Monday, December 1, 1997
Squad keeps head up after losing playoffs to Notre Dame
W. SOCCER: Despite upset, Bruins have Pac-10 titles, UCLA team
recognition
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
The clock struck midnight for the women’s soccer team this
weekend as their carriage turned into a pumpkin and their
Cinderella-run in the playoffs came to a screeching halt.
After upsetting Portland and Southern Methodist University on
the road in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the phenomenal –
but unseeded – Bruins (19-3) had nothing left in their bag of
tricks as they were manhandled by Notre Dame (23-0-1), 8-0, in the
quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I tournament on Saturday.
The overmatched Bruins’ 12-game winning streak was snapped by
the Irish at Alumni Field in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame moved on
to the Final Four with the win and seems to be on a collision
course with No. 1 North Carolina for the championship game. The
Irish are on a mission for a second NCAA title in three seasons, as
they blasted their competition for the third consecutive round of
the playoffs.
The Irish held a slim margin, 2-0, over the Bruins at halftime
but were able to increase the lead behind Jenny Heft’s hat trick.
Five other Irish players were able to get on the score sheet as
they blitzed UCLA goalie Lindsay Culp, who had come into the match
as the No. 11 goalie in the nation with 0.72 goals allowed per
game.
The 8-0 defeat is shocking when you take into consideration that
the Bruins brought into the game one of the best defenses in the
country.
Spearheaded by seniors Tiffany Brown and Rhi Tanaka and
sophomore Skylar Little, the Bruins had registered 10 shutouts
during the season.
Coming into the game, the once-iron defense had limited UCLA
opponents to just 169 shots on goal. But the Irish were able to
penetrate the Bruin defense at will on Saturday as they outshot the
Bruins, 32-4, the biggest shooting differential this year against
UCLA.
But despite the crushing loss, there are plenty of positives the
Bruins were able to take away from their brilliant run in the
playoffs and successful season.
Despite the loss, this season will undoubtedly go down as the
most successful season in UCLA history. The team not only
registered a 19-3 record but won the Pac-10 crown with a conference
record 9-0 mark and made the longest run in the playoffs in UCLA
history. Their longest prior run in the playoffs had been to the
first round in 1995.
But more importantly, this year’s run in the playoffs might have
finally put women’s soccer on the map. For years, the program had
played second fiddle to the successful men’s program.
This year’s team has moved the program up in full view for
critics. The successful season has opened a lot of eyes to the
program.
This can best be seen in their jump in the national polls.
Before the loss to the Irish, the Bruins had been ranked No. 12 in
the nation by Soccer America, the highest the program has ever been
ranked.
Saturday’s game ended a collegiate career for seven Bruins.
Seniors Shannon Thomas, Sarah Connell, Tiffany Brown, Traci
Arkenberg, Sarah Miller, Chrissy Whalen, and Rhi Tanaka played
their last game in blue and gold.
It was partly because of the play and leadership of these seven
seniors that the Bruins did so well this year. Their loss upon
graduation will hurt the team next year as freshmen like Venus
James and Sommer Hammoud will have to step up and play greater
roles for the squad. This year’s successful season brought a lot of
accolades to the team as the Bruins swept this season’s Pac-10
honors: Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and Freshman of the
Year.
Traci Arkenberg was selected Pac-10 Player of the Year, her
first in her Bruin career. Arkenberg finished the season with an
eye-popping 52 points (22 goals, 8 assists), statistics that ranked
her No. 8 in the nation in scoring. Saturday concluded Arkenberg’s
storied Bruin career, and what a career it was. With her 16 school
records (virtually every scoring record in UCLA history), Arkenberg
will go down as the best woman soccer player in UCLA history. But
more important to her is how she was able to help transform the
program from a little known team to a nationally ranked
contender.
Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors went to Joy Fawcett. Fawcett, in
her fifth season as head coach of the Bruins, has also helped
transform the team to a national contender. Under Fawcett, the
Bruins recorded 19 wins this season, the most in school
history.
Sommer Hammoud was selected Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. Despite
only scoring a goal and 2 assists on the year, Hammoud has made
contributions to the team that are not recorded in the box score.
As a starting midfielder, Hammoud has been influential in the
success of this year’s team.
The Bruins were also represented in the first and second teams
of the All-Pac-10. Arkenberg was selected First Team All-Pac-10 for
the third time in her illustrious Bruin career. Star defenders
Tanaka and Thomas were also selected for the first team. Hammoud
was selected for the second team.
DERRICK KUDO
Lari Kiremidjian races down the field against Arizona earlier
this year.