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USC, UCLA too much for soccer team to handle

Ian C. Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat UA's sophomore midfielder Twila Kaufman (right) fights for the ball, while elbowing the defender away in a game earlier this season. The Wildcats had a rough road trip losing to USC 6-0 and UCLA 6-1 Friday and Sunday respectively, but they still managed to see some positives in the aftermath.

Heading into what was to be its toughest weekend of the season, the UA women's soccer team had high aspirations as they traveled to Los Angeles to take No. 11 USC and No. 8 UCLA.

Reality set in, though, as the Wildcats (6-6-0 overall, 0-3-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference) were overmatched by the two nationally-ranked Los Angeles schools and came home with two resounding losses.

"It was a tough weekend, we knew it would be," junior goalkeeper Inger Airheart said. "We are just going to learn from this weekend."

The weekend started off poorly for UA as they lost 6-0 to the Trojans (9-3-0 overall, 2-0 Pac-10).

"The USC game, we didn't quite play at our potential," sophomore forward Kristi Lorona said. "I think we came out scared and intimidated of their record, we just have to learn from this."

The Trojans got on the board quickly with a pair of goals in the opening 10 minutes of the game by junior defender Katie Ticehurst and junior midfielder Isabelle Harvey.

USC spread their scoring out evenly throughout the rest of the contest as sophomore forward Brittany Savelkoul and freshman midfielder Tawny Flores each scored, while sophomore forward Christy Callier tallied two goals.

Trojan goalkeepers Lauren Arase and Shaelyn Fernandes combined to make two saves and to earn USC's sixth shutout of the season.

The Wildcats were outshot 26-8 and Airheart and sophomore goalkeeper Shannon Monti combined to make seven saves for UA.

After the disheartening loss to the Trojans, the Wildcats had to face an even better team in No. 8 UCLA (10-2-0 overall 2-0-0 Pac-10).

Once again, the Wildcats fell behind quickly as UCLA freshman forward Jessica Winton and sophomore midfielder Bethany Bogart each scored in the games first 11 minutes.

The Wildcats were never able to recover as UCLA junior forward Tracey Milburn scored twice, while sophomore midfielder Vanessa Clark and sophomore forward Courteney Cosso each scored a goal as UA lost 6-1.

The lone Wildcats goal came from sophomore forward Katie Winship in the 53rd-minute.

Even with the daunting score, Airheart was enthused about the game against the Bruins.

"We played well, we played physical," she said. "We were disappointed with the weekend, not a season ending disappointment though."

Sophomore midfielder Twila Kaufman was also pleased with the effort, despite the outcome.

"I was very proud of the way our team got together as a team against UCLA," she said. "The effort was there every single time."

The Wildcats just could not get started offensively as the Bruins outshot them 22-4.

Even after the loss, UA remains confident that they can still make the NCAA tournament at the end of the season.

"We still have a very, very good chance of going to the tournament," Airheart said. "We are just going to learn from this weekend."