W. soccer tenders no excuses, sets loftier goal

Published: Monday, August 26, 1996

Sunday, August 25, 1996

Bruins aim high, despite last year's unexpected loss in NCAA playoffsBy Hye Kwon

Summer Bruin Staff

Time flies when you're trying to build a winning team virtually from scratch.

It might be hard for some to believe that UCLA women's soccer is heading into its fourth season this fall, but ready or not, an older, more experienced group of Bruins will take the field against Loyola Marymount on Tuesday for their first and the only exhibition match of the season.

It was two seasons ago, in UCLA's second season as an NCAA varsity team, that 22 freshmen were given the ball to take the team to its promised land. The nucleus of that group included striker Traci Arkenberg, defender Tiffany Brown and midfielder Shannon Thomas, all of whom are now All-Pacific 10 selections.

But personal accolades are hardly consolation for a season that abruptly ended in the first round of the NCAA playoffs when UCLA suffered a 2-1 loss to Washington. The Huskies were a very beatable team, proven earlier in the season when the outcome favored the Bruins.

However, instead of kicking themselves, which they could easily have done, the Bruins, 14-3-2 last year, chose to focus on this season. They promised themselves that the "we're still a young team" excuse will no longer be used, and that 1996 is the year that UCLA will earn a trip to the Final Four.

New additions to the team, such as Bree Edwards and Beth Thompson, strengthen the team's chance of fulfilling its lofty resolution. But the subtractions from last year's team are continuing to be the biggest news thus far into the preseason.

Gretchen Overgaard, the third-year All-American goalie, was granted a release from her scholarship, which means she is permitted to compete this season at another school. Overgaard has reportedly been given the nod to walk on as a backup goalie at top-ranked North Carolina.

The only other goalie that saw any significant playing time last season, Joanna Quinlivan, expended her varsity eligibility at the conclusion of the '95 season.

At the start of the two-a-day practices last Monday, four Bruins Shanelle Eng, Amy Moreno, and two freshmen were competing for the vacated goalie position. A single player is yet to emerge from the pack of contenders, and head coach Joy Fawcett seems content to use the LMU match to assess the players' abilities in actual match conditions.

"(The freshmen) are young and inexperienced, but we'll wait and see," Fawcett said. "It's still very early and they're just getting back into shape and getting used to playing together."

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By the time the fall quarter officially begins, UCLA will have six regular season matches under its belt. The Bruins will play home matches against Arizona on Sept. 8 and Hawaii on Sept. 22. In addition, they will travel to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Sept. 5 and Cal State Northridge on Sept. 10.

Also to be played during the summer are highly anticipated matches against Duke and North Carolina in the UNC Tournament in Chapel Hill, NC on Sept. 13-15. While Duke has been a consistent top-10 team over the years and will present UCLA with a very formidable challenge, the Tar Heels will serve as a precise measuring stick as to how far the Bruins need to go in order to reach the top of the collegiate soccer world.

North Carolina, the winner of 13 NCAA Championships and the holder of an NCAA-record 92-match winning streak from 1990 to 1994, has assembled a squad this year that can certainly live up to its rich tradition.

Not one, not two, but three members of the Tar Heel squad recently competed in the Olympic Games as members of the U.S. National Team. Cindy Parlow, Tiffany Roberts, and Staci Wilson served as reserves on the gold-medal winning team, and with their international experience, will likely be head and shoulders above the rest of their fellow collegiates this season.

But who's intimidated? Not the Bruins.

"We have no pressure upon ourselves because we're not even given a chance to score, much less win the match," Arkenberg said. "But we can stick with them, there's no doubt about it."

JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin

Traci Arkenberg runs drills in preparation for Tuesday's match against Marymount.