With two big wins over Arizona State and Arizona this weekend,
the Bruins grabbed sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 and
look to finish off the conference season with only four games
remaining.
On Friday, the Bruins (13-2, 5-0) took down the Wildcats 1-0
with a late goal in the 69th minute by Danesha Adams, although the
game should have been over by then, coach Jill Ellis said.
“For the first 65 minutes, we were dominating the
game,” Ellis said. “In the first half, we should have
been up 2-0. I wasn’t thrilled with how we ended the game,
but we did what we had to do.”
Though the team had trouble finishing on Friday, freshman Lauren
Cheney did all the finishing they needed Sunday at ASU, scoring two
goals for the 2-1 victory.
“She’s been great,” Ellis said.
“That’s why we wanted her. Right now she’s such a
handful. She’s more excited about getting assists.
She’s kind of bummed she didn’t have any this
weekend.”
Cheney leads the team with 13 goals, six of which were
game-winners, but has yet to record an assist.
With two key games against Washington and Washington State
coming up, the team will focus on putting teams away in the final
minutes, something they have had difficulty with recently.
“It’s time for us to put together two complete
games,” Ellis said. “In the dying moments of games, we
haven’t really asserted ourselves. The NCAA doesn’t
care about style points, but I think I do. We’re not doing a
very good job of keeping the ball (at the end of games).”
To try to put together more of a dominant end to games, the
squad will spend time working their forwards in practice this week
and will incorporate more one-on-one drills with their backs, Ellis
said.
With a perfect conference record, the Bruins only need to focus
on what they need to do to win games and do not have to worry about
what other teams are doing.
“It’s a great position to be in,” Ellis said.
“We control our own destiny.”
With the Bruins as the preseason pick to win the Pac-10, Ellis
has no plans to disappoint.
“I don’t ask for perfection from my team, but I
think we can still get better,” she said.