EDWARD LIN Sarah-Gayle Swanson dribbles
past a USC player earlier this season. The Bruins face two tough
matches this weekend.
By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Pac-10 title may be out of sight, but there’s still
plenty on the line as the UCLA women’s soccer team plays host
to Stanford and Berkeley this weekend.
The No. 8 Bruins (12-2-1 overall, 3-1-1 Pac-10) dropped a
heartbreaking 1-0 decision in overtime last weekend to the now-No.
2 Washington Huskies. The loss all but eliminated UCLA from
contention for the conference title, but the Bruins have diverted
their focus elsewhere.
“The most important thing is for us to get seeded as far
as regionals,” said UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis.
“(The weekend play) falls into NCAA rankings, and whether you
play at home. So as far as this weekend, that’s the most
important thing for us ““ to get two victories and establish
ourselves in our region.”
Standing in the way on Friday at 7:30 p.m. is not only No. 18
Stanford (10-4-1, 3-2-0 Pac-10), but the memory of an embarrassing
and demoralizing 6-0 loss to the Cardinal last season in Palo
Alto.
“We definitely want to get that memory completely out of
our minds by beating them,” said senior forward Tracey
Milburn. “I don’t want to say anything else.”
Perhaps Milburn held back her more confident words because she
is content in knowing that her team leads the Pac-10 in virtually
every crucial offensive and defensive statistical category.
Entering the weekend, the Bruins lead the conference in shots,
points, goals, goals allowed, shutouts and corner kicks.
UCLA’s only two conference blemishes could easily have
swayed in either direction. The squad tied USC 1-1 after an
exhausting 120 minutes of soccer and lost to Washington despite out
shooting the Huskies 25-3. After a disappointing weekend, Ellis had
nothing but positive feedback for her team.
“We played probably the best game of soccer we’ve
played to date against UW,” she said. “I had some
e-mails from coaches saying that was one of the best displays of
soccer they’d seen. I told (the team) that because it’s
important to know, because they’re playing great
soccer.”
The Cardinal finds itself in fifth place in the Pac-10 after
being selected in the preseason coaches’ poll to finish
runners-up to the Bruins. After winning four of the first six
Pac-10 women’s soccer titles, Stanford is out of the title
hunt and saddled with two conference losses.
The only other Pac-10 team besides Washington that has a
legitimate shot at winning the conference title is the
Bruins’ opponent Sunday at 2 p.m. at Drake Stadium. The
Golden Bears (14-1-1, 4-1-0) have not won 14 games since 1989 and
seek their second Pac-10 title.
The Bears rank right behind the Bruins in goals scored and goals
allowed. Last year the Bruins pulled out a 3-2 overtime win in
Berkeley.
Even though UCLA has not lost at home in nearly two years, Ellis
expects two competitive games this weekend.
“They are two teams that match up very well against us.
Both teams are having excellent years, so it’s going to be
some tremendous soccer play,” she said.
With only four games remaining and NCAA Tournament selections on
the horizon, every game is crucial to the Bruins.
“Our goal is to win our last four games,” Ellis
said. “If we do that I think that will get us a bye, and then
get us a home seed.”
Despite last weekend’s setback, Milburn feels UCLA still
has the best team in an extremely strong conference.
“Even though we don’t have the strongest record, the
best team doesn’t always win all the time, as we saw on
Sunday,” she said. “When we play our best, we can go
far.”