Friday October 12, 2001

The Arizona soccer team's resilience will be challenged this weekend when it faces No. 2 UCLA tomorrow night.

The Wildcats will face the Bruins in Westwood, Calif., without senior midfielder/defender Erin Nelson, who will undergo surgery Friday for an ankle injury suffered during Sunday's pre-game warm-up against Air Force.

"We will miss her knowledge, organization and her presence of being a senior," assistant coach Melissa Estrada said.

The Wildcats have more than Nelson's injury to overcome.

UA has lost four consecutive games and continues to move backward in the standings in what coaches and players thought would be a promising season. The Wildcats are coming off a disappointing weekend sweep.

Arizona was defeated 2-1 in sudden-death overtime by Air Force on Sunday afternoon and was shut out 3-0 by the University of Denver - the second time the team had been held scoreless this season.

UCLA is coming off a weekend series where it held opposing teams scoreless.

The Bruins defeated Loyola Marymount 3-0 and Princeton 2-0.

UCLA (9-0-0) - the highest-ranked team on UA's schedule - has allowed just two goals total this year.

UCLA handed UA its worst loss in program history - an 8-0 victory in Tucson last season.

UA head coach Cathy Klein said that for these reasons, UCLA is going to be the team's most difficult opponent, but that her players cannot be intimidated.

"Our focus is on UCLA - they are the finest team on our schedule," Klein said. "We have to literally stare at them in the face and get the job done."

The Wildcats' weekend will not get any easier Sunday when they play Southern California.

The Trojans (5-3-1) are coming off a 2-1 win at San Diego State Sunday and are in the midst of a five-game winning streak.

In last year's matchup, USC defeated the Wildcats, 3-1.

With its series matchup at 6-1-0 - UA's only victory against the Trojans dates back to 1995 with a 3-2 win at home - Estrada said the weekend will be the Wildcats' most demanding of the season.

"USC is not someone you're going to mess around with and take lightly," Estrada said. "(The weekend) is going to be hard - physically and mentally."

Klein said the weekend is going to challenge the Wildcats and test their ability to fight adversity - UA is ready for that test.

"I refuse to focus on what happened in the past," Klein said. "This team is good enough to win today and will be good enough to win tomorrow."