Rest of Pac-10 has UCLA in crosshairs

Women’s Soccer

Today, 7 p.m. v. Cal Drake Stadium

As the three-time defending conference champion, the No. 4 UCLA
women’s soccer team (9-2) knows it is the target for every
other team in the Pac-10.

In order for any team to win the conference title, it must go
through the Bruins. And that’s just fine by coach Jill
Ellis.

“We’re probably the least popular team in the
league,” Ellis said. “Certainly it gets harder (to win
the conference every year). It’s always a challenge, but the
conference (title) is what we’re aiming towards.”

After wrapping up the non-conference portion of their schedule
last weekend, the Bruins will begin defense of their Pac-10 title
by hosting No. 10 Cal (7-1-2) tonight at 7. The Bruins will then
play Stanford (7-4) on Sunday at 1 p.m.

“We’re just ready to get into the meat of our
season, so to speak,” Ellis said. “I think the players
are looking forward to it, but I think we know its always going to
be a challenging game every time you play somebody in the
Pac-10.”

Last year, the UCLA faced a stiff challenge for the conference
crown from Cal. The season went down to the very last day, as the
Bruins needed a victory over Arizona State to claim the title. The
Bears had already beaten Oregon State earlier in the day, so only a
win against the Sun Devils would keep the conference championship
in Westwood.

With the score tied against ASU, the Bruins seemed destined to
cede their Pac-10 crown to the Bears. But then Danesha Adams scored
a dramatic goal with only 30 seconds remaining, giving the Bruins
the victory and the Pac-10 title. UCLA finished with a conference
record of 7-0-2 while Cal finished 7-1-1, just one point behind the
Bruins in the final standings.

After coming so close last season, the Bears will be coming into
Westwood looking to challenge UCLA for conference supremacy once
again. Cal features one of the strongest defenses in the country,
led by senior goalkeeper Anna Key. Each of the Bears’ seven
wins have come by shutout, and they are ranked fourth in the nation
in goals against average at 0.288.

Stanford is no slouch either ““ the Cardinal has shut out
seven of its last nine opponents as well.

Luckily for the Bruins, Danesha Adams, UCLA’s leading
scorer from last season, will be back this weekend. Adams missed
the last two games because she was playing for the U.S. National
Team.

The key for the Bruins will be integrating Adams back into the
lineup along with freshman forwards Lauren Cheney and Kristina
Larsen and senior Bristyn Davis.

“We’ve worked hard all week to develop some better
understanding among (the offensive players,)” Ellis said.
“We’ve got an attacking unit that individually is very
good, but if they can start playing off each other a little more,
we’ll be even better.”

Even though the team as a whole is extremely young, with only
three upperclassmen in the starting 11, Ellis feels her team is
ready and willing to ratchet up the intensity another notch going
into Pac-10 play.

“The conference is intense, and it’s
competitive,” Ellis said. “These girls have played
against very good competition in non-conference. We’ve faced
adversity already on the field being down a goal, losing, this kind
of thing. It’s a big weekend.”

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