Bruins defeat Alumni in exhibition
By Daily Bruin Staff
Aug. 26, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Bruin alumnus
Tracey Milburn played in Friday’s Alumni soccer
game at Drake Stadium. Her squad was defeated 5-0.
By Michelle Coppolella
Daily Bruin Reporter
Riding high off its No. 2 national ranking for the upcoming
season, the UCLA women’s soccer team easily handled the
Alumni 5-0 in a friendly exhibition game at Drake Stadium
Saturday.
“Today was the most balanced I’ve seen us in going
through preseason,” Head Coach Jillian Ellis said.
“We’re really starting to connect and we looked sharp.
At this point in the season, since they’re pretty legless
from all the running, I was quite pleased.”
Despite constant penetration by the pestering Bruin offense, the
Alumni held them off and the first half concluded scoreless.
Then, six minutes into the second half, off of a pass from
senior forward Stephanie Rigamat, freshman forward Crystal James
utilized some fancy footwork and got her first goal as a Bruin,
putting UCLA up 1-0.
Not even one minute later, sophomore forward Sarah-Gayle Swanson
found the back of the net and increased the Bruin lead to 2-0.
Moments later, sophomore midfielder Whitney Jones decided to
contribute to the Bruin’s offensive hammering as she scored
in the 56th minute off of an assist from Swanson.
Swanson continued to contribute to UCLA’s success with
unselfish play, as she passed the ball to Rigamat in the 61st
minute, who gracefully put the Bruins up 4-0.
Sophomore Kathryn Lee capped the scoring with a goal in the 91st
minute of play to give UCLA its final edge over the Alumni.
Despite the damage the Bruins may have inflicted on the
Alumni’s egos, this will be better remembered as a day when
old heroes met up-and-coming stars.
“It’s so comforting to come home with these girls
here ““ I think they’re awesome,” said former
player and Assistant Coach Louise Lieberman (’99), who
currently plays for the Women’s United Soccer
Association’s Washington Freedom. “It’s a
talented group of kids who have a talented group of coaches that
can undoubtedly take them all the way.”
Lieberman was joined by alumnus Tracey Milburn (’99), who
is also her teammate on the Freedom. The attendance of professional
players at events like this is not only fun for current Bruins, but
appreciated by them as well.
“Having some girls in the pro-leagues gives us a feel of
how good you have to be to reach their levels,” Rigamat said.
“But it was a lot fun. We like screwing around.”
