I'll start off a new UCLA thread for the '04 season with some random thoughts. The spring season included a match against the Chinese U-19s, with the Bruins winning, 1-0. I only made it out to one spring match at Fullerton last month. They played two games there, but since it was raining that day, I just came out for the second game against Cal State Bakersfield (the first was against Cal State Fullerton). I don't remember much. Basically everyone who was able to play played, so it was just your typical spring match. Some players even played at positions other than their normal ones. At one point--when they came in as subs after a goal was scored--Kim Devine (a forward) played in the back and Amy Fazio (a defender) played up top. Following the ensuing kickoff, it was pretty funny seeing Amy trying to contain her amusement at her new position. She actually almost scored a goal. Anyway, the players who didn't play (the ones I can recall): Kendal Billingsley, Katie Rivera, Mary Castelanelli, Sarah Lombardo. The latter three I think are still recuperating from last season's injuries. They should be good to go by the start of this season. The Bruins will definitely have a different look in '04. With the loss of six seniors--four of which were starters (Nandi Pryce, Whitney Jones, Kat Lee, and Sarah-Gayle Swanson)--and also the possibility that three other key players (Stacy Lindstrom, Stephanie Kron, and Bristyn Davis) could be gone with the U-19s in the World Championship, UCLA will need some new players to step in. I've thought about what the starting lineup would look like without Stacy, Stephanie, and Bristyn, and I think the midfield would obviously be the least experienced. Jill Oakes would be the only veteran in there. Lindsay Greco (usually a forward) has experience playing in the midfield, so it's possible to make her a regular there, preferably on the outside. Up top, there is still plenty of experience and depth with Iris Mora, Katie, Kim, and Crystal James (who spent the '03 season recovering from an ACL injury). Iris will be going to the Olympics with Mexico, but she'll only miss a little of the college season, if any. As for the defense, it will still be in good hands with Amy and Kendal. The only question is, with the loss of both central defenders (Nandi and Kat), will Jill leave Amy and Kendal on the outside, or have them move to the central? They're both very good flank defenders, and it would be a shame to have them move to the center where they can't get involved in the offensive attack as much. I do think it's risky, however, to put two new players in the center, so I would probably move Kendal there and pair her up with either Mary or Michelle Gleason. Whoever is not in the center would be playing at right back, and Amy would be at her usual left back position. In goal, there'll be some competition for the starting spot. Val Henderson was a good signing (she was arguably the next best goalkeeper in the country after Ashlyn Harris, who's going to UNC), and she'll probably get some quality minutes in her first season. There's no question that having Stacy, Stephanie and Bristyn would put UCLA in a better position, but if they have the opportunity to help the U-19s win the championship, it's something that's too great to pass up. Whatever happens, hopefully the Bruin season will finish with a return trip to Cary for the College Cup.
Now why'd you have to go and bring up that game? One could chalk it up to jitters, but Arianna Criscione's performance was a letdown as well as goofy. To answer soccr4all's question, Arianna pretty much took UCLA out of the game by allowing an own-goal. She tried to one-touch a back pass but instead whiffed it and the ball rolled into the goal. It wasn't pretty. The first goal wasn't so good on her part either. On a UNC corner kick, she called for the ball, but misjudged it and it floated over her head. The ball then found UNC's Kendall Fletcher, who put it in. UNC played a dominant game, but I can't help but think how different the game would have turned out if Arianna hadn't made the mistakes that she did. I still felt like the Bruins had a chance to win after UNC went up 1-0, but after that own-goal, all my optimism went down the drain. There's a huge difference between a one-goal deficit and a two-goal deficit. It'll be interesting to see who emerges as UCLA's No. 1 keeper in '04. If Sarah is 100% healthy, I hope to see her get most of the minutes.
I'm putting my money on the newbie. Yeah that GK performance was a stinker. After the 1st goal was scored, I thought that they had no chance. The inability to command the box said a lot about the GK's ability. The whiff was the icing on the cake. Refresh my memory. Why were they flipflopping GKs throughout the season?
I'd love to see Val do well and turn out to be the one really outstanding keeper UCLA has never had. No disrespect to past Bruin keepers, but the GK position has never been UCLA's strong point. It's pretty obvious that the low GAA they've had the past few years is due to the defenders in front of the keeper. Having a solid group of defenders is always good, but there are those big games (e.g. championship games) when you need a great keeper who always brings her "A" game. I know that if the Bruins had had someone like Nicole Barnhart playing behind Nandi, Kat, Amy, and Kendal last year, wanting to get a shutout every single game wouldn't have been so far-fetched of a goal. And in that championship game against UNC, she would've made a world of a difference. Before conference play started there wasn't one keeper who really stood out, so the starting spot was going back and forth between Arianna and Sarah. Then, just as Sarah was starting to emerge as the No. 1 keeper, she suffered a season-ending knee injury against Cal. That's when Arianna took over for the rest of the season. If she had also gotten hurt, UCLA would've been in big trouble because the week after the Cal game, their 3rd-string keeper (Jaclyn Harwood) broke a finger that ended her season. Jill had to fetch a backup keeper from the UCLA softball team (Emily Zaplatosch, an all-state keeper in AZ). On the topic of softball, I don't know if you follow Stanford softball, but the Cardinal opens WCWS play against UCLA today. It should be a good Pac-10 matchup. It's just too bad that ESPN got Jennie Finch as a color commentator again. She was terrible last year and unless she's done a 180 since then, don't expect to be enlightened by anything that comes out of her mouth.
Thanks for the update on our team, Bruin Spirit. I can't wait for us to get over the hump and knock off North Carolina; that team is a self-fulfilling dynasty, the way that girls all over the country dream of playing for them, they can pick and choose whichever recruits they want, which means they keep winning, so more girls keep dreaming of playing for them, etc. I've been talking up UCLA to my 14-year-old niece. She's in ODP as a keeper, since at 6'1" (!) she can't really play the field any more. By the way, maybe you could change the location in your profile? We Bruins don't ever say the phrase "Southern Cal" without it being preceded by several seven-letter words, knowwhutI'msayin'?
I thought UCLA would finally get over the UNC hump last year. The team had the talent to do it, but just couldn't get it done. The fact that they played UNC evenly in the September match made me feel like they could pull off a win in the NCAA semis. Hopefully the wait won't be too long before UCLA can get a win against the dynasty that is North Carolina. I also think that the '01 and '02 Bruin teams had the ability to beat UNC if they had had the chance to play. The '01 team more so just because they had more veteran leadership and experience. 6-1 at 14 years old? What are her parents feeding her? I'm sure she'll be going to UCLA if you have anything to say about it. I knew eventually someone would say something about the Southern Cal thing. I don't really think of it in terms of the "T" word. I've just always liked the way it sounds, and none of the other Southern California nicknames (e.g. SoCal, Southern Cali) appeal to me. If you can think of something else interesting I can change it to, I'll gladly do so. For now, I'll change it to the more general "Southern California," so that there is no confusion as to where my allegiance lies.
True. A great GK can do wonders for the team. A GK who's successful only 4/5 of the time may actually cost the team victories. But a striker who converts 1/5 of the time is looked at a different light. I think UCLA will be happy with Val. I don't think it's a stretch to say that it's her job to lose. I can't say I'm an expert; I'm not a big fan of ball-and-stick sports. All I know about this year is that UW love being patients of Dr. Feelgood. ;p And forgive me for saying this, but whenever UCLA & softball are used in the same sentence, the first thing that comes to my mind is ==> Judith Holland Hmmmmm . . . I thought this 'sharing' of players between the soccer & softball teams was a thing of the past.
She's definitely in a good position to steal the starting spot that is very much up for grabs. When you've got Sarah coming off an injury and then a yet-to-be-proven keeper in Arianna, Val has got to take advantage of every minute she gets. I think she can do it. Yep, the last thing Washington athletics needed after the Neuheisel ordeal was another scandal. How come? (Sorry, my awareness of that name is only superficial) That was a low blow. The '95 debacle is a big blackeye on the softball program. To clarify for those who are unfamiliar with the situation, the softball program got in trouble for using scholarships that were supposed to be for the women's soccer program, which was pretty much an innocent bystander in the whole mess (that's why there was no action taken against them).
U-19 Bruins Here are some Bruins in action at the U-19 World Championship Qualifying (photos courtesy of AP). U.S. U-19s celebrate Stephanie's goal off a free kick in the 89th minute against Mexico. Stephanie is No. 16 and Stacy is No. 20. Stacy gets tangled up with one of Mexico's players. Stephanie slips a ball past the Dominican Republic keeper. Bristyn is also with the U-19s but I haven't seen any photos of her. So far, she has two goals (both in the Trinidad & Tobago game), Stephanie also has two goals, and Stacy has a goal and three assists.
ZAPPPPPP!!!!!! *Stumps around dancing b/c Zap was brought up....* Zap's my new UCLA double sport athlete to fall for.... now that Whit has graduated.
Glad to hear you're a fan of Zap's. Unless there are injury problems again with the keepers, I don't think Zap will be playing on the soccer team this fall. When UCLA ran into those injuries last year with Sarah and Jaclyn, Jill contemplated two options for a backup keeper: 1) Whitney (no joke) and 2) Zap, who was highly recruited in both softball and soccer out of high school. Even though there will be four keepers in '04 (Sarah, Arianna, and the two freshmen Val and Ashley Thompson), Jill might want to consider keeping Zap around as good luck. In her two years at UCLA, she's won two NCAA championships with the softball team and was on the soccer team when it went to the College Cup. Not too shabby if you ask me.
Whit as a keeper... hmmm I don't think I like when keepers look lost. Although Whit is a great player, she is always looking lost. I think Zap should be kept around, she does seem to have some look running thru her. Does Zap play another postion... there has to be a spot for her somewhere!!! Hey we need a lucky charm here in Colstate (well we don't know yet, we might not) so if she feels the need to be a lucky charm for a soccer team, please send her out here... Whit as a keeper hahahahaha
Another picture from U-19 Qualifying Stacy shields off a Canadian player while Ashlyn Harris dives for the ball.
That's probably something you'd have to take up with the UCLA softball team. I think they'd miss her too much. That was pretty much my initial reaction to that possibility. Fortunately UCLA didn't have to resort to putting Whitney in goal and taking her out of the midfield. I don't think she ever looked lost on the soccer field; on the basketball court though, she did sometimes.
Well we'll give her back before the Softball season and we won't hurt her... see we're going to be a first year team and so far and the warmups haven't even started We aren't having the best of luck... our star recruit tore her ACL in her last high school game... Sucks, but hopefully it isn' a signed ofr the rest of the season, but you know it would be nice to have Zap's luck on our side Whit looks less confused on the field, but still there is that typical Whit where the hell is the ball look... Whit as keeper that still makes me laugh hard.
Sorry to hear about that. But you know, sometimes injuries have a way of making teams better because everyone rallies together and works even harder. That's a really funny way to describe her look. Here are a couple of old articles from the Daily Bruin that talked about Whitney potentially having to play keeper. The first article is before Jaclyn got injured and the second article is after. 10/24/03 Injuries plague women’s soccer 10/29/03 Softball catcher takes place in goal
Where do you get these cool pictures? I am particularly interested in photos of Texas recruit Stephanie Logterman (#8 on the U-19's, no offense vs the UCLA players!!) but I don't see much on www.ussoccer.com.
Re: U-19 Pictures pantone159--I found the pictures through a Yahoo News search. It's really simple. Just go to http://news.yahoo.com/ and in the search bar, type in whatever it is you want to find something on (in your case Stephanie Logterman). I just ran the search and two pictures of Stephanie came up, one from the game versus Canada and one from the game versus Mexico. Once you get to the pictures, you'll probably want to save them to your computer because the Yahoo link to the pictures will go dead after a month or so.
Thanks. I think I like the pic from the Mexico game better than the bent-over-exhausted-while-the-other-team-celebrates photo from the Canada game!!!
No problem--glad I could help you find pictures of the soon-to-be Longhorn. You're right, the "bent-over-exhausted-while-the-other-team-celebrates photo" isn't the happiest, but the one from the Mexico game is a good action shot.
Bristyn with the U-19s I was able to find a picture of Bristyn from the U-19 Qualifying game against T & T. I didn't see it before because the Yahoo caption misidentifies her as Niasha Reyes. I have no idea where they got that name because there's no one with that name on the U.S. U-19 roster.
'04 Schedule Click here for a look at the Bruins' schedule for the upcoming season I like the three matches against the Texas schools (one is an exhibition versus the Longhorns). Some other notable non-conference matches include a trip out to VA for games against UVA and Maryland in the UVA Soccer Classic in September and a visit from Santa Clara at the beginning of October.
Here's a release from the UCLA site regarding Iris in Athens: Mora Helps Lead Mexico To 1-1 Draw With China Meanwhile in LA, the Bruins kick off the 2004 season with an exhibition match against Texas this Wednesday at Drake Stadium. Game time is set for 1pm.