W. soccer hopes for redeeming win
By Hye Kwon
Coming off a tough loss to the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara, the
UCLA women’s soccer team will try to bounce back against cross-town
rival USC today at 1 p.m. on the North Soccer Field.
The Bruins enter the match with a record of 7-3-2, and are
undefeated in three meetings with the women of Troy (8-3-2) since
becoming an NCAA program last fall. UCLA has outscored the Trojans
9-0 in those three matches.
When the two schools met earlier this season on Sept. 27, the
Bruins escaped USC’s Dedeaux Field, despite being outshot 18-12,
with a narrow 1-0 win. Forward Traci Arkenberg scored the winning
goal in the 40th minute of the match.
UCLA head coach Joy Fawcett is looking forward to the
rematch.
"It should be real exciting," she said. "(USC) always gets up
for us and we always get up for them."
Much like the UCLA squad, the women of Troy have a strong
recruiting class, which is largely responsible for the turn around
that USC has made this season. The women of Troy finished last
season with a record of 2-15-2, and their performance in the two
matches against UCLA, in which UCLA sophomores Christine Sanders,
Kelly Robson and Barbie Gil combined for four of the eight total
goals scored, demonstrated how vulnerable their defense was.
But this year, with the addition of freshman goalie Laura
Badagliacco, USC has solidified its defense. Badagliacco has a
goals-scored-against average of 1.185 (ninth in the western region)
and 78 saves  good enough to place her second in the region.
She has also accumulated four shutouts this year.
The core of USC’s offense is also made up of newcomers. Freshman
midfielder Erin Bailey leads the team with ten goals and four
assists (24 points) which places her seventh in the region in both
points and goals scored. Sophomores Maggi Merrit and Amy Peterson
are also making solid contributions to the team as they both have
five goals on the season.
The Bruin underclassmen, however, should not be underscored.
Despite giving up two goals against UC Santa Barbara, freshman
goalie Gretchen Overgaard is still ranked seventh in the nation in
goals-scored against (.469) and ranks sixth in the western region
with 60 saves. She also has six shutouts, putting her second in the
region in that category.
Although she is scoreless in the past three games, Arkenberg is
still considered one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the
region. She is ranked ninth in scoring with eight goals and three
assists (19 points), and ninth in goals scored.