After practice on Thursday, the old mantras came up.
Do not focus on the other team, focus on yourselves. Do not overlook any opponent. One game at time.
They are the mantras and messages that every successful team in any sport offers and follows. And the No. 2 UCLA women’s soccer team (6-1-1) is no different.
On Sunday, No. 5 Santa Clara will travel to Westwood in a showdown between two top-five clubs. But before that matchup, the Bruins will have to face a slightly inferior, yet equally dangerous, San Diego State team on the road.
So it was no surprise that it was San Diego State, with its 4-4-2 record, not the Broncos, with a record of 7-1-1, that were solely on the Bruins’ mind on Thursday.
“We’re more focused on our own team,” senior goalkeeper Valerie Henderson said. “We are thinking about what we’re going to do. But they do have a (player with a) long throw, and I think they have a little pace in the front.”
Henderson added that the team is confident after its 2-1 upset win over then second-ranked Portland last Friday, and that, in order to be successful against the Aztecs, the team needs to build upon what they have done well.
While the Bruins have played some excellent all-around soccer the last few games, limiting opponents’ scoring opportunities and putting balls in the back of the net, coach Jill Ellis said that she would like to see some improvement, especially in the areas of ball movement and control.
“We are still trying to focus on what we need to be better at,” Ellis said. “In a sense of do we prepare any different for another team, no, we (prepare) the same way. We still try to work on our preparation and our ball movement and our possession, the things that we felt like this weekend we could have done better.”
After the Bruins clash with the Aztecs on Friday, they will back up Interstate 405 to find No. 5 Santa Clara waiting for them, trying to become the first team in 31 consecutive home games to upend the team. And if any team might have a chance to end the impressive unbeaten streak, it could be the Broncos. Santa Clara leads the all-time series against UCLA, 5-2-1, including a 3-0 win over the Bruins in Santa Clara last season.
“We know a little bit more about Santa Clara because we have a history of playing them,” Ellis said. “And what we know about Santa Clara is that they will be an organized team. We know they will play out of a 4-3-3. They’ve got some very good personalities.”
The two games this weekend mark the end of the nonconference portion of the schedule. The Bruins begin Pac-10 play next Friday against Oregon State. While conference play is of supreme importance to the team and their postseason hopes, again, the old mantras come up.
“We always look at the conference part as the meat of our season, so to speak,” Ellis said. “We know that the only way we are guaranteed a berth in the playoffs is to win our conference, so the attention will shift to that … (but) I think we’re not even looking or even talking about conference play just yet.”
So for now, the Bruins must focus on the Aztecs and know that being the No. 2 team in the country, they might have a target on their chests.
“(Friday) was a big win for us,” senior forward Danesha Adams said. “But there are a lot of other teams out there that are stepping up, and the rankings, you know, they are changing from the past couple years. That’s because other teams are getting better and, now, it’s becoming a really big competition between anyone we play.”