleled balance in Pac-10 play.
"It feels good to still be co-champs," sophomore forward Tracey
Milburn said, "even though we lost two games (in conference).
"And to have five teams go (to the tournament) shows how strong
our conference is."
Of the five teams, only the Bruins and Trojans will be hosting
games, and only UCLA has a bye.
The Bruins earned this bye despite losing the automatic
conference bid to USC. UCLA had a such a strong non-conference
record (10-1-1) that their stumble in conference play only became a
minor setback.
The Trojans, on the other hand, had a less-than-impressive
pre-conference season and needed to win the automatic berth to just
to be considered for the tournament.
USC will host Washington in the first round on Wednesday by
virtue of its superior overall record (13-6-1), and the Trojans
have won seven consecutive games. Ironically, their last loss was
Oct. 11 against the Huskies.
On Saturday, the 14th-seeded Bruins will host the winner of the
Stanford-Brigham Young first round game. UCLA defeated Stanford
earlier this season 2-1 and lost to BYU last season, 3-1.
UCLA probably would have earned an at-large berth in the
tournament without trouncing the Arizona schools this past
weekend.
"The sweep was big," Milburn said, "because we knew we had to do
it to contend for the title."
Friday’s contest against Arizona provided little resistance for
the Bruin effort. UCLA destroyed the Wildcats 4-0 in Tuscon.
Staci Duncan, the Bruins’ leading scorer and second in the
conference, scored two unassisted goals.
Additionally, sophomores Milburn (second on the team and sixth
in the Pac-10) and Venus James (third on the team and eighth in the
conference) scored a goal apiece to steer UCLA through Arizona
(3-12-2, 0-8-1 Pac-10).
Saturday’s game was closer, but the Bruins were still able to
handle business against Arizona State.
The Bruins took an early 1-0 lead on a Milburn goal in the
fourth minute off of a Duncan assist.
UCLA, apparently comfortable with the slim lead, got a wake-up
call at the 59-minute mark when the Pac-10’s leading scorer Stacey
Tullock assisted on a Sarah Blaska goal to tie the game at one
apiece.
"Despite the tie (at that time)," Milburn added, "we had
dominated ASU. We had a lot of chances and I knew we would get
more.
"I knew our team was going to come back and pull it out."
And when ASU keeper Kristin Slater knocked Sommer Hammoud off
balance in the 86th minute, the Bruins knew what the result would
be.
Bruin freshman Vanessa Clark booted the ensuing penalty kick
past Slater for the 2-1 lead and the win.
"In our regular season we had a few mistakes against San Diego
State, Cal and ‘SC," Hampton said, "and we’ve grown since then as a
team. And now we have a chance to prove ourselves to all of those
out there who are doubting us."
MARY CIECEK
Vanessa Clark scored the game-winning goal against ASU
Sunday.
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