Jan. 25, 2014 – that was the day the challenge was issued.
“One in nine” was the phrase former Bruin goalkeeper Alana Munger used in her farewell speech at the UCLA women’s soccer team banquet to describe the team now that it was in the company of eight other programs that have won a national championship since women’s soccer became a Division I sport in 1982. But Munger knew the Bruins could be better – they could be “one in two.”
In the 32-year history of NCAA Division I women’s soccer, only one school has ever won in back-to-back years. Reaching that category is UCLA’s goal for 2014.
“We’ve already made history, but I think that would just add on to it more. We want to be the best and we want to make a name for our school and for each other,” said senior defender Megan Oyster. “You could say we’ve already done that but I think it’s never ending and to do something even more special and repeating would be an unreal experience.”
Looking back
The memory of scoring the championship-winning goal is still fresh in the mind of junior forward Kodi Lavrusky.
“I still get comments about it, random people coming up to me, and asking me about it and if I still get excited thinking about it – and I do.” Lavrusky said. “But now that it’s over and it’s a new year I just have to start fresh and start thinking about this year and put that in the past.”
It’s now time for the Bruins to move on.
With 10 of last season’s 11 starters returning, preseason No. 1 UCLA won’t have to look far to find the building blocks for this team’s foundation.
And as far as searching for a replacement for Jenna Richmond at the holding midfield spot, UCLA has already found one in Lauren Kaskie. The sophomore was featured in the team’s rotation last season for 26 games, registering one assist and scoring the overtime clincher against Stanford in the regular season.
This season will also be the last for nine seniors that arrived at UCLA as the top recruiting class in 2011. Though they have already answered the hype that surrounded their arrival by winning a championship, they still feel they have a lot more they can achieve in their last year of collegiate soccer.
“We’ve talked a lot about leaving a good legacy behind,” said senior midfielder Sam Mewis. “It’s so great that we got to be a part of the program’s first national championship, but we want to leave more than that.”
Looking forward
It was a “weird” feeling for Siri Ervik.
The freshman goalkeeper was given the starting nod in a scrimmage against preseason No. 9 Texas A&M; Friday evening in the absence of senior goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland.
“I always want to play good in games, so I usually always get nervous,” Ervik said.
But her first college game wasn’t filled with her usual prematch nerves. Instead, she remembered the words coach Amanda Cromwell said before the match. “There’s no pressure, just learn from your mistakes.”
Ervik playing in goal wasn’t the only thing different about the Bruins that day, as redshirt freshman Zoey Goralski made her college debut in the right wing. Even the team was lined up in a new 4-4-2 formation, something Cromwell wanted her players to get familiar with for their potential professional soccer careers.
It wasn’t a case of new is always better for the Bruins, however, as their offense couldn’t seem to find its footing in the first 30-minute period of the 90-minute exhibition as Cromwell would admit that the team “wasn’t as dangerous” as she wanted it to be.
UCLA later reverted to the 4-2-3-1 formation that achieved success in the past, and along with that came three goals and a 3-1 win over the Aggies.
One of the noticeable things that the defending champions put on display on Friday was the depth their squad will have going into the season. A total of 28 players shared the 90 exhibition minutes against the Aggies, including eight freshmen who wore their Bruin jerseys for the first time, and according to Cromwell, wore them well.
“I thought the freshmen across the board stepped in and did pretty well,” Cromwell said. “No one really showed the nerves that you might have as a freshman coming in.”
As the preseason draws to a close and the team’s August 22nd home opener against Maryland inches closer, the players said time spent at practice and the players’ improved fitness scores, are all for the pursuit of that one goal: 112.
“You know, you say that and it sounds just crazy, the audacity to even speak those words. To win back-to-back championships in two years here sounds like, ‘Am I dreaming? Is that for real? Is that a possibility?’” Cromwell said. “But it is. It’s a possibility and it’d be huge.”
Aug. 22, 2014 – that is the day they start that challenge.