NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Senior Tracey
Milburn attempts to wrestle the ball away from a
Venderbilt player on Sept. 2 while freshman Sarah-Gayle
Swanson looks on. The Bruins won the game 2-0.
By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Contributor The next level: that’s what UCLA
women’s soccer head coach Jillian Ellis wants her team to
reach this season. As the No. 5 Bruins finish up non-conference
play and prepare for the start of Pac-10 play, both unprecedented
experience and the promise of youth smile down on the rolling hills
of Westwood. The Bruins return nine starters from last
season’s squad that advanced to the third round of the NCAA
tournament and welcome the most highly touted freshman class ever
assembled in school history. Ellis returns for her sophomore season
at the helm after a solid 15-5-1 outing in 1999, but sees in this
year’s team the potential for previously unknown success and
national respect. “With stability there is no doubt in my
mind that UCLA can become one of the elite programs, and part of
that is winning respect,” Ellis said. “Every day when
we play a game, I tell them, “˜Today we go out and earn
respect.’ “
MEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE Â
Date   Opponent
Outcome/Time 08/23 08/26 09/01 09/02 09/06 09/17
09/21 09/24 09/28 10/01 10/08 10/13 10/15 10/20 10/22 10/26 10/28
11/03 11/10 11/12 Â Westmont Loyola Marymount @ Butler @
Indiana San Diego State San Francisco @ UC Irvine UC Santa Barbara
@ Santa Clara St. Mary’s College @ Stanford Oregon State Washington
@ Cal @ Oregon State @ Cal State Fullerton Portland @ Washington
Stanford Cal  W, 3-0 L, 2-1 W, 5-0 W, 2-1 W, 5-0 W, 3-0 7:00
PM 2:00 PM 7:00 PM 2:00 PM 2:00 PM 5:30 PM 2:00 PM 12:30 PM 2:00 PM
7:00 PM 2:00 PM 7:00 PM 2:00 PM 2:00 PM Â SOURCE: Sports Info
(schedule is tentative) Original by JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web
Adaptation by HERNANE TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior Staff With four NCAA
tournament appearances in the program’s short seven-year
history, the Bruins have rapidly risen to national prominence, but
the team’s goals are decidedly loftier for this promising
season.
“We want to go to the Final Four,” senior Venus
James said. “Everyone knows we want it. We realize that we
have to work hard, but the motivation is within us.” With
those aspirations in mind, the buzzword at the North Athletic
Field, site of the team’s practices, was “depth.”
With 12 freshmen and three transfer players complementing the solid
nucleus of last year’s team, the Bruins will have very
little, if any, vulnerability. “We are two-deep in every
position,” senior Tracey Milburn said. “We are a lot
stronger and definitely deeper. Everyone is going to get in and
play.” Ellis said that her player’s strengths, both on
the field as players and off the field as people, have alleviated
the daunting task of blending 27 different individuals into one
functional unit. “Part of my recruiting is I want to get good
people,” Ellis said. “The melding has been pretty easy
to this point, since both groups, veterans and freshmen, are
focused on one goal.”
Forwards The Bruins are probably most experienced up front, with
All-Pac-10 players Milburn and Staci Duncan leading the scoring
charge. The pair scored a combined 19 goals and 48 points last
season and Duncan led the team in game-winning goals with four and
shots with 54. Freshman Sarah-Gayle Swanson has terrorized
opponents in UCLA’s first six games, scoring seven goals on
just 16 shots and racking up 16 points to lead the team in overall
scoring. Swanson has also accounted for three of the team’s
five game-winning goals. Transfer Stephanie Rigamat has made her
presence felt early with two goals and an assist in the first six
games. Ellis said the improved depth at forward will keep the team
in the game for the full 90 minutes.
NSCAA/ADIDAS POLL This poll for men’s soccer
was last updated 9/18/2000. Â Â 1. UCLA 2. Penn
State 3. Creighton 4. Connecticut 5. St. Johns 6. CS-Fullerton 7.
South Carolina 8. Virginia 9. Southwest Missouri St. 10. Portland
11. Brown 12. Indiana 13. North Carolina 14. Pittsburg 15. UMBC 16.
Duke 17. Southern Methodist 18. Marquette 19. San Jose State 20.
Va-Commonwealth  SOURCE: www.espn.com *poll data
released every Monday Original by JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web
Adaptation by HERNANE TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
“Last year we would compete with teams until about the
60th minute, and then run out of steam,” Ellis said.
“We have probably six or seven that can play the front line
for us, so we don’t miss a beat when we make a
substitution.”
Midfielders Senior Venus James heads up the midfield contingent
and gives the team yet another scorer. James, a member of the U.S.
Under-21 National Team, and junior Breana Boling have already
combined to register two goals and seven points in the team’s
first games. They were also instrumental in the success of the
squad a year ago. Joining James and Boling are fellow veteran
players Lauren Emblem and Bethany Bogart. Freshman Katherine
Bjazevich, who has netted three goals in this young season, is
already contributing.
Defense Ellis has ushered in a new zone defensive scheme after
being dissatisfied with the man-to-man system of a year ago.
“It’s just more economical,” Ellis said.
“We’ve been playing against teams with three forwards.
It’s a good test for us, it’s demanding, and
they’ve responded very well.” Anchoring the backfield
effort will be senior Karissa Hampton and junior Krista Boling, the
team’s defensive MVP last season. The Bruins were also
banking on the services of blockbuster recruit Nandi Pryce, but she
suffered a season-ending tibia fracture in a 2-0 victory over
Vanderbilt on Sept. 8. Junior Brittany Whalen, sophomore Sarah
Morgan and freshman Kathryn Lee will have to step up to thwart the
opposing offensive fronts.
Goalkeeping Junior CiCi Peterson earned the starting job in the
middle of last season over recently graduated Lindsay Culp. She
will play the brunt of the minutes in goal. “I think CiCi
emerged as a starter last year,” Ellis said. “We are
working harder defensively through the whole team, and I think that
alleviates some of the pressure off the goalkeeping.”
Peterson has spent 469 of the team’s 540 minutes in net in
the first 6 games, allowing only two goals. She has recorded four
shutouts.
Outlook After lining up a somewhat murderous row of
non-conference road opponents, the Bruins have emerged slightly
battered but definitely not bruised. The team dropped its first
contest to Clemson 1-0, but has popped off five consecutive wins to
vault its national ranking to an all-time high fifth and boost its
record to 5-1-0. The highlight of the schedule thus far was the 4-0
drubbing of then-No. 10 Florida in Gainesville. Overall, the Bruins
have outscored their opponents 21-2 and outshot the opposition
134-27. UCLA has four non-conference games remaining, on the road
at the University of San Diego and Loyola Marymount, and at home
against Fresno State and Marquette. Pac-10 play begins Oct. 8 with
a cross-town showdown at USC. The Bruins edged out defending Pac-10
champion Stanford in the preseason coaches’ poll to get the
nod as conference favorite, but the team is not taking anything for
granted, especially with four other teams from the parity-rich
Pac-10 in the NSCAA Top 25. “We’re always going to look
out for USC and of course Stanford,” Milburn said.
“Anyone in the Pac-10 can come out and play a good game and
beat you.” Ellis has challenged her players to elevate their
focus and play to the next echelon. “When I got here last
year, I said the train is at the station. You’ve got to get
on or you’re going to get left behind,” Ellis said.
“This year the train is pulling away from the station.”
The Bruins hope that its final destination is San Jose, site of the
2000 NCAA Women’s College Cup.
WOMEN’S SOCCER MIDFIELDER/FORWARD STARTERS
 Venus James(Sr.) Midfielder, 5’6
Breana Boling(Jr.)
Forward, 5’5
Whitney Jones(Sr.)
Midfielder/Forward, 5’10
Lindsay Greco(Fr.) Forward, 5’5
Sarah-Gayle Swanson(Fr.)
Forward, 5’6
Tracey Milburn(Sr.)
Forward, 5’9
SOURCE: Sports Info Original by JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web
Adaptation by HERNANE TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
WOMEN’S SOCCER DEFENSE/GOALIE STARTERS Â
   Kathryn Lee(Fr.) Defender, 5’6
CiCi Peterson(Jr.) Goalkeeper, 5’9 Karisa
Hampton(Sr.) Defender, 5’9 Â Bethany
Bogart(Jr.) Defender, 5’9 Â Â Â
Krista Boling(Jr.) Defender, 5’3 SOURCE: Sports
Info Original by JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by HERNANE
TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior Staff