Exactly two years and four days ago, the UCLA women’s soccer team found themselves in a position strikingly similar to the one they currently hold.
Back in 2006, the Bruins were heading into their final weekend of play before the playoffs. They were ranked No. 3 in the nation. They were a perfect 7-0 in the Pac-10. And they were expected to walk all over the Oregon schools en route to their fourth straight conference championship.
And then they slipped.
“Nicole Garbin ““ she tore it up,” coach Jillian Ellis said. “She was a very special player. It was their senior day. Emotionally, they were charged up and we didn’t match it and we didn’t play particularly well.”
The Bruins got a wake-up call that weekend in Oregon, falling to the Ducks 2-1. Although they would retain their Pac-10 title after clinching with a win over Oregon State later that weekend, the loss left a bitter taste in their mouths.
“I just remember losing and it sucking,” senior defender Erin Hardy said.
Flash forward to 2008. UCLA is ranked No. 1 in the nation. They bring a perfect 7-0 Pac-10 record into the weekend. And most pundits would agree that they are favored to beat both Oregon State, who they play tonight, and Oregon, who they will meet on Sunday. The Ducks and Beavers have a combined three conference wins to UCLA’s seven.
But the Bruins are determined not to suffer from déjà vu.
“I just know that we can’t take anyone for granted,” Hardy said. “It’s in our hands. It’s not that we took them for granted (in 2006), mentally we weren’t there. When you’re at the end of a season, you’re excited to be done with that part of season and close that book and you can’t get ahead of yourself. I think that’s important for us to remember that this is the most important game of the season.”
If the Bruins hope to clinch their sixth straight Pac-10 title, this weekend’s games are indeed the most important. While Stanford is the only team left with a mathematical shot of sharing or winning the title aside from UCLA, the Cardinals sit only one game behind the Bruins.
A set of slipups on the soggy grass of the Pacific Northwest could snap the Bruins five-year streak and deny them the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
And while that may seem unlikely, tenured members of this Bruin team don’t have to think hard to remember 2006.
“(The state of Oregon) has always been a tough place for us to play,” Ellis said. “It’s always been challenging this time of year. You don’t really know what the climate is going to be like or the playing surface.
“We’re approaching this in a very businesslike manner. People say we need one (win) to secure the conference. We’ll we want to go up there and win both.”