BRIDGET O'BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Bruin alumnus Tracey Milburn played in Friday's Alumni soccer game at Drake Stadium. Her squad was defeated 5-0.
By Michelle Coppolella
Daily Bruin Reporter
Riding high off its No. 2 national ranking for the upcoming season, the UCLA women’s soccer team easily handled the Alumni 5-0 in a friendly exhibition game at Drake Stadium Saturday.
“Today was the most balanced I’ve seen us in going through preseason,” Head Coach Jillian Ellis said. “We’re really starting to connect and we looked sharp. At this point in the season, since they’re pretty legless from all the running, I was quite pleased.”
Despite constant penetration by the pestering Bruin offense, the Alumni held them off and the first half concluded scoreless.
Then, six minutes into the second half, off of a pass from senior forward Stephanie Rigamat, freshman forward Crystal James utilized some fancy footwork and got her first goal as a Bruin, putting UCLA up 1-0.
Not even one minute later, sophomore forward Sarah-Gayle Swanson found the back of the net and increased the Bruin lead to 2-0.
Moments later, sophomore midfielder Whitney Jones decided to contribute to the Bruin’s offensive hammering as she scored in the 56th minute off of an assist from Swanson.
Swanson continued to contribute to UCLA’s success with unselfish play, as she passed the ball to Rigamat in the 61st minute, who gracefully put the Bruins up 4-0.
Sophomore Kathryn Lee capped the scoring with a goal in the 91st minute of play to give UCLA its final edge over the Alumni.
Despite the damage the Bruins may have inflicted on the Alumni’s egos, this will be better remembered as a day when old heroes met up-and-coming stars.
“It’s so comforting to come home with these girls here – I think they’re awesome,” said former player and Assistant Coach Louise Lieberman (’99), who currently plays for the Women’s United Soccer Association’s Washington Freedom. “It’s a talented group of kids who have a talented group of coaches that can undoubtedly take them all the way.”
Lieberman was joined by alumnus Tracey Milburn (’99), who is also her teammate on the Freedom. The attendance of professional players at events like this is not only fun for current Bruins, but appreciated by them as well.
“Having some girls in the pro-leagues gives us a feel of how good you have to be to reach their levels,” Rigamat said. “But it was a lot fun. We like screwing around.”