Bruins to face Bears after tough loss

Friday, October 25, 1996

WOMEN’S SOCCER:

Key to NCAA championship lies in winning Pac-10By Brad
Zucker

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

With three games remaining on the Pac-10 schedule, the UCLA
women’s soccer team is facing a major character check.

After Wednesday afternoon’s less-than-inspiring performance
against USC, team captain Traci Arkenberg made no attempt to hide
her disgust.

"Some of the younger players didn’t realize that (the USC game)
was such a big game," the standout junior forward said. "Mentally,
we were just not prepared to play. Every individual on this team
needs to just sit down and think about what they need to do."

Facing a weekend matchup in northern California against the Cal
Bears (9-3-1, 3-2-0 Pac-10) this Sunday, the Bruins simply cannot
afford another lackluster performance. With the regular season
finale against top-ranked Stanford looming on the horizon, UCLA
(9-5-1, 3-1-0) is in desperate need of a psychological boost.

"It’s just a matter of us getting together as a team," Arkenberg
said. "Sue (Skenderian) and I as captains have to let the team know
that the ‘SC loss was not that big of a deal, and that we need to
approach the Cal game with a better attitude."

Meanwhile, California has problems of their own to worry about.
The Bears started off the season ranked in the top 25 in the
country, but dropped out of the national limelight after being
swept by Washington and Washington State this past weekend.

Sunday’s contest pits two teams battling for a shot at the NCAA
tournament in November. In all likelihood, the only ticket in for
any Pac-10 team is by way of the conference title. At-large bids
are usually reserved for Eastern schools.

Cal, on the one hand, must beat the Bruins on Sunday, follow it
up with a victory over Stanford, and then hope that someone else
also knocks off the Cardinals.

But for UCLA, the key is simply to focus on the games ahead.

"Hopefully we can use (the loss to USC) as motivation to bounce
back," assistant coach Paul Ratcliffe said. "(Coach Fawcett) does a
good job keeping things positive and making the players realize
that every game is different."

"Cal is a very talented team, and I expect it to be a hard
game."

The Golden Bears have been especially hard on their opponents in
the scoring department. Led by senior goalkeeper Karen Cook,
California has allowed only 10 goals in 13 games for a 0.83
goals-against average. Inexplicably, however, four of those goals
came in a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the Washington Huskies.

Likewise, the Bruin defense was unexpectedly torn apart in its
last outing. Prior to the game against the Trojans, UCLA had shut
out six opponents in the last 10 games and had given up more than
one goal only once (the Bruins defeated Pepperdine 3-2).

To make matters worse for UCLA, the Bears have two serious
scoring threats in freshman Kim Brown and junior Mary Oades. Both
players each have more goals than last year’s team leader (Rachel
Davidson) had for the entire year.

Nonetheless, the fiery Arkenberg believes the focus for the
Bruins must be on themselves.

"We really need to come out mad and upset and take it all out on
Cal."

Undoubtedly, the Bears will be waiting.

UCLA Sports Info

Mari MeinhartSUSIE CHU/Daily Bruin

Midfielder Mari Meinhart will go up against California this
Sunday in Berkeley.