PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Senior forward
Tracey Milburn pushes past a Fresno State defender
in a game last Friday.
By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA fans are used to seeing their Bruins square off against
detested cross-town rival USC late in the season with both pride
and the Pac-10 title at stake.
This Sunday, as the No. 5 UCLA women’s soccer team travels
up the 110 freeway to the Los Angeles Coliseum to take on the No.
21 Trojans (8-1-1) in both schools’ conference opener, the
calendar may read Oct. 8, but the intensity and importance of the
contest will make it seem more like mid-November.
The Pac-10 boasts of five teams in the latest NSCAA Top 25 poll.
Road victories, therefore, are precious commodities, especially in
the rancorous environment the Bruins will surely face.
“Even when they came here last year, they had a lot of
people here and they were hostile,” said UCLA head coach
Jillian Ellis. “I’ve only been here one year, but
I’ve heard about past games and they’re just roller
coasters.”
Ellis hopes that the play of her defense and especially her
goalkeeper, CiCi Peterson, continues to be steady, yet exciting.
Peterson has not allowed a goal in 544 minutes and the UCLA defense
has limited the opposition to a paltry 39 shots.
“Our back line is playing very well and that includes our
goalkeeper,” Ellis said. “I think our mentality has
gotten better defensively. We’re starting to come in for
balls that last year we let bounce or last year would shy away
from.”
WOMEN’S SOCCER Marquette vs. UCLA Friday at
7:30 p.m. Spaulding Field UCLA vs. USC Sunday at 1 p.m. Los Angeles
Coliseum Haunting the Bruins as they make their twice-yearly
sojourn to USC is a two-game road losing streak in the series. The
Bruins won last year at the North Athletic Field in convincing
fashion, 3-0, but have not won across town since 1994. UCLA owns a
7-2 record in the series, with the two losses coming in 1996 and
1998 at USC.
Freshman forward Sarah-Gayle Swanson said she has heard the
usual rumblings about rivalry.
“I heard that they were talking a little trash at USC,
that they have a good team this year and that they’re ready.
I know they think they can beat us,” she said.
Despite all of the intense and sometimes acrimonious jabber
between the storied rivals, UCLA is not overlooking tonight’s
game at 7:30 p.m. against Marquette at Spaulding Field. The Golden
Eagles enter the game with an 11-1 record and an impressive No. 19
national ranking.
Because of a red card she received in last Sunday’s match
at Loyola Marymount, Ellis is prohibited from attending the match.
The head coach loathes her NCAA-imposed absence but knows her team
will respond well.
“Soccer is a player’s game and it’s really
about getting it done on the field,” she said. “A coach
doesn’t have a whole lot of control over the game.”
Friday’s match marks the first-ever meeting between UCLA
and Marquette, but Ellis knows from head coaching at the University
of Illinois that the Golden Eagles are not to be taken lightly.
“I know Marquette and I know that they are a good team and
a playoff team,” Ellis said. “They’re not fluff
at all.”