WOMEN’S SOCCER STARTERS Stephanie Rigamat (Sr.)
Sarah-Gayle Swanson (So.) Whitney Jones (So.) Kathryn Lee (So.)
Mary-Frances Monroe (Sr.) Breana Boling (Sr.) Tracey Winzen (Jr.)
Bethany Bogart (Sr.) Lindsay Greco (So.) Krista Boling (Sr.) CiCi
Peterson (Sr.) SOURCE: UCLA Sports Info JARRETT QUON AND VICTOR
CHEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff  Daily Bruin File Photo
Stephanie Rigamat passes a defender in the 2000
NCAA tournament.
By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Reporter
The UCLA women’s soccer team has a simple phrase printed
on the back of its shirts: “Find A Way.”
For a team coming off a landmark season, the phrase has new
meaning. It serves more as a self-imposed command than a mere
idealistic goal. Just a year ago, the now-No. 2 Bruins (4-0)
reached the national title game for the first time in the
program’s nine-year history.
But in less than two hours, the sweet success of reaching the
NCAA final gave way to determined bitterness. The Bruins lost to
North Carolina 2-1 after holding a 1-0 lead against the most
storied program in history. Now they want more.
“It definitely motivated them in two ways,” said
UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis. “One, it allowed them to see
the potential they have. Two, they were disappointed with second
place. Both factors have contributed to most players having a great
work ethic all preseason.”
This is a team possessed. Drills are intense. Players are vocal.
Stamina seems everlasting.
The practices alone are scary. But even more frightening is the
fact that this year’s version of the Bruins may be better
than the one that came minutes from the national title a year
ago.
UCLA returns eight starters from a team that outscored the
opposition by a blistering 76-10 clip and set single-season team
records for goals (76), assists (53), points (205) and shots taken
(465).
The returning nucleus will be missing a few of its most
productive parts, however. Forward Tracey Milburn, midfielder Venus
James and defender Karissa Hampton all left their mark in Bruin
soccer lore during their tenure and will be sorely missed.
Milburn was named 2000’s Pac-10 Player of the Year after
amassing 32 points on 13 goals and 6 assists, while James provided
blazing sideline speed and eight assists of her own. Hampton was a
stalwart defender, spearheading a back line widely considered
UCLA’s best ever.
“No question, we feel their loss as a presence,”
Ellis said. “But I think as a team we’ve evolved in a
different direction into the team we are now.”
Ellis did her part in the offseason to ensure that her Bruins
will survive as fittest. In addition to adding the No. 7 freshman
recruiting class in the nation, Ellis brought over two prized
transfers, including natural scorer and preseason Hermann Trophy
candidate Mary-Frances Monroe from Connecticut and junior
midfielder Nancy Mikacenic from Notre Dame.
Monroe and Mikacenic will join a deep Bruin midfield that
features the one-two attacking punch of senior Breana Boling and
sophomore Sarah-Gayle Swanson. Last season, Swanson led the team in
goals with 14, while Boling continued to cement her place as one of
the nation’s most effective ball-handlers.
Junior Tracey Winzen and sophomore Whitney Jones provide
defensive support in a system that may feature four midfielders,
although Ellis wants to try out several positional schemes before
settling on one.
Up front, UCLA features two prolific goal scorers and Hermann
Trophy candidates in seniors Monroe, who notched the only goal in
the season-opening win over then-No. 3 Portland, and Stephanie
Rigamat, the team’s points leader a year ago. The two
strikers will provide a level of pressure to which most defenses
are unaccustomed.
Joining the two seniors will be fellow senior and two-time
All-Pac-10 player Staci Duncan, but not sophomore Lindsay Greco,
who scored the Bruin goal against North Carolina in the national
title game.
Greco suffered a torn ACL during practice four games into the
year and will miss the remainder of the season, but said the Bruins
will be more offensively minded this season, especially with the
adoption of a new formation that may have Swanson replacing her up
front.
“Last year we played a lot with two up front,” she
said. “Now we have three real experienced players in the
front and three in the back.”
A Bruin defense that shut out 17 opponents a year ago has both
youth and experience on its side. Returning from extensive playing
time last season are Krista Boling, Bethany Bogart and Kathryn Lee,
who started all five playoff games in 2000. Bolstering the Bruin
“D” will be sophomore Nandi Pryce, who returns after an
early-season leg injury that forced her to sit out most of
2000.
Freshman standout Amy Fazio, a Parade All-American, should get
significant minutes on the UCLA back line.
“All our backs are just tremendous athletes,” Ellis
said. “We’re going to be a little bit faster and
we’re not going to play just “˜whack from the
back.’ Our defenders are going to be handling the
ball.”
The goalkeeper position may be the most perplexing for Ellis,
who has three solid keepers from which to choose. The starting nod
will likely go to senior CiCi Peterson, last year’s nearly
impassable goalie who notched a 0.44 goals-against average, but
sophomore Jaclyn Harwood already has some experience and freshman
Sarah Lombardo enters Westwood as one of the most highly-touted
goalkeepers in the nation.
“We’re definitely more organized on defense,”
Peterson said. “We know how everyone plays a little better
now, so it’s easier to know what (the defense) is going to
do. We have confidence in each other, which is a big part of
defense.”
Picked to win the Pac-10 title by the conference’s coaches
and already with a huge win over national power Portland, the 2001
Bruins will have little trouble finding a way.
This year, they insist the way will not be merely to the NCAA
Final, but to midfield to accept the national championship
trophy.
WOMEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE Date
Opponent Outcome/Time 9/1
Portland W, 1-0 9/3 Denver W, 5-1 9/7 Louisville W, 7-0 9/9
Syracuse W, 2-0 9/21 Clemson 6 p.m. 9/23 Tennessee noon 9/28 James
Madison 7 p.m. 9/30 William & Mary 2 p.m. 10/5 Loyola Marymount
7:30 p.m. 10/7 Princeton 1 p.m. 10/12 Arizona 7:30 p.m. 10/14
Arizona St. noon 10/18 Santa Clara 7:30 p.m. 10/21 USC 1 p.m. 10/26
Oregon 3 p.m. 10/28 Oregon St. 2 p.m. 11/2 Washington 2 p.m. 11/9
California 2:30 p.m. 11/11 Stanford 1 p.m. SOURCE: UCLA Sports Info
(schedule is tentative) VICTOR CHEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff