This weekend, the No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer team (9-0-2) begins its trek in pursuit of its sixth consecutive Pac-10 Championship. It starts with a visit from two Northwest schools.
After rounding out nonconference play last week with a pair of wins against regional rivals Pepperdine and San Diego, the Bruins will play No. 25 Washington State (6-2-3) today at 7 p.m. and Washington (9-2-0) at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
“The nonconference part is about just getting the experience and getting on the road,” coach Jillian Ellis said. “I think the players understand that we’re heading into the meat of the season. How we do in our conference ““ defending our Pac-10 Championship ““ those are the things that are very important for us in our program and our goals.
“I definitely think that we know the rivalry within the conference is so intense with all the teams ““ it’s not even going to take anything from us, prompting (the players). They know what the difference is.”
But redshirt junior forward Kara Lang said the team is going to take things one game at a time.
“We’re just going game by game,” Lang said. “Every game is just as important as the next. I don’t think we’re trying to look too far ahead.”
Ellis said that the Bruins have some little adjustments to make, and it’s important that they continue finding the back of the net.
“I think this past weekend gave us some confidence about how we can finish ““ we got some great goals this past weekend,” Ellis said. “Now it’s a matter of entering the second part of the season. Mentally I think we’re prepared. Now it’s a matter of executing and just fine-tuning at this point.”
Nationally ranked for the first time this season, Washington State won its last four games, the most recent victory coming against Eastern Washington last Friday.
The Bruins lead the series with the Washington State Cougars with an all-time record of 11-2-2.
“They’re obviously coming off a high, winning the past four games,” Lang said. “We just have to match or beat their intensity; do our thing. And just continue playing the way we have.”
Washington, whose only losses came from ranked teams like Illinois and Portland, will play crosstown rival USC before coming into Westwood.
“They will always be prepared for UCLA,” Ellis said of the Huskies. “I think it’s a tough weekend for teams to come in and play both ourselves and USC. Both teams have good personnel; they’re well-coached. So we’re going to have to be very good in our ball possession.
“We’re going to have to be precise on finishing. … I know that they’ll be ready, they’ll be prepared, and we’ll have two great games.”