Having split the Bay Area road matches last weekend, the No. 4-ranked UCLA women’s soccer team looks to rebound from a 2-0 loss to first-ranked Stanford this weekend as it hosts Oregon and Oregon State at Drake Stadium.
“We’re just going to go back to pretty much our roots,” sophomore Sydney Leroux said. “Work on possession, making sure that we’re working hard coming out here every single day and putting 100 percent effort, and from there, hopefully we can bounce back.”
At that point, Leroux changed her mind.
“Well, I know, actually, I know that we will be able to bounce back from our loss.”
Senior defender Dea Cook said the number one thing that the Bruins (12-2-1, Pac-10 3-1) need to focus on to succeed this weekend is work ethic.
“It’s about heart,” she said. “I think we came away (from last week) knowing that we’re a very capable team, we have a lot of talent. It just comes down to heart, working hard, knowing that we need to outwork our opponents and that needs to start at practice.”
Cook added that she was excited to have played the No. 1 team in the country.
“It gets me prepared for that next step in season, the postseason,” Cook said. “I know we’re supposed to look one game at a time, but just like we played North Carolina at the beginning of the year, we have to take those experiences and just really take away from them, learn from them.”
For junior midfielder Kylie Wright, dwelling on the past is not characteristic of this Bruins squad.
“What’s done is done,” Wright said. “We’re going to look forward and take it game by game and focus on the future.”
UCLA takes on the Ducks tonight, as Oregon adds to their roster goalkeeper Jessie Proulx, who rejoined the team last week after sustaining a season-ending knee injury in the summer of 2008. Proulx holds Oregon’s school records in goalkeeper wins with 25 and shutouts with 16. Last week in the annual Civil War match, the Ducks fell 2-0 to in-state rival Oregon State, whom UCLA will face on Sunday. Pac-10 Player of the Week, midfielder Melissa Peck, helped the Beavers (9-4-1, Pac-10 1-2-0) to the win, and UCLA will have to find a way to contain her.
“(We need to) play well, keep the ball, finish our chances,” coach Jill Ellis said. “We’re excited for both games, and we have two quality opponents coming in.”
The Bruins are glad to be home after a huge weekend on the road.
“We were really excited about the Cal game, and unfortunately we had the loss against Stanford, but I think it’s always nice to come back and be able to play in front of Bruins and Bruin fans. So we’re really excited to be home,” Leroux said.
On the Wright path
Last week, Wright returned from a plantar fasciitis injury, a strain in the arch of her foot, that kept her out for about three weeks. She played in both the Cal and Stanford matches.
“It was so exciting to have her back. She always makes such a large impact on our team,” Cook said.
Wright said it felt really good to be back on the field.
“The three weeks were super hard just sitting and watching, so being able to be back was just so amazing,” she said. “My foot, it still hurts a little bit when I play, but just being out on the field again, that was really good.”
Pretty in pink
To honor Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Bruins will be wearing special pink jerseys that will be auctioned off online next week.
“It’s always an honor to be able to play in that game because there were so many people who have struggled with that cancer,” Wright said. “My grandma’s one of those people included in that. It’s just an awesome opportunity to let them know that we are there to support them, it’s a really good thing for UCLA.”