For the women’s soccer team, the ability to finish off
opponents will prove to be paramount to its success with only four
games left in Pac-10 play.
Although the squad (14-2, 5-0 Pac-10) has remained unbeaten and
untied in conference, keeping possession late has been a problem
area in recent games, coach Jill Ellis noted. Despite what may be
nitpicking, as the Bruins are the consensus No. 3 team in the
country, Ellis has no plans to move players around or change
schemes in the final minutes.
“Today we just focused on finishing and final
passes,” Ellis said. “Just our movement and our runs up
top, but eventually finishing comes down to focus. We’re
playing quite well; at times we just need to finish our
chances.”
With the Bruins ranking at the top of the Pac-10 in most
offensive categories, it will be on them to stay focused and keep
up the offensive firepower through the regular season.
“We always look at our conference as a must-win,”
Ellis said. “If we can emotionally get up for these games, we
can play great soccer and continue winning. It’s deep in our
season and it’s just being able to still bring that
excitement and bring the energy to the field.”
Revenge will also play a factor this weekend as UCLA goes up
against Washington and Washington State. Last season, the Bruins
and Cougars played to a tie at Drake Stadium, in which UCLA outshot
WSU, 27 to 3. The Bruins were 4-0 in conference play; the Cougars
were 1-4.
“Washington State is a team that’s having a good
year,” Ellis said. “We’re gonna approach them as
we approach any team. But (facing) teams that deliver you losses,
I’m sure there’s a feeling of wanting to make things
even or set things straight or whatever you want to call it.
We’re pretty excited to play the Cougars.”
After this weekend at Drake Stadium, the Bruins will travel to
Oregon and Oregon State to wrap up Pac-10 play. Oregon (10-5-1,
4-0-1 Pac-10) is the only other unbeaten team in the conference and
could potentially face UCLA with the conference title on the
line.
As if extending its home win streak and staying in first place
is not enough pressure, the NCAA Tournament schedule will give the
team the first opportunity to win UCLA’s 100th national
championship.
“Early in the season, we definitely do a look at the big
picture type thing,” Ellis said, “and we’d love
to have that opportunity. A lot of things have to go right. It
sounds cheesy and it sounds corny, but at this point we’re
just looking at getting through the conference and then playoffs
become a whole other part of the season.”