UCLA women’s soccer still optimistic

If the Bruins fell on hard times during the waning portion of their weekend stay in Boulder, Colo., they can at least breathe a sigh of relief at a much more familiar altitude this time around.

Coming off a tough 1-0 road loss to Colorado in double overtime on Sunday, the No. 11 UCLA women’s soccer team (5-2-1) essentially begins a five-game, three-week homestand today with an evening match against San Diego (5-2-2), followed by a game against No. 10 Santa Clara (6-1-2) on Sunday.

This home-friendly stretch of the schedule comes at just the right time for the Bruins.

Not only will they be without junior forward Sydney Leroux, who will miss at least the next two games after being invited to training camp with the full U.S. Women’s National Team, they have so far struggled to close out strong on two-game weekends, going 0-2-1 in the second half of the Friday-and-Sunday series.

“This weekend is a big weekend for us,” coach Jillian Ellis said.

“We’ve got to really be able to put two good performances together. This team actually came (into preseason) in very good shape overall compared to my last team, so I think it’s more about the mental aspect of some of these younger players dealing with the rigors of putting together two 90-minute games.”

As for playing without Leroux, UCLA certainly loses a key component of its team strategy, since the tendency has been to go with a starting frontline that consists of just two strikers ““ Leroux and sophomore Zakiya Bywaters.

However, it is evident that the Bruins have their sights set on channeling the loss of Leroux into a positive, all while enjoying the comforts of playing at a venue at which they have not lost in the past 71 matches, currently the longest home unbeaten streak in the country.

“With Syd gone, it’s more motivation to be more aggressive and get after it,” senior forward Liz Zadro said.

“And it’s extremely beneficial (to play at Drake Stadium). We never lose here, so there’s a reputation to uphold and hopefully, we’ll keep doing it.”

Yet despite the long home stay, the Bruins will be going up against a pair of quality opponents in the next three days.

San Diego has built some momentum after a five-goal performance on Sunday and boasts a scoring threat in junior forward Stephanie Ochs, who currently leads the West Coast Conference in shots this season with 32.

Meanwhile, Santa Clara has not lost a match since Sept. 3 and is building off of a 2009 season in which it advanced all the way to the third round of the NCAA playoffs.

But if things go according to plan starting today, the Bruins may pan out to be quite a formidable team.

“We have a great team, and I think sometimes, we expect things to come to us,” junior midfielder Charney Burk said.

“But if we work on our consistency, we are going to be a team that is unbeatable.”