Last week, heading into the first and second round matches of the NCAA Tournament, there were many questions surrounding the UCLA women’s soccer team.
Would Kristina Larsen be able to step up and fill the void created by the absence of Lauren Cheney? Is defender Erin Hardy fully recovered from an LCL sprain? Is this Bruins team, ranked No. 1 in the nation going into the tournament, good enough to bring home the championship that has eluded them for so long?
A week and two resounding wins later, those questions have been answered emphatically.
Larsen showed that she was more than capable of starting, scoring the Bruins’ first goal of Friday night’s 3-1 win over Cal State Fullerton. Hardy started in both games, battling and playing tough defense, showing no ill effects from the injury to her knee. And if the Bruins play as they are capable of playing in the round of 16 against Virginia on Friday, then maybe, just maybe, this women’s soccer team will bring home the program’s first national title.
“We just need to play to our potential,” coach Jill Ellis said. “If we do that, then it gives us a good chance to succeed. We just need to take care of the details.”
After practice on Tuesday, with the fog creeping throughout the North Athletic Field, Cheney talked about the reason why the Bruins were so successful against Cal State Fullerton and Oklahoma State this past weekend.
“I just think that (the success) comes a lot with mental preparation,” Cheney said. “It’s tournament time, and we need to come prepared for every game, and I think that our team did a good job of that.”
While the Bruins were very successful in the opening weekend of the tournament, outscoring their opponents by a margin of 7-1, the sophomore forward believes that there is still some room for improvement.
“I think that every game we have to get better,” Cheney said. “There is always room to improve. We can’t take breaks during the game, and that’s something we will learn, and each game we are getting better at it.”
On Friday, the Bruins will face a tough round of 16 matchup against the Virginia Cavaliers. Ranked No. 10 in the nation heading into the tournament, Virginia earned a No. 4 seed and home-field advantage in the first two rounds. Virginia defeated Loyola (Md.) 4-1 in the first round and edged out William and Mary 1-0 in the second.
While the Bruins do hold the all-time series advantage (2-1-1) over Virginia, the team is wary not to overlook their opponent.
“(Virginia) is a technical team,” Ellis said. “They have excellent possession. And they are from the ACC, and the ACC got eight teams into the tournament. So they are going to be a very good and well-coached team.”
Last weekend, the tournament atmosphere did not seem to faze the Bruins, especially on the defensive end of the ball. The Bruins continued their dominant play on defense, allowing only one goal in the two tournament games.
“(Our mentality is) no goals,” defender Lauren Wilmoth said. “Do what we can and we all know what our jobs are individually and to go out there and execute it. And if we get that done, then we also have an awesome goalkeeper behind us. We just know that if we do our jobs, then (hopefully) no goals will be scored.”
With the tremendous amount of success the team has had so far this year, UCLA has drawn comparisons to past Bruin teams in order to determine if this team is the one who will finally bring home a national title for the program.
Yet Ellis is not one to draw such comparisons.
“As a coach, you don’t compare your team to the one from last year or the one from three years ago,” Ellis said. “As a coach, you never look back. And that is because you have different players and each team is different. But I have said that this is the deepest team, and we have been able to absorb injuries to players well and have been able to provide fresher legs on the field.”