Throughout the regular season, the UCLA women’s soccer team was forced to play numerous games at less than full strength.
Starting forward Kara Lang missed the first three weeks of the season to play with the Canadian national team in the World Cup. Another starter, defender Erin Hardy, suffered a right LCL sprain during a game against Cal State Northridge on Sept. 16 and was sidelined for one month. And midfielder Caitlyn Mac Kechnie, who was enjoying the most productive season of her career, tore her ACL against USC, ending her season.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, the beginning of the postseason will be no different. Forward Lauren Cheney, Top Drawer Soccer’s National Player of the Year and the Pac-10 leader in goals, assists, and points, will miss the Bruins’ first round match of the NCAA tournament on Friday against Cal State Fullerton. Last Sunday, in UCLA’s last regular season match against Washington, Cheney received a red card in the 25th minute of play due to an altercation with Husky defender Nikki Murray, forcing her to sit out one game.
While the Bruins will miss the skill that Cheney brings to the game ““ hard, accurate shots, crisp passes, and phenomenal ball-handling abilities ““ they are not too crestfallen, as they feel that their team is one of the deepest in the history of the program.
“The great thing about our team this year is we have people that are ready to step in,” coach Jill Ellis said. “Obviously we are disappointed that we won’t have Cheney on the field, but this is something that we have to deal with. I’m confident that my team will do very well.”
Cheney surpassed her impressive freshman year with a stellar sophomore campaign, notching a total of 49 points on 20 goals and nine assists. While the Bruins will miss Cheney’s production, senior forward Danesha Adams echoed her coach’s sentiments.
“It’s going to be tough playing without her,” Adams said. “She is obviously our leading goal-scorer. But at the same time, we have a couple of other girls that have had opportunities to score goals and do other things. The biggest thing for us is that we have been able to have a big rotation this year. A lot of girls are comfortable, a lot of girls have been able to step in and play.”
One of those players is sophomore midfielder Kristina Larsen. Larsen has played in 18 games this year, starting in three, and has contributed two goals and one assist. After practice on Tuesday, both players and coaches alike expressed their confidence in Larsen to step up in Cheney’s absence.
“Kristina Larsen is playing very well and is more than capable to be a starter,” Ellis said. “I would say in most other programs in the country she would be a starter playing 90 minutes a game.”
Larsen herself feels like she is up to the task of filling in for Cheney.
“Definitely Cheney is a huge part of the team, and it will be hard to step up and fill that void,” Larsen said. “As far as myself, I have been working harder in practice, working on the things I need to in order to get better and step up.”
For Ellis, the task of dealing with players going in and out of the lineup is simply an obstacle that every coach must overcome.
“Every team in the course of the season goes through things like that,” she said. “Every coach in every sport is always dealing with players in and out of their lineup. You know, I said at the beginning of the season I feel like this is the deepest team that we have ever had, and that allows you to ride those periods out a little easier than if you are not as deep. So we have dealt with players being in and out, and I think that it is a credit to the other players and to the depth we have that we can absorb those types of things.”