UCLA Club Sports

By VINNY LAVALSITI

It took 10 years for the UCLA women's club soccer team to topple a three-time national champion and one of their most daunting rivals. The best part? They're ready to do it again this weekend, except on an even bigger stage.

This past Sunday, the women's club soccer team defeated UC Santa Barbara 1-0. A victory that meant much more than a qualification into the NIRSA Club Soccer Regional Tournament. It's been a decade since UCLA (3-1-0) defeated the powerhouse that is UCSB women's club soccer (3-1-0).

"UCSB is our biggest competition and rival as long as this club sports team has existed. We've either tied them or lost by one goal for the entirety of the time I've been here," said Senior Midfielder Lauren Holland.

A reason behind the steep competition UCSB provides is that the club program gets a considerable amount of funneling down from their NCAA athletics team whereas UCLA does not.

Senior Defender and Club Officer Madison Holland detailed their performance, noting in the first-half "They (UCSB) had their chances."

Madison has a theory behind their first-half miscues: "We had been a historically unlucky team and I think we got some good karma that game. They had a few (shots) that hit the crossbar."

The last 45 minutes were another story. "In the second half, we started to dominate and out-run them, winning the ball off chance plays," said Madison.

Ultimately, it was the play of their captain and star forward Kari Schoettler that put away the Gauchos. Schoettler scored in the 82nd minute, and in the remaining time UCLA put the clamps down on defense, fending off the UCSB offensive line.

Despite the momentous win, UCLA finished second in the highly competitive West Coast Conference behind UCSB in a three-way tie. In the Conference, only the two top teams get a tournament bid. Due to their +8 goal differential, they were able to edge out UC San Diego.

UCLA enters the tournament with a plethora of obstacles to take down. The first being Cal Polytechnic University (3-1-0) in Round 1 at 8 am.

Luckily, UCLA enters the tournament with a relatively injury-free roster. "There have been few nagging injuries, mostly from coming straight out of summer into season (and) the amount our bodies are moving per week," said Madison. "As of right now, we look healthy going into this weekend."

Cal Poly poses as another familiar foe as well. Last year in the Regionals Tournament, UCLA defeated Cal Poly 2-0 on an own goal and penalty kick.

According to Madison, "Our biggest challenge is going to be scoring. We are a strong defensive team, but we can't win without scoring goals. So we need to get the ball in the net."

Without looking too far ahead in the bracket, UCLA is eyeing its rematch with the Gauchos this Saturday at a 2 pm start time.

The team has made sure to keep themselves grounded in anticipation of this game. Madison said the club was ecstatic about last weekend's game, but twin sister Lauren made sure to remind her "We face them again this weekend so we can't get too complacent."

If anything, the UCSB victory proved to Madison and company that they can "Get over that hump and do it."

Lauren believes the team's work ethic will continue to build off of the win and take it into regionals.

"They're going to be angry and feisty," Lauren said, referring to UCSB. "But we're pumped and we're ready. We know they're gonna be angry but we're running off some adrenaline."

When speaking on the specifics of the matchup, Megan said they will continue to use their advantage of stamina to outlast the UCSB defense. However, goalkeeping might be another story. UCSB scored 16 goals in league play, leading all other competitors.

UCLA will be playing in Region VI of the Tournament at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. A region heavily vaunted with competitive teams. "It's stacked," laughed Megan. "Our upcoming schedule is insane."

To defeat the other clubs, the team will turn to Schoettler to provide a spark on offense once more. "She's a huge asset to our team," said Megan in an appraisal of her co-captain. "She's a super consistent player whose game shows up on the field every time."

Both goalkeepers have been able to hold their own this season as well, allowing just one goal between them in league play. Lauren spoke on their dominance: "Nina (Chikanov) and Jamie (Kennerk) have been insane and solid back there. They each play half the game essentially."

Overall, Madison has been pleased with her team this year and impressed with how they improve their level of play in the most pivotal of games: "We are consistent in upping our level against legitimate teams."

This gives her all the more reason to be excited for Regionals due to the quality of competition they are about to face. Last year, UCLA placed fourth in the Regionals Tournament, but Madison has other things in mind for this year. "For me, winning regionals would be the biggest feat, almost over nationals just because of the steep competition we're going to face this weekend, which is the most competitive in the nation."

A feat that can only be accomplished if they beat UC Santa Barbara once more and place second or better.

They will be facing UC Davis (4-0-1) on Sunday as well, a team that has a size advantage and plays with great tenacity. You can find the bracket to the NIRSA Regionals Tournament here.