To find out the last time the UCLA women’s soccer team was defeated at home, you have to travel all the way back to Sept. 9, 2005. Ranked No. 3 in the country at the time, the Bruins played host to No. 4 Penn State in the UCLA Women’s Cup, and lost in heartbreaking fashion, 1-0 in double overtime.
Several current players, such as senior forward Danesha Adams, junior midfielder Christina DiMartino, and senior goalkeeper Valerie Henderson all played in that game and remember that loss.
However, since that cool September evening, the Bruins have yet to lose a game in their home stadium. With last Friday’s upset win over No. 2 Portland, the No. 8 Bruins (5-1-2) pushed their unbeaten streak at Drake Stadium to 31 games, including 26 straight wins.
Both coaches and players admit that they do not think about or focus on the streak, even to the point that it is never brought up in team meetings or practices.
“Honestly I don’t keep track of it,” Coach Jill Ellis said. “And then when I read it I’m like, “˜That’s pretty good.’ So, it’s not something I think about.”
Adams agreed with her coach, and said that “No one brings it up except the media. Jill doesn’t say anything to us about it. We don’t really know about it unless you go to (UCLABruins.com) and read it and things like that.”
For an opposing team coming in to face the Bruins at Drake, it could be pretty intimidating to face a team that has not been defeated at home in 31 consecutive games, which could lead to anxious and sloppy play. Not so, however, according to Ellis.
“If (the opposition is) like me, they probably have no idea about the streak,” Ellis said.
When asked how they have been able to maintain a high level of play at home, players and coaches alike recited an extensive list of possible reasons why they are so hard to beat at Drake.
“I just think that right now we are a very good team at home, and I think that we are focusing,” Adams said. “We have a good crowd behind us, a good audience. (Friday) was the first couple days of school, so the kids came out to watch us. We had our freshmen advertise our game very well. As long as we keep coming to this field prepared to play every single day and get a good crowd around us, we will be fine.”
Ellis pointed to the fast and spacious surface of Drake Stadium as a key to the team’s success.
“In our sport, the playing surface is huge,” Ellis said. “And our surface runs fast. We are a fast, athletic, technical team. Also the size of the field, it’s a bigger field. Like when we went up to Pepperdine … it’s a postage stamp. Then you come here and you have more space.
“And then I think the intangible part is just our mentality at home. That this is our house and we want to play extremely well in front of our home crowd.”
While the streak might not be high on the team’s list of things to focus on, translating the success that they have had at home into solid play on the road certainly is.
“I would like for us to be a better team on the road,” Ellis said. “I think that all teams in any sport, you have to be able to win on the road.”
“We are a very good team at home but now we have to become very good on the road,” Adams added.
So even though the Bruins have amassed one of the more impressive streaks in sports, doesn’t it ever come up in the back of players’ minds before home games?
“We just don’t really think about it,” Adams said. “We just kind of go out there and play our game.”