All year, coach Jill Ellis has known that the rest of the
conference has taken aim squarely at her women’s soccer team
(14-2, 5-0 Pac-10).
In order to maintain the team’s focus, she gave each of
her players a T-shirt with a target on the chest at the start of
conference play. It was a reminder that every other Pac-10 team
would be gunning to take down UCLA.
“We’re everybody’s meal ticket in our
conference,” Ellis said. “Teams know that if they get a
good result against us, they have a better chance of getting into
the tournament. I told (my team) we’re hunting. We’ve
got four more teams to go after.”
First up for the Bruins this weekend are the Washington Huskies
(6-10, 1-4) today, followed by the Washington State Cougars (8-5-3,
3-1-1) on Sunday.
Although the two teams appear to pose little threat on paper,
Ellis and her Bruins know that as the three-time defending
conference champions, a win against UCLA can always make its
opponent’s season.
To prevent any upsets from happening the rest of the way, the
No. 3 ranked Bruins are not focusing on their opponents, but rather
on themselves and what they can do to play to their potential.
“Last weekend (against the Arizona schools) was a little
shaky,” senior captain Bristyn Davis said. “We’re
focusing a lot on ourselves, and how to play better as a team. Any
team we play is out to get us, so we need play with the same
intensity every game.”
That intensity is what the youthful Bruins have been trying to
bring every game of the season. Consistency, though, has been
difficult to establish: A variety of injuries has affected depth
and put eight underclassmen in the starting lineup.
However, with only four games remaining in the regular season,
UCLA still is in a favorable position sitting as the only
undefeated and untied team in the Pac-10 with the ability to
control their own destiny. The goal is simply to find a steady high
level of play going into the postseason.
“My gauntlet for my team was “˜we need to play good
soccer this weekend,'” Ellis said. “Consistency
this weekend, putting together two good games on the weekend and
feeling good about them, is what we’re looking
for.”
In order to achieve this goal, the team has been concentrating
this week on finishing the scoring opportunities that it has had
little trouble creating. The problem throughout the season has been
capitalizing on a higher percentage of those chances and not
allowing teams to hang around for large chunks of games.
Sunday’s game against the Cougars will be the
Bruins’ final home game of the year and will be Senior Day.
UCLA’s six seniors will play their final regular-season home
game and will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
“I know that’s going to be an emotional day,”
Davis said. “It’s going to be sad, but hopefully it
makes our team have a reason to play for each other.”