Lofty expectations for a women’s soccer season that begins earlier than anticipated
Senior midfielder Kylie Wright, a team captain this year, will lead UCLA in their season opener on Sunday.
By Min Kang
Aug. 16, 2010 8:07 p.m.
The familiar sights and sounds have returned to the North Athletic Field.
The array of yellow and orange cones strewn across the grass, the resounding shouts indicative of team strategy at work and coach Jillian Ellis pacing the sidelines, while periodically pausing to give instructions, all make for warm reminders that the UCLA women’s soccer team has returned to Westwood.
But that isn’t to say that things have been easygoing for the Bruins. In fact, with preseason training having just begun on Tuesday, it has been a relentless, daily dose of two-a-day practices mixed in with the usual summer classes.
Adding urgency is the fact that the season opener against Cal Poly, initially scheduled for later on in the season, will instead be played on Sunday, leaving Ellis little choice but to go with a rigorous, quick-paced training camp.
“Cal Poly had unfortunately double-booked and had a scheduling conflict, so now we’ve moved the game up,” Ellis said. “What it leaves me with is very little time in preseason, so there’s a lot more urgency to the process.
“I am cognizant of the fact that, with regards to fatigue and volume of training, I have to be thoughtful about (the workload), but the intensity of this group already in the first two or three practices has been very good.”
Prior to reporting to camp, several members of the team spent the earlier part of their summer playing soccer overseas, though the collective results were bittersweet.
Senior midfielder Kylie Wright and senior defender Lauren Barnes traveled to England last month with the Under-23 U.S. Women’s National Team that came away the winner of the Four Nations Tournament.
Also traveling to Europe were Ellis, assistant coach B.J. Snow, junior forward Sydney Leroux, sophomore midfielder Zakiya Bywaters and freshman midfielder Jenna Richmond. As members of the U-20 Women’s National Team ““ with Ellis as the head coach of the program ““ they partook in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany, only to have their title hopes foiled after a 4-2 penalty kick shoot-out loss against Nigeria in the quarterfinals.
Now three weeks removed from that last match in Germany, Leroux still carries with her some lingering pain, and perhaps the memories of having missed the last penalty kick for the USA. But slowly, she has begun to move past what unfolded in Germany, her focus now shifted toward her role as the primary cog on offense this year.
“I’m going through the process of not trying to put all the blame on myself, even though I always take full responsibility,” Leroux said. “I’m glad it happened now. I think that everything happens for a reason, and maybe the next time I get a penalty kick, it’ll be more meaningful.”
World Cup aspirations aside, there is one looming hurdle Leroux and her teammates will be aiming to overcome this year. UCLA made its seventh consecutive College Cup appearance last December but came up empty once again, this time turned back by a Stanford team that defeated the Bruins 2-1 in overtime.
With that in mind, this season has become all the more meaningful for Wright, who will be sharing team-captain duties with Barnes and senior midfielder Elise Britt.
“Jill has been pushing us to our max, which is exactly what we need,” Wright said. “I just want everyone to go out and give it their all because this is my last season, and I want to bring home that national championship.”
Preseason outlook
The Bruins have been tabbed as the No. 3 team in the country, according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas Preseason Rankings. Reigning champion North Carolina comes in at No. 1, followed by Stanford. All three teams, along with No. 4 Notre Dame, participated in the College Cup last season. UCLA was also ranked No. 2 in the Pac-10 Preseason Coaches’ Poll, behind defending conference champion Stanford.
As if expectations weren’t high enough already, three Bruins were named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List, widely considered the most prestigious individual award in college soccer.
Barnes, Leroux and Wright are among the 45 female candidates selected to be in the running for the player of the year award. Barnes, Leroux and former Bruin forward Lauren Cheney were named to the Watch List last year, with Cheney finishing as one of the three finalists for the award.
