EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Sophomore forward
Sarah-Gayle Swanson leaps over a Dayton defender
in last week’s win.
By Eli Karon
Daily Bruin Contributor
There’s no place like home, there’s no place like
home, there’s no place like home.
For the No. 3 UCLA women’s soccer team, Dorothy’s
famous words hold a lot of truth. The Bruins are in the midst of a
26-game home undefeated streak, thanks to a school-record 20th
victory of the season over Dayton last weekend.
However, the Bruins will face one of their toughest tests of the
season when No. 6 Florida travels to Westwood for Sunday’s
quarterfinal match.
“Florida is obviously a good team, and I know some of
their personalities quite well,” UCLA head coach Jillian
Ellis said. “We’ve been marching through these games.
We have one more and then we can dream a little bit.”
The two teams are eerily similar. UCLA has an overall record of
20-2-0. Florida has an overall record of 20-3-1. UCLA is the 2001
Pac-10 champion. Florida is the 2001 SEC champion. Each team is
advancing to the quarterfinal following 3-1 victories in the
previous round. It is the third time in both schools’ history
that their respective teams are in the quarterfinals.
It gets better. The teams have played each other two times in
the past, with each team having won a game. Both teams have stars
in contention for three separate Player of the Year awards.
UCLA’s Mary-Frances Monroe and Florida’s Abby Wambach,
who leads the nation in scoring, are both in the running for the
M.A.C. Award, the Hermann Trophy and Soccer Buzz Player of the Year
honors.
For now, the advantage lies with the Bruins. Their
ball-possession style of play and the wide-open Drake stadium field
complement each other nicely. And with stars like Monroe (28
points), Stephanie Rigamat (30 points) and Krista Boling (two-time
first team All-Pac 10), the Bruins are looking to prolong their
season.
The biggest test for the Bruins will be containing Abby Wambach,
the nation’s leading scorer this year with a staggering 75
points (31 goals, 13 assists).
“Obviously she’s scored a lot of goals this year, so
she’s a definite threat,” UCLA assistant coach Lisa
Shattuck said. “We’re going to take extra caution. I
think the (defenders) we have can definitely stop her.”
Sunday’s one o’clock match will finally sever the
tie that closely binds these two teams. One will head to Dallas,
Texas, for the College Cup while the other packs up and heads back
home.
“With each game, the stakes get a little higher,”
Shattuck said. “Obviously we have a home-field advantage, and
I think our team plays well when the stakes are high.”