OK, I’m not sure there are any UCLA fans on this website (nor am I sure there are any fans of Portland, Penn St., etc.). But I enjoy this board. And I love this time of year. At this late moment of preseason, I feel compelled to begin this thread. For goodness sakes, most polls have UCLA preseason #1 this year, including the prestigious Average and Median polls. Some thoughts on the 2006 UCLA Bruins… As a couple of the polls and a few of the articles have stated, UCLA has been perhaps the most consistent team in the nation the last three years. But they haven’t been able to win the big one at the end. Two years ago, Coach Ellis amazingly got the Bruins to the final when they weren’t expected to make it near that far. Last year with more talent, they had a remarkable run, but ran into a buzz saw named Portland at the end. This year, UCLA appears especially talented, final four experienced, and motivated to win the whole thing. The loss of Kara Lang is bigger than some admit. UCLA’s depth has been affected. However, the starting lineup will be strong because there’s an abundance of offensive players, including the top recruit for ’06, Lauren Chaney. The lineup may go something like the following. All but one of these players listed have national youth team experience: Lauren Cheney, Bristyn Davis, Christina DiMartino, Danesha Adams, McCall Zerboni, and Stacy Lindstrom are likely starters in the forward and midfield positions. On defense, two ’06 recruits join two returning players: Lauren Wilmoth, Lauren Switzer, Erin Hardy and Mary Castelanelli. In goal will be Valerie Henderson. The bench includes a bunch of talent including Stephanie Kron, Caitlin Ursini, Caitlyn Mac Kechnie, and Kristina Larsen. SoccerBuzz stated that UCLA could go undefeated. That’s a stretch for any team. But the challenge for UCLA is out of the gate difficult given that UCLA has 5 players absent for the first four games due to being in Russia playing for the US Under 20 National Team. When they return, it will be a matter of gelling. All returning players have final four experience, and they are seriously motivated because of the NCAA Final result last year against Portland. But this team is also motivated by another reason to win the championship: to be the UCLA team that wins the 100th national championship for UCLA Athletics. Don’t discount that motivation. Of course, this is all on paper. Teams have to be good and lucky to go far in the playoffs. They have to win or tie games they don’t deserve, and not lose games they deserve to win throughout the year and in the playoffs. We’ll see if UCLA can pull it off. Go Bruins!
Well, I am a Bruin fan, so we can keep this afloat if no one else will! Did you play there or are just a fan? I wanted to ask your opinion of Lindstrom. She was extremely hyped coming in...has she lived up to it? I don't think anyone ever should say the words "soccer team" and "undefeated" in the same sentence. Soccer is too screwy a sport to go undefeated. You can outplay a team and lose. But they will be very very good this year. My two issues with UCLA have always been 1)boring European 4-4-2 soccer and 2)not great finishing up top. Lang changed both of those with her level of play and that loss will hurt them. They have the talent to still be very good. I hope to see all that talent play with some heart and guts, and hopefully the shalacking in the national final will spur them on.
In years past SDSU and Long Beach were considered to be easy wins. Both teams have done some excellent recruiting so the bruins will be facing some tough competition both weekends. There are players missing from just about every position on the field. But I think it will be a particularly challenging two weeks for Thompson, the keeper. She is very athletic but hasn't had much playing time so far, only 60 minutes last year. Everyone will just have to step it up a notch. Even with everyone back, I think staying undefeated in the pac-10 will be a difficult task. Hopefully, the team will be well positioned when the playoffs start. Go bruins. Sophister
Great! At least there's three of us! Lindstrom is a heck of a player. Size, strength, skill, very good in the air. Can be dominating. A big reason UCLA came back to win against SC. But had many games last year where you're not sure if she's there. Hopefully, she'll play inspired this her senior year. I've come to enjoy european soccer style. UCLA's definitely going to bang it around in the back and build it up to a point, but they want to get the ball to their forwards/mids. They did finish better last year. Lang is out, sure, but Bristyn Davis appears headed back to the offense, and that will mean more fire power. And yes, Chaney is there too. There's more talent around the field to build up the offense, but I'm sure they'll play it much the same way. I don't know what to think of these first two weekends without five starters. Penn St., Maryland, SDSU, and LBSU. I don't expect them to win all four games, but I don't expect them to lose all four either. Short of both of those scenarios, nothing will surprise me. And yes, Thompson is the lone goalkeeper these two weeks. Perhaps the success of the team will depend on how she plays. With the schedule the Bruins have, it's going to be a challenging year, and their results during the year will determine how they're seeded in the playoffs. So, even these four games are important.
Lindstrom is an outstanding player, but she lacks speed and quickness. Last season, both Ali Krieger of Penn State and Portland's Angie Woznuk ran circles around her in UCLA's only losses. Hopefully, one of the new freshmen recruits will be able to step up and do better at her position. Otherwise, it's difficult to see UCLA winning it all this year.
Since the specter of facing Germany in the knockout round looms, any chance the girls will be back early? Thoughts?
First, thank for the props on my creation of the Average Poll The fans down in SoCal are going to be treated to some very entertaining soccer this season. The field for the UCLA tournament is strong, and thank goodness ESPNU is giving us those games! I haven't peeked at the UCLA schedule in detail. Any big non-conference road games besides the visit to Santa Clara?
Don't you think the loss of Mora, and especially Oakes will hurt as well? I thought Oakes was supposed to be the heart and soul of that team. Perhaps UCLA has more than adequate replacements?
Last year, Mora and Lang combined had 26 goals and 21 assists. That's a lot of points to make up. At the defensive end, it seems that ucla has had to rebuild their defense each year for the the past three years. Jill Oakes' shoes will be tough to fill. It will be interesting to see who steps up. Sophister
My bad. Any analysis of the 2006 Bruins should have included the graduation of Oakes and Mora. That's a big oversight. Particularly in regards to Oakes. She is quite a player, evidenced by her inclusion in the WNT pool, and the recent invite to camp. But beyond that, you are correct. She was recognized as the heart and soul of the Bruins last year. How do you replace that, exactly? Furthermore, she anchored the back line. Given projected starting lineups, Hardy and Castelenalli will be the returning players who will have to step up, and they'll need big freshman years from Wilmoth and Switzer. Mora was more of a playmaker at the forward position. A great talent. I understand the Cheney is both skilled and a scorer. I would also look to McCall Zerboni to take on a bigger playmaking role from the midfield position. The big road non-conference games are this weekend against Penn St. and Maryland, and then against Santa Clara. That's it. Of course, there are a lot of home games against stiff competition (@Santa Clara on 9/22 and home against Pepperdine on 9/24), and the PAC10 is going to be very difficult. Yes, the US Under 20 WNT plays Germany on Sunday in the quarters. If they don't win that game, I would think that the players would all be back in school by Wednesday or so, but that's just my thinking. If that happened, UCLA and others would have their players back for weekend games (for UCLA it's SDSU and LBSU). Go Bruins.
I have a lot of respect for the UCLA program . . . quality school, quality coach, beautiful campus. My kid has become a bit of fan as well, watching them at the last three College Cups. It's always UNC first in my house, but we'll be following the Bruins this year as well, and hope to see them down in Cary in December (again).
Tough loss, 3-1, to a strong Penn State team. Soccer America reports that in addition to the missing five that Mary Castelanelli and McCall Zerboni are battling injuries. http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562137532 We'll see if the bruins can step it up on Sunday against Maryland. Sophister
Things went better today with a 3-0 win over Maryland. The shots and shots-on-goal differential were much better. Since the u-20 team defeated Germany 4-1 (Adams scored two goals), the five missing players won't be returning for next weeks games. Both SDSU and CSULB had good weekends. SDSU won over Butler and Perdue while Long Beach defeated Oergon and Portland State. The games next weekend should be interesting. It'll be nice to see them in person. Sophister
So what do you all think about this weekend? Do you know details about either team? Anyone going to the games? I don't know if I will be there. And as for the bruins..how are they feeling after the split? Is everyone healthy? I heard a couple of girls were banged up. Any predictions as to score?
UCLA 1 SDSU 0! Was anyone at the game? I'm unable to see any games until Texas A&M. The box score says that UCLA outshot SDSU, but is the score indicative of the game? Also, Bristyn Davis did not play. Does anyone know why? That's a big loss to the lineup. It looks like Kristina Larsen is playing well this year. Lauren Wilmoth lined up at midfield instead of defense. How'd she look there? It appears to me that Jillian is getting a number of the players time on the field. The blessing in disguise part of missing the five players to the U20 National Team in Russia is that UCLA's bench will be much more experienced than normal when called upon throughout the season. Beginning the season 2-1 is a very good start considering how many starters UCLA is missing. 3-1 would be terrific, but LBSU will be a tough game. Go Bruins!
I ended up making it to the game. I thought the score was very true to the game. UCLA was the better side, but SDSU is flat out good. It was fairly even, while UCLA had the more quality shots, SDSU had some great combos/passing and their keeper had some unbelievable saves. UCLA's goal was so-so. Both teams created some good shots and played some good soccer. My friend (who is a club coach and came with me) was really impressed with SDSU and how far they have come in 3 short years. Don't know about Davis, and Jillian was substituting quite liberally. SHe was doing it late, when the game was in doubt (sdsu hit the bar with about 6 minutes to go, so it was still back and forth) and we weren't quite sure if she was gettting more bodies in or the bruins were fatigued with the amount of pressure sdsu put on them. Don't know. But it should play well to get some new combos for the bruins and develop some players. Good game. P.S. But bad crowd. This is an immediate need for UCLA to address. No atmosphere, crowd looks tiny in cavernous Drake....
Thanks for the review. Good to hear about the quality of SDSU. Good coach and recruiting classes the last two years. SDSU and Long Beach State appear to be replacing Pepperdine for the next spot after UCLA in So Cal. Everyone thought USC would be in that spot, and perhaps so, but not so far. Without Davis in the lineup, the Bruins were without 6 starters. It is good for the other players to get this time. And they're getting wins. I know what you mean about Drake. Impressive facility in terms of first impressions. It's big. But it holds thousands. And the benefit to the team to being on the quarter system and not starting classes until near the end of September is a negative for home games. Students aren't in school yet. UCLA is doing more this year with high school and AYSO targeted games, but still the huge stands at Drake are cavernous, as you put it. The other side with the bleachers right on the sideline for families and students do fill up once school's in session. And there are games each year that bring more people out. But you're right about the lack of atmosphere.
In the SDSU the had three or four chances right in front of the goal. The kind of shots that you can't believe didn't go in. Of course, its good to get a win, especially at home but you can see the effect of the missing players. In particular, the midfield play was ragged with players holding the ball too long and waiting for the ball to come to them. There were long periods in the second half in which the SDSU midfield simply out played and out hustled the bruins. I thought Ashley Thompson had a good game especially her kicking game. She was consistantly longer on punts the than the san diego keeper. Its great she's getting game experience and will be ready to step in should anything happen to Henderson. I remember two or three years ago when ucla started running out of keepers due to injury. Sunday's will probably be a tough one, go bruins. Sophister
This was a glaring problem in last year's Portland massacre in the final, which Ellis never addressed. Plus Kron is out with a bad hip and Ursini has yet to come back. Friday's standout was Castelanelli, both attacking and defending. It was a showcase for Mary's brilliance. Switzer looked good next to her, too. When Hardy returns and Bristyn goes back to being a defender, the back line will be formidable.
Ucla in another 1-0 game. Midfield paly was better than Friday against SDSU, but the offense was very predictable; 1) kick it deep into the corner, or 2) kick it just over the defense and have a forward run onto it. The score came from the second method in the 82nd minute. Brystin Davis played today at a defensice midfield postion. It looked like she had her right thigh wrapped. Good contributions from freshmen Kristina Larsen (who scored), Lauren Wilmoth, Lydia Cook and Lauren Switzer. Soon the return of the u-20 players and hopefully the injured ones too. Sophister
So, now we are on the other side of the first four games of the season. Where do the Bruins stand? They're 3-1 despite missing five players to the U20 WNT, and various injuries to key returning players such as Bristyn Davis and Stephanie Kron. Thus, this last weekend, UCLA's starting lineup did not include 6 of its standout players. Still, they find a way to win against challenging opponents because other returners step up as well as a number of the freshmen. As a result, a bunch of players get a lot of playing time and the coach gets a chance to gauge their talent. All things considered, this start has to be considered a roaring success. I wonder if Davis playing defensive midfield is an indication of dealing with the need for better inside midfield pace, or of finding a spot for the freshman Larsen. Larsen, a highly sought after recruit, leads the team in scoring. Now, the coaches have to work on team chemistry as the returning players from Russia rejoin the team. The schedule only gets tougher with home games against Texas A&M and UConn. Go Bruins!
Kara is not one of the six starters referred to who have not been playing (due to a season ending ACL injury). Counting Kara, the team this last weekend was without 7 players it was counting on just a few months ago. Hopefully, six return this weekend.