Team strikes fear into its first-round opponents

  ED RHEE Senior midfielder Breana Boling
and the UCLA women’s soccer team hope to defeat Cal State Fullerton
in their NCAA Tournament opener.

By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Staff

Talk about a rude awakening.

Interim Cal State Fullerton head coach Ali Khosroshahin led his
team to its first NCAA playoff appearance this year. After the
Titans face No. 3 seed UCLA (17-2-0) Friday at 2 p.m. at Drake
Stadium in the first round, the Titans (13-6-0) might very well
hope it is their last.

You get the feeling from Khosroshahin that he and his team are
just happy to be here, happy to get a chance to see what the
highest level in women’s collegiate soccer looks like.

“We’re very honored to be playing UCLA,” he
said. “I feel if you’re going to play someone the first
time out, it might as well be the best.”

The polls say UCLA is actually the third best, but one would be
hard-pressed to find a more unenviable task than knocking off the
Bruins at home, where they have not lost in 23 matches.

“Our field plays fast, and we’re a pretty athletic
team,” said Bruin head coach Jillian Ellis, who hopes for a
big crowd. “We play attractive soccer, and we need space to
knock the ball around.

“Psychologically, it’s a benefit. When you play at
home, you’re in your comfort zone.”

Khosroshahin is accustomed to targeting a handful of dangerous
players and attempting to neutralize them. His Titans did a
remarkable job of it during the conference season. but the job
becomes a lot harder when it’s impossible to single out just
a handful, he said.

“Every player on the team is dangerous for UCLA,”
Khosroshahin said. “They have some incredible athletes, they
are very organized, they have a plan, and they are very
successful.”

So successful are the Bruins that seven of their 11 starters
were named to All-Pac-10 teams. They are 8-0 all-time against the
Titans and have given up more than two goals only once in the last
two years.

Intimidating? Uh, yeah, just a bit.

“It’s only natural to be intimidated,”
Khosroshahin said. “I’m just trying to remind them that
they are players too. They lace up their boots the same way we lace
up ours.”

Unfortunately for Fullerton, it’s what the players do once
their boots are laced up that matters.

“¢bull; “¢bull; “¢bull;

The winner of the UCLA-Fullerton match advances to the second
round to face the winner of the Pepperdine-USC match, which begins
today at 11 a.m.

The second round game is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. All
games are to be played at Drake Stadium.