Sunday, August 25, 1996
Bruins aim high, despite last year’s unexpected loss in NCAA
playoffsBy Hye Kwon
Summer Bruin Staff
Time flies when you’re trying to build a winning team virtually
from scratch.
It might be hard for some to believe that UCLA women’s soccer is
heading into its fourth season this fall, but ready or not, an
older, more experienced group of Bruins will take the field against
Loyola Marymount on Tuesday for their first and the only exhibition
match of the season.
It was two seasons ago, in UCLA’s second season as an NCAA
varsity team, that 22 freshmen were given the ball to take the team
to its promised land. The nucleus of that group included striker
Traci Arkenberg, defender Tiffany Brown and midfielder Shannon
Thomas, all of whom are now All-Pacific 10 selections.
But personal accolades are hardly consolation for a season that
abruptly ended in the first round of the NCAA playoffs when UCLA
suffered a 2-1 loss to Washington. The Huskies were a very beatable
team, proven earlier in the season when the outcome favored the
Bruins.
However, instead of kicking themselves, which they could easily
have done, the Bruins, 14-3-2 last year, chose to focus on this
season. They promised themselves that the "we’re still a young
team" excuse will no longer be used, and that 1996 is the year that
UCLA will earn a trip to the Final Four.
New additions to the team, such as Bree Edwards and Beth
Thompson, strengthen the team’s chance of fulfilling its lofty
resolution. But the subtractions from last year’s team are
continuing to be the biggest news thus far into the preseason.
Gretchen Overgaard, the third-year All-American goalie, was
granted a release from her scholarship, which means she is
permitted to compete this season at another school. Overgaard has
reportedly been given the nod to walk on as a backup goalie at
top-ranked North Carolina.
The only other goalie that saw any significant playing time last
season, Joanna Quinlivan, expended her varsity eligibility at the
conclusion of the ’95 season.
At the start of the two-a-day practices last Monday, four Bruins
 Shanelle Eng, Amy Moreno, and two freshmen  were
competing for the vacated goalie position. A single player is yet
to emerge from the pack of contenders, and head coach Joy Fawcett
seems content to use the LMU match to assess the players’ abilities
in actual match conditions.
"(The freshmen) are young and inexperienced, but we’ll wait and
see," Fawcett said. "It’s still very early and they’re just getting
back into shape and getting used to playing together."
* * *
By the time the fall quarter officially begins, UCLA will have
six regular season matches under its belt. The Bruins will play
home matches against Arizona on Sept. 8 and Hawaii on Sept. 22. In
addition, they will travel to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Sept. 5
and Cal State Northridge on Sept. 10.
Also to be played during the summer are highly anticipated
matches against Duke and North Carolina in the UNC Tournament in
Chapel Hill, NC on Sept. 13-15. While Duke has been a consistent
top-10 team over the years and will present UCLA with a very
formidable challenge, the Tar Heels will serve as a precise
measuring stick as to how far the Bruins need to go in order to
reach the top of the collegiate soccer world.
North Carolina, the winner of 13 NCAA Championships and the
holder of an NCAA-record 92-match winning streak from 1990 to 1994,
has assembled a squad this year that can certainly live up to its
rich tradition.
Not one, not two, but three members of the Tar Heel squad
recently competed in the Olympic Games as members of the U.S.
National Team. Cindy Parlow, Tiffany Roberts, and Staci Wilson
served as reserves on the gold-medal winning team, and with their
international experience, will likely be head and shoulders above
the rest of their fellow collegiates this season.
But who’s intimidated? Not the Bruins.
"We have no pressure upon ourselves because we’re not even given
a chance to score, much less win the match," Arkenberg said. "But
we can stick with them, there’s no doubt about it."
JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin
Traci Arkenberg runs drills in preparation for Tuesday’s match
against Marymount.