ANNA AVIK Stephanie Rigamat tries to get
away from an Oregon defender in an 8-0 victory. UCLA d.
Oregon State 3-0 UCLA d. Oregon 8-0
By Mayar Zokaei
Daily Bruin Contributor
Proximity is a good thing. Just ask the UCLA women’s
soccer team.
The Bruins scored six goals from less than 10 yards from the
goal and extended their unbeaten streak to 12 in an 8-0 victory
over the Oregon Ducks Sunday at Drake Stadium.
Before that, UCLA (11-1-1 overall, 2-0-1 in conference and
ranked seventh in the nation by the NSCAA) scored three second-half
goals Friday night en route to a 3-0 victory over Oregon State
(6-8-2, 0-2-2 Pac-10) at Spaulding Field.
“It was a great weekend,” said senior forward Tracey
Milburn. “We expected to come in today and win with a good
effort, and we expected to dominate.”
UCLA jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead against Oregon (4-11, 0-3
Pac-10) on the strength of one goal apiece by Bethany Bogart,
Milburn and Staci Duncan, the latter coming in the 31st minute,
less than two minutes after Duncan had substituted in.
Milburn sped past two defenders and zipped a pass five yards
across the top of the box to freshman Duncan, who converted the
assist for a 4-0 lead in the 52nd minute Sunday.
Milburn scored her second goal of the game less than 30 seconds
later after beating three defenders. UCLA scored again less than a
minute later on Stephanie Rigamat’s strike from six yards
after receiving a left cross from Venus James.
Milburn had three goals and two assists on the weekend for the
Bruins.
“The first half against Oregon State, we didn’t
score and we all wanted to come and play better against
Oregon,” she said.
The Bruins out-shot Oregon 19 to five in the first half, and
finished with 35, a school-record for most shots against an NCAA
Division I opponent. The previous high was 34 shots against Oregon
State in 1997.
The Bruins also set a new school mark for posting the most goals
against a Division I opponent with eight, eclipsing the previous
total of seven set against UNC-Charlotte last year.
“I wasn’t aware of the records, but I know our team
played great, and it was a great effort for our first game (at
Drake Stadium),” said assistant coach Lisa Shattuck. Shattuck
took the helm Sunday in the absence of head coach Jillian Ellis,
who missed the game due to and undisclosed illness.
“We started off with a lot of opportunities to score but
we didn’t capitalize,” Shattuck said. “We settled
down in the second half, and we had to play as a team.”
After misfiring on her first five shots, freshman Lindsay Greco
headed in Victoria Bloom’s cross in the 75th minute and
Breana Boling scored from 16 yards off a Milburn assist to cap the
scoring.
Goalies Cici Peterson and Jaclyn Harwood combined for four saves
on the night, a testament to the outstanding play of the Bruin
defenders.
The Ducks managed just five shots in the first half and only two
corner kicks the entire game.
UCLA had six in the first half and finished with 10.
The Oregon keepers, Sarah Peters and Jeanine Norstad, had their
hands full all day, combining for 22 saves.
“Against the Beavers, we played slow,” Bogart said
of Friday’s match. The junior defender scored the initial
goal against Oregon off a corner kick in the 19th minute.
All but five of the players on UCLA’s roster logged
minutes and the Bruins’ bench out-shot Oregon’s bench
11-0, posting two goals.
UCLA travels to Washington State to face the Cougars on Friday
and will seek an upset when they face No. 4 Washington on
Sunday.