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Junior forward Katherine Bjazevich, 9, dribbles the ball around a Pepperdine defender Aug. 23 at Drake Stadium.

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Bruins live up to hype in win over Waves

Published: Monday, August 26, 2002

You know you’re watching a relatively meaningless sporting event when your team’s coach leaves the stadium in the middle of the game and doesn’t come back.

The departure of UCLA women’s soccer head coach Jillian Ellis midway through the Aug. 23 2-1 home win against Pepperdine should come as no shock however. The exhibition match didn’t even count in the Pac-10 standings.

Even though they won, there is still much left for the Bruins to do between now and the end of the season in November.

Ellis, who departed on an afternoon recruiting mission to Minnesota, inherits a team that loses seven talented starters.

As might be expected, the squad that hopes to carry on the torch without missing a beat is quick to sing the praises of the incoming freshmen.

“We had a great recruiting class, and we had some good depth on our bench last year (that will) step in and play,” assistant coach Kat Mertz said.

“I think we’ve got a great recruiting class in; they’re strong players. I think we’ll get even further (than last year),” said midfielder Tracy Winzen, the team’s lone senior.

“We’re really young, but we’re really committed to knowing that we have the makings of a national championship (squad),” defender Nandi Pryce said.

But maybe there’s something to all the buzz.

The crown jewel of the 2002 recruits, Stacy Lindstrom, scored the first goal of the Bruins’ new season roughly 10 minutes (no official game clock was displayed at Drake Stadium) into her first game in a UCLA uniform.

“I didn’t know what to expect (before the game); I was really nervous. But all the girls are really supportive,” Lindstrom said. “It should be a fun season.”

The rest of the NCAA seems to have faith in the Bruins, too. UCLA finished with a 20-3 record last year and a No. 5 national ranking after advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals.

Furthermore, despite the off-season departures, the NSCAA/Adidas National Rankings already have the Bruins ranked third in the country.

“We know we’ve got the talent,” Mertz said following the game. “We have some things to work on defensively.”

If UCLA’s performance against the No. 25 Waves is any indication of the team’s potential, the early hype is justified. UCLA’s starters came out more quickly and more invigorated than Pepperdine and kept the ball consistently on the opponents’ half of the field until the Bruins emptied their bench.

Sophomore Lindsay Greco, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL, set up Lindstrom on the Bruins’ first goal. Greco scored six goals in the first four games of 2001.

Sophomore Crystal James scored the Bruins’ other goal late in the first half.

Starting goalkeeper Sara Lombardo played the entire first half and didn’t allow a goal. Although relatively few shots came her way, the sophomore’s aggressive play away from the net snuffed several Pepperdine scoring chances.

UCLA’s defense fatigued after halftime, leaving goalies Jackie Harwood and Tara Gotthart plenty of shots to defend. Gotthart, a freshman, played only the final 20 minutes but looked especially tough, acrobatically stopping several point-blank Wave shots in traffic.

Obviously, recruiting is still a priority, but one key question remains: Who will step up to lead this young team?

“Our junior class has 12 players, and all of us have some kind of leadership – on the field and off,” said Pryce, who split the summer traveling between San Diego, Mexico and Finland with the U.S. Nordic Cup team. One of the Bruins’ top defenders last season and a vocal player on the field, Pryce is a logical choice to lead this squad.

Another nationally elite player, Jill Oakes, is still on tour with the U.S. Under-19 Team, and did not play against Pepperdine.

The Bruins get their first crack at a real game Aug. 30 against San Diego at Drake Stadium.