By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In their first game of the 2000 season, the No. 14 UCLA
women’s soccer team will face off against No. 6 Clemson on
Aug. 25 in South Carolina.
Scheduled to play five National Soccer Coach’s Association
of America top-25 teams and two more in the top 30, the Tigers are
just the first of a long line of competitive opponents the Bruins
will face this year.
“Clemson is an excellent team that has consistently been
in the final matches of the NCAAs,” UCLA head coach Jill
Ellis said. “They are a tough team from the ACC, which is a
very competitive conference.”
With a record of 4-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 14-7-2
overall, Clemson made it to the Elite Eight in last year’s
NCAA tournament, where they fell to North Carolina 3-0. Clemson
finished the season ranked No. 6.
Clemson’s current rank doesn’t bother a Bruin squad
that knows it can compete with the best teams in the country and is
anxious to prove itself.
“Rankings don’t really tell the whole story all the
time,”
senior forward Tracey Milburn said.
Even though UCLA is ranked more than twice as low as the Tigers,
Ellis agrees with Milburn that the only numbers that matter are the
ones on the scoreboard at the end of the game.
“Preseason rankings fluctuate so much (during the year)
that for us it’s not where you start but where you end up at
the end of the season,” Ellis said.
“We match up pretty well with them. I think it’s
going to be an intense battle,” she added.
Both teams return nine starters to the roster and have a slew of
talented incoming freshmen, giving each the depth and experience
needed to compete at such a high level.
“This will be the deepest team we have ever had,”
first-year Clemson head coach Ray Leone said in Clemson’s
media guide. Leone, who happens to be good friends with Ellis, took
over for his wife, Tracey, who is now head coach of the U.S.
under-16 national team.
Regardless of who their opponent happens to be, the Bruins know
that starting off with a win will be an important first step in
what they anticipate to be their most successful season yet.
“The first game is super-important for confidence reasons
because we have so many new players,” junior midfielder
Bethany Bogart said.
UCLA boasts the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, according
to online source Soccer Buzz, and features Olympic team alternate
Nandi Pryce. The Bruins beat out nine-time national champion North
Carolina and Pac-10 champion Stanford for the honor.
Pryce, who is considered one of the top two recruits in the
country, will likely fill in at sweeper for the graduated Skylar
Little, an All-conference selection last season. Joining Pryce in
the backfield are senior Karissa Hampton and UCLA’s defensive
MVP, junior Krista Boling .
Up front the Bruins will also have no trouble filling the void
left by last year’s leading scorer, sophomore Jessica Winton,
who opted to play closer to her home in Atlanta, Georgia.
“We’ll be strong, if not stronger,” Milburn
said. “We have more skill and quickness with the incoming
freshmen.”
The highly touted freshmen got a chance to show their stuff in
an exhibition game against UCLA alumnae on Aug. 20. This
year’s team defeated a squad made up of both alumni and some
current Bruins 5-1.
“(The alumni game) was about evaluation. At this point
we’re still tinkering with formation, chemistry and
lineup,” Ellis said. “Playing time will be very
competitive this season.”
Scoring for the 2000 Bruins were freshmen Lindsay Greco and
Kristine Brittingham, and juniors Stephanie Rigamat, Breana Boling
and Staci Duncan. Lari Kiremidjian (’98) netted the only
alumnae goal.