The more things change around Westwood, the more they seem to
stay the same.
Playing most of the season with a roster full of fresh faces and
veterans in new roles, the UCLA’s women’s soccer team
(17-3, 8-1 Pac-10) still wrapped up an unprecedented fourth
consecutive Pac-10 title and an automatic bid into the NCAA
Tournament.
“It’s a terrific conference,” coach Jill Ellis
said. “If you can win it, you’ve got to feel good about
it. Our goal was to win the conference; we’ve done that, and
now we’ve got to prepare for the playoffs.”
Even though they wrapped up the conference title, the weekend
was still a mixed bag for the Bruins as they split the
weekend’s games, losing to Oregon (12-6-2, 6-1-2 Pac-10)
Friday night before bouncing back to rout Oregon State 4-0 (8-10-2,
1-8 Pac-10) on Sunday afternoon.
UCLA had gone into the weekend needing only a tie in either game
to clinch at least a share of the conference title.
The Ducks however, came out determined Friday to not let the
Bruins celebrate on their turf.
On a wet and slick Pape Field, the Ducks pulled off the biggest
win in their program’s history, knocking off No. 3 UCLA with
a goal by senior Nicole Garbin with only three minutes remaining in
overtime.
“(Oregon) came out really ready to play,” UCLA
senior captain Bristyn Davis said. “I just think they were
really excited about the game; not that we weren’t, but we
just didn’t come out with the same intensity.”
The loss to the Ducks forced the Bruins into a must-win
situation against the Beavers if they wanted to win the title
outright.
Fighting wet and windy conditions, the Bruins responded with an
impressive offensive outburst, getting goals from four different
players and bringing the Pac-10 title home once again. Freshman
forward Lauren Cheney notched her team- and conference-leading 15th
goal of the year, while Davis notched her second goal on
consecutive weekends after not scoring for two years.
“Coming off Friday, that kind of changed our outlook on
the season,” Davis said. “We’ve worked hard all
season, but any game, any team can be beat. We need to understand
that going into the playoffs. That was probably the best thing for
us.”
Indeed, Friday’s loss may serve to refocus a UCLA team
that had not lost in over six weeks.
“We were very disappointed on Friday,” Ellis said.
“Oregon’s a good team, and we didn’t match their
emotion. They played with their backs up against the wall and gave
us a great battle. (The players) responded. We played some good
soccer (Sunday). It wasn’t our best game, but we did what we
needed to do.”
Even though the weekend provided the Bruins with some bad
weather and tough play, the team continued to find positives and
focused on the looming specter of the NCAA Tournament.
Ellis said the experience of playing in poor, wet weather was
invaluable, as now the Bruins know what to expect if they run into
similar conditions going forward. The Bruins had some problems over
the weekend with their cleats, but Ellis said they would be
prepared for such an event in the future.
The weekend also reminded the team that, just as in the
playoffs, rankings and reputations will earn teams nothing. The
only goal is to win and move on.
“The (Oregon) game didn’t end up hurting us, but it
gave us a glimpse about how easily everything we worked for can be
taken away,” junior goalkeeper Valerie Henderson said.
“We saw what can happen if we don’t bring our best
game, and that will help us going into the tournament.”
With Friday’s win, the Oregon Ducks finished second to the
Bruins in the Pac-10. Stanford finished third, followed by
Washington State and USC.
UCLA will now have to wait and see whether Friday’s loss
to Oregon will adversely affect its NCAA seeding. Ranked No. 3
coming into the weekend, the Bruins seemed primed for a second
consecutive No. 1 regional seed, but that is now cast in doubt.
Co-No. 1 teams North Carolina and Notre Dame are likely to receive
top seeds. Beyond those two, UCLA is potentially grouped with teams
such as Santa Clara, Portland, and Florida State for the remaining
two No. 1 seeds.
“We’re hopeful to be one of the top four
seeds,” Ellis said. “But you never know; you never can
be sure.”
The tournament draw will be announced live today on ESPNews
between noon and 1 p.m.