UCLA’s win streak on the line against Pepperdine

After a much-needed victory against Santa Clara, the UCLA women’s soccer team managed to calm the waters of its choppy season.
The Bruins have no intention of slowing down during tonight’s home match against Pepperdine.

Playing in its last non-conference game of the season, UCLA (7-2-1) hopes to sail past the Waves (6-3-2) at Drake Stadium and extend its winning streak to three games. The Bruins are unbeaten in their last 13 games against Pepperdine, winning 2-0 last year thanks to strikes from junior forward Sydney Leroux and sophomore midfielder Chelsea Cline.

Pepperdine is coming off of a scoreless overtime tie against No. 21 Arizona State, the Waves’ third consecutive shutout and fifth of the season. The Waves have held their opponents to only three goals in their last seven matches.

Tonight’s game marks the first time in three weeks that the No. 9 Bruins will play only one game the entire weekend. With upcoming games against No. 16 Cal and No. 2 Stanford next weekend, the schedule works in UCLA’s favor, allowing the team extra time to rest before conference play begins.

Coach Jillian Ellis believes a win against the Waves will strengthen the Bruins’ momentum going into next weekend’s games.

She is optimistic about the team’s growing self-belief, which will be key against Pepperdine as well as throughout the rest of the season.

“This past weekend and this week at training, I could tell we played with more confidence,” Ellis said. “The Friday night game is going to be about us feeling good after the game and carrying that positivity into conference (matches).”

The Waves serve as an especially useful transition into next weekend’s matches because of their field positioning, which is similar to Cal’s and Stanford’s styles of play. While the Bruins play in the standard 4-4-2 formation, Pepperdine prefers a 4-3-3 layout that places an additional forward in the middle and one less central midfielder.

With a tactical challenge to overcome, this week’s practice has been a mix of drills and strategic exercises.

“We have done everything from the technical side of the game such as finishing, crossing, runs in the box, to start to work on the tactics such as defending against the 4-3-3, which is the system we will face in the next few games,” Ellis said.

Leroux, who is training with the U.S. Women’s National Team in Kennesaw, Ga., will most likely be absent for tonight’s game, but will return in time for next weekend’s match against Cal.

Freshman Jenna Richmond, who played forward in both games last weekend, will likely play there again against Pepperdine.

Richmond, who had the assist in last Sunday’s victory against Santa Clara, believes the team must be aggressive from the beginning against Pepperdine if the Bruins want to continue winning.

“We have to come out hard. It’s all about mentality,” she said.

“We finished this last weekend with two wins, so we are really trying to follow up with a win this Friday. It’s really important we start strong.”

Cline comes back

Cline, who was taken out of the Santa Clara game in the 82nd minute after being on the receiving end of a high tackle to the knee, will be available to play against Pepperdine. Cline has been practicing with the team all week.