You know you’re watching a relatively meaningless sporting
event when your team’s coach leaves the stadium in the middle
of the game and doesn’t come back.
The departure of UCLA women’s soccer head coach Jillian
Ellis midway through the Aug. 23 2-1 home win against Pepperdine
should come as no shock however. The exhibition match didn’t
even count in the Pac-10 standings.
Even though they won, there is still much left for the Bruins to
do between now and the end of the season in November.
Ellis, who departed on an afternoon recruiting mission to
Minnesota, inherits a team that loses seven talented starters.
As might be expected, the squad that hopes to carry on the torch
without missing a beat is quick to sing the praises of the incoming
freshmen.
“We had a great recruiting class, and we had some good
depth on our bench last year (that will) step in and play,”
assistant coach Kat Mertz said.
“I think we’ve got a great recruiting class in;
they’re strong players. I think we’ll get even further
(than last year),” said midfielder Tracy Winzen, the
team’s lone senior.
“We’re really young, but we’re really
committed to knowing that we have the makings of a national
championship (squad),” defender Nandi Pryce said.
But maybe there’s something to all the buzz.
The crown jewel of the 2002 recruits, Stacy Lindstrom, scored
the first goal of the Bruins’ new season roughly 10 minutes
(no official game clock was displayed at Drake Stadium) into her
first game in a UCLA uniform.
“I didn’t know what to expect (before the game); I
was really nervous. But all the girls are really supportive,”
Lindstrom said. “It should be a fun season.”
The rest of the NCAA seems to have faith in the Bruins, too.
UCLA finished with a 20-3 record last year and a No. 5 national
ranking after advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals.
Furthermore, despite the off-season departures, the NSCAA/Adidas
National Rankings already have the Bruins ranked third in the
country.
“We know we’ve got the talent,” Mertz said
following the game. “We have some things to work on
defensively.”
If UCLA’s performance against the No. 25 Waves is any
indication of the team’s potential, the early hype is
justified. UCLA’s starters came out more quickly and more
invigorated than Pepperdine and kept the ball consistently on the
opponents’ half of the field until the Bruins emptied their
bench.
Sophomore Lindsay Greco, who missed most of last season with a
torn ACL, set up Lindstrom on the Bruins’ first goal. Greco
scored six goals in the first four games of 2001.
Sophomore Crystal James scored the Bruins’ other goal late
in the first half.
Starting goalkeeper Sara Lombardo played the entire first half
and didn’t allow a goal. Although relatively few shots came
her way, the sophomore’s aggressive play away from the net
snuffed several Pepperdine scoring chances.
UCLA’s defense fatigued after halftime, leaving goalies
Jackie Harwood and Tara Gotthart plenty of shots to defend.
Gotthart, a freshman, played only the final 20 minutes but looked
especially tough, acrobatically stopping several point-blank Wave
shots in traffic.
Obviously, recruiting is still a priority, but one key question
remains: Who will step up to lead this young team?
“Our junior class has 12 players, and all of us have some
kind of leadership ““ on the field and off,” said Pryce,
who split the summer traveling between San Diego, Mexico and
Finland with the U.S. Nordic Cup team. One of the Bruins’ top
defenders last season and a vocal player on the field, Pryce is a
logical choice to lead this squad.
Another nationally elite player, Jill Oakes, is still on tour
with the U.S. Under-19 Team, and did not play against
Pepperdine.
The Bruins get their first crack at a real game Aug. 30 against
San Diego at Drake Stadium.