W. soccer barely squeaks by Aztecs, Titans
UCLA holds on for 1-0 victories over San Diego State and
CSUF
By Hye Kwon
Avoiding what would have been it’s seventh overtime match of the
season, the UCLA women’s soccer team squeaked past San Diego State
with a late goal Sunday at the North Soccer Field.
In the previous overtime matches, the Bruins (10-3-2 overall)
have handled their opponents pretty well  losing only once
while getting the victory three times. But they didn’t have to
worry about that on Sunday because forward Traci Arkenberg kicked
in the game winning goal with just five minutes left to go in
regulation. Arkenberg’s goal was her 11th of the year, more than
any other Bruin.
The match was evenly played throughout the first 80 minutes
until forward Michelle Lieberman, Arkenberg and the rest of the
Bruin attackers began to put pressure on the Aztecs (7-7-0
overall). Freshman defender Michelle Kaping got in on the attack as
well posting the assist on Arkenberg’s goal.
"We had some trouble with (UCLA’s) team speed on the wings," San
Diego State head coach Chuck Clegg said. "I also thought that they
worked well off of each other."
Clegg praised Arkenberg’s ability to play at the striker
position. "She is a pure striker," he remarked. "She has a nose for
the ball and can score a lot of goals. I wish we had someone like
her."
Throwing salt on the wound, the Aztec offense suffered a major
setback when junior Nikki Charette went down with an injury early
in the match. The preliminary diagnosis points to an anterior
cruciate ligament tear.
"It was really unfortunate." Clegg said. "I thought we could
have put a lot of pressure on UCLA with (Charette) playing."
Even though the Bruins got the win, they could have easily been
at the wrong end of the 1-0 score. The Aztecs had as many great
chances to score as UCLA, but the Bruins got a strong effort from
sweeper Sue Skenderian to pull out the win.
"Sue did an excellent job," UCLA assistant coach Merry Eyman
said. "We really needed the defense on (San Diego State)."
* * *
As the cliche goes  it wasn’t pretty, but it got the job
done.
That would be an appropriate depiction of the Bruins’ 1-0 win
over Cal State Fullerton on Friday afternoon at the North Soccer
Field.
Showing the effects of not having played a game in nine days,
the UCLA looked anything but sharp.
"We just couldn’t connect passes," UCLA head coach Joy Fawcett
said. "We didn’t look too good out there."
UCLA got off to a good start, however. Michelle Lieberman scored
the first and only goal of the match at 14:33. Lieberman has either
scored or assisted on four of the last five UCLA goals (1 goal
against Fullerton, three assists against USC).
"Everyone was a step or two slow (against Fullerton)," Lieberman
said. "But I think that we won more 50-50 balls (than in the
previous matches)."
The two injured Bruins, Shannon Thomas and Sarah Connell, saw
limited action. Thomas came out of the match during half time, but
Fawcett explained that it wasn’t because her groin injury was
bothering her greatly.
"We have another game on Sunday," Fawcett said. "We just wanted
to rest her for that match."