The fourth-ranked UCLA women’s soccer team (9-1) will play
its final non-conference match of the season Sunday when it travels
to Malibu to take on No. 10 Pepperdine (8-0-1). The two teams met
twice last season, with the Bruins winning each matchup 1-0. The
second victory came in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The
undefeated Waves have been impressive thus far this season, but
UCLA will likely prove to be Pepperdine’s stiffest opponent
to date. The Bruins are coming off a 5-0 drubbing of UC Santa
Barbara on Wednesday, and UCLA has won five straight matches by a
combined score of 14-1 since losing 1-0 to No. 2 Penn State on
Sept. 9. The Bruins are led in scoring by sophomore forward Danesha
Adams, who has eight goals in 10 games. Talented freshman Kara Lang
isn’t far behind, with five goals and three assists in eight
matches. Lang has missed two of the Bruins’ matches because
of Canadian national team duty. UCLA, who has conceded only three
goals all season, opens up Pac-10 play Friday, Oct. 7 when USC
visits Drake Stadium.
WELCOME TO WESTWOOD: Baseball coach John Savage was awaiting his
highly touted recruiting class to begin class and officially enroll
at UCLA. Coming off a dismal first season, Savage was able to
recruit several top-ranked high school players. Knowing that his
top recruits were drafted by professional organizations and could
possibly sign with them at the 11th hour rather than attend UCLA,
Savage openly welcomed 17 new players to campus. “We are very
proud to finally see these young men step onto campus here at
UCLA,” he said. “Now that school has begun and
we’re all back together, we can’t wait to hit the field
and start preparing for a successful 2006 campaign.”
BRUIN INVENTION: Blake Krikorian, a four-year men’s water
polo player from 1986 to 1989 and the brother of current
men’s and women’s water polo head coach Adam Krikorian,
was featured in the Oct. 3 edition of Sports Illustrated for his
international television-viewing invention. Blake and Jason
Krikorian, both of whom are Adam’s brothers, are members of
Slingbox Media Inc. which is the company that created the Slingbox
““ a device which allows you to watch your own television from
a laptop anywhere in the world. The box, which is about the size of
a brick, connects to a cable box and is then able to transmit the
television signal to a PC laptop. “The Slingbox clearly
defines a new era for television viewing,” Blake Krikorian
said in a statement. “Our goal is to enhance the TV-viewing
experience by allowing people easy access to their living room
television content, no matter their location: around the house or
around the world.” Blake Krikorian first tried the invention
to watch the women’s water polo National Championship game
last spring in Michigan. Krikorian wanted to see his
brother’s team take on Stanford. The Slingbox worked, and
Krikorian was able to watch the game from Singapore with no
disruption.
NATIONAL ATTENTION: In the most recent edition of Sports
Illustrated on Campus, UCLA athletics was ranked No. 23 in the
country in all-around sports program during the fall season.
According to the magazine, the sports staff compiled all the
rankings given out in the seven fall sports and tallied up an
overall score. However, the rankings are weighted, distributing
more points to football than the other six sports. The poll also
excluded any impact that men’s water polo might have because
the sport does not release national rankings. Notre Dame was
factored to be the No. 1 fall sports program. Other Pac-10 schools
included in the “power poll” were Cal (No. 4), Stanford
(No. 8), Arizona State (No. 18), and USC (No. 20). With reports
from Bruin Sports senior staff.