Santa Clara 3 UCLA 0
By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Staff
The circumstances surrounding No. 3 Santa Clara’s 3-0
blanking of No. 2 UCLA can best be described by classic rockers The
Who: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
The Broncos (12-1-0), long considered the standard-bearers of
women’s collegiate soccer on the West Coast, used two goals
from star forward Aly Wagner to hand UCLA, which had been emerging
as the heir apparent to their throne, its first loss of the
season.
UCLA (11-1-0) has now been outscored by Santa Clara 12-0 in
their only three meetings and mustered just six shots in a second
half that could have been a lot uglier than it was. The Broncos
maintained pressure throughout the final 45 minutes and forced
Bruin goalkeeper CiCi Peterson to practically stand on her head to
make save after save.
Santa Clara wasted no time getting its home crowd of 1,419 on
its feet. Defender Danielle Slaton redirected a corner kick in the
seventh minute into the goal after she slipped between the cracks
of a Bruin defense that seemingly forgot she was there.
Bronco head coach Jerry Smith said the match had a playoff
atmosphere, despite the lopsided result. UCLA head coach Jillian
Ellis also stressed the high quality of play.
“On paper at the beginning of the year I thought they were
the most talent-laden team,” Ellis said. “They were No.
3 and we were No. 2 and tonight it was a check. We’re a good
team and tonight it didn’t go our way.”
Wagner’s two goals came within 15 minutes in the second
half and upped her season total to 12. The Bruins were shut out for
the first time since Nov. 3 of last year, when they lost to Arizona
State in double overtime 1-0.
UCLA returns to Westwood to the comfort of its 19-game home
unbeaten streak when it faces USC on Sunday.
The unranked Trojans (7-3-1) bring the memory of last
year’s 3-0 NCAA playoff loss to the Bruins, in which they
were outshot 24-4. They also bring a seven game unbeaten streak,
however, and look forward to the chance to knock off the most
highly touted Bruin squad of all time.
“I don’t have to say too much to get them up for
this,” USC head coach Jim Millinder said. “We’ve
got our work cut out for us.”
Southern Cal provided the Bruins with one of the biggest
headaches of their otherwise smooth 2000 season. The Trojans
stifled a record-setting UCLA offense, holding it to just one goal
in 120 minutes to secure a 1-1 tie after two overtimes.
Yet Millinder sees a different Bruin team this year, which may
not be a good thing.
“This is definitely the best team they’ve ever
had,” he said. “They’re as much of a Goliath as
North Carolina. They’ve just got better players than everyone
else.”
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Kickoff for Sunday’s game against USC at Drake Stadium is
at 1:00 p.m.