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Soccer meets Charleston in quarterfinals

Bruins look to earn trip to Final Four with victory over 'Cinderella' Cougars

By Tim Costner

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Believe it or not, three news crews from Charleston, S.C. will be coming out to the North Soccer Field this weekend just for highlights from the NCAA quarterfinal game between UCLA and the College of Charleston.

Suffice it to say that the soccer following is huge in that small city, and has readily embraced the upstart Cougars ­ a team that has already advanced to the Elite Eight of NCAA soccer in just its fourth year as a Division I program.

"They're the thing in Charleston," UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid said. "One of the things they do is put on a major soccer tournament, and one of the city jobs there is coordinating the tournament. In terms of economic impact, it generated $200,000 for the community."

But while the Cougars might be well known in some areas of the Eastern Seaboard, they are hardly known at UCLA, and this weekend will be the first time that the two teams face each other.

"We really don't know much about them at all which is good," UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid said. "But the thing that we do have to know is that, because they are not a big-name school and a traditional soccer power, we can't underestimate them. They've beaten teams that have beaten them earlier in the season, and they're kind of on a roll now."

In the Southern region, Charleston upset top-seeded North Carolina and fourth-seeded South Carolina to get this far, slipping by both teams in sudden death overtime. To prepare for the Cougars, the Bruins can only go by the advice of other coaches.

"We're not really allowed to exchange videotapes in soccer like you can in football," said Schmid. "So what we try to do is talk to coaches who have played them and get a feel of how different games have gone in different situations. I've got a pretty good feel of them, but the key thing that came from every coach is that they've worked very, very hard."

The Cougars are spearheaded by Chad Carithers ­ the nation's third leading scorer with 52 points. Carithers has scored 19 goals this season and has made 14 assists, and is being considered for the Olympic pool.

"Obviously his numbers speak for themselves," Schmid said. "But we take who we think are the two best players and try to mark them, and so I think that will be OK. We have to be motivated as we go into the quarterfinals. Charleston has won both of their games on the road, so winning at home is not as easy as it seems."

From the UCLA players' perspectives, the Bruins are not going to view the Cougars as an easy step to the Final Four.

"If they're a team that works hard and has some skill, anything can happen," said UCLA right winger Joe Christie. "We're talking like we're going to the Final Four, but I think it's because we're confident that we're going to beat this team ­ not because we're going to look past them. I think we respect them for getting where they are."

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