Bruins win some respect

Monday, November 24, 1997

Bruins win some respect

W. SOCCER:

Inching one step closer to Final Four, UCLA confounds criticsBy
Chris Umpierre

Daily Bruin Contributor

When the UCLA women’s soccer team entered the playoffs two weeks
ago, they were given absolutely no chance of succeeding.

Despite owning a 17-2 overall record and a 9-0 Pac-10 record,
they were constantly discounted by the selection committee. The
first sign of disregard came when the tournament pairings were
announced.

The Bruins were shipped away to the Northwest to play No. 3
Portland in the first round, a tough first-round pairing for a team
that had a near-impeccable season.

That is where many people thought the Bruin run would end. After
all, they were supposed to be overachievers who had a fortuitous
season that ended in a respectable loss to a national soccer
powerhouse. UCLA is a Pac-10 team and West Coast schools are not
supposed to do well in the women’s soccer postseason.

But the Bruins refused to live up to the expectations for a West
Coast school in the playoffs.

After shocking the nation with a 1-0 win over Portland, the team
was once again shipped away to play at Southern Methodist
University this past weekend. College soccer insiders thought that
the Portland game was a fluke and that this weekend’s game would
spell the end of the Bruins’ season.

The No. 12 Bruins (19-2) once again proved the nation wrong, as
they won on the road for the second-straight time in the playoffs,
beating No. 19 SMU 3-2 on Saturday. To the amazement of many, they
are currently in the third round, one game away from being in the
Final Four.

"Last week, I think people thought the Portland game was a
fluke," mid-fielder Shannon Thomas said, whose goal in the opening
minutes gave the Bruins the early lead. "And now we have taken two
teams out of the playoffs. We have pushed (the UCLA women’s soccer
program) up in the minds of people and in the rankings. These two
wins have definitely earned some respect for UCLA (women’s soccer)
and for the West Coast."

They earned some well-deserved respect that West Coast schools
haven’t received in years past.

"I think it will do a lot for the West," UCLA head coach Joy
Fawcett said. "It will show the country that there are more teams
on the West Coast than just Santa Clara and Portland. Also, the
better we do, the better the Pac-10 looks."

Although many critics could not in their right minds have
imagined the UCLA women soccer team in the third round of the
playoffs, toppling such teams as Portland and Southern Methodist
University, Fawcett always believed her team could make this run in
the playoffs.

"I expected us to be here (in the third round)," Fawcett said.
"I think we surprised some people but not me.

"Since the end of last season we have been talking about the
Final Four. I knew we could do it with this talent. The only thing
I wasn’t sure about was our mentality. Once they got a taste at how
talented they are, their confidence kept growing. Ever since that
they have kept their desire going."

These Bruins have definitely shown their desire the last two
weekends. Despite everyone counting them out, disrespecting them by
sending them on unjustified road games, the Bruins have triumphed
so far.

They are finally earning respect for their program, the Pac-10,
and the West Coast.

They have done so as a team. With the No. 8 scorer in the
nation, senior Traci Arkenberg, once again seeing double and triple
teams, other players have been forced to step up for the
Bruins.

Miller, true freshmen Venus James and Shannon Thomas answered
the call as their goals gave the Bruins the victory. The defense
shouldn’t be overlooked either, as they once again played
solidly.

The Bruins are currently riding their school-record setting,
twelve-game winning streak. And the Bruins don’t see any team in
the future knocking them off their pedestal.

"Right now, no (I don’t think we can be beaten)," Thomas said.
"We are flying high and we think we can beat anybody we play."

The Bruins will play the winner of the Notre Dame-Nebraska game,
which was not known at press time. But most likely the Bruins will
play No. 2 Notre Dame in the third round this weekend. They will
probably once again be sent packing to play in the unfriendly
confines of South Bend, Indiana.

But this possibility doesn’t scare the Bruins.

"We are a very good road team," Thomas said, whose team has
registered a 10-1 road record over the season. "We are going to
fight anywhere we play."

Just the thought of the Bruins taking on a national soccer
powerhouse such as the Fighting Irish will be too tough for critics
to swallow.

The matchup (it would be the first in history between the
schools) will show how far the UCLA women’s soccer program has
progressed. Five years ago, nobody even knew that UCLA had a
women’s soccer program. This next weekend the Bruins will be most
likely playing Notre Dame for a trip to the Final Four.

But this Bruin team doesn’t just show up. They prove the critics
wrong and continue to win.