Losses Have Been Rare For Bruin Soccer Teams

The UCLA men’s and women’s soccer teams must be drinking from the same water fountain. Each team has seven victories and is ranked by Soccer America. However, each suffered a setback in its last game. One team lost a game, the other its captain.

Sophomore midfielder Sasha Victorine is out for the season after tearing a knee ligament in the first half of the men’s 2-0 victory over Fresno State on Sunday.

“This is definitely a big blow to our team,” Coach Sigi Schmid said. “It would be the equivalent of the football team losing [quarterback] Cade McNown or the basketball team losing [point guard] Tyus Edney during their championship run. He was the quarterback of our team.

“We are going to need two to four games to move some people around and readjust. Coming into the season, depth was one of the strengths to our team, so we are going to need people to step up their roles and pick up the slack.”

Schmid said sophomore Peter Vagenas and freshman Shaun Tsakiris will be asked to take over leadership roles for the fifth-ranked Bruins (7-1).

“This doesn’t derail us,” Schmid said. “It just means that we are going to have to work harder to reach our goal.”

The UCLA women’s loss wasn’t nearly so costly.

The Bruins (7-2) broke into the Soccer America poll at No. 19 for the first time this season after winning seven of their first eight games, only to lose to No. 17 Brigham Young, 3-1, the same hour the poll was released Monday.

But if the trend continues, the Bruins shouldn’t be hurt by the loss. After UCLA’s loss to No. 7 Connecticut on Sept. 20, they climbed two spots to No. 11 in a poll compiled by Soccer News.

The men open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference play Friday against Cal Poly Pomona at Spaulding Field before joining the women for a doubleheader at El Camino College against San Jose State on Sunday. The women will play San Francisco at noon, followed by the men’s game at 2:30. . . .

At USC, the Trojan women (7-1-1) are enjoying their first ranking--25th, according to Soccer Buzz--since the program made its debut in 1993. USC has not lost since the second game of the season and figures to improve with the return of sophomore Isabelle Harvey, who had knee surgery. Harvey led the Pac-10 in scoring last season with 20 goals.

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The second-ranked Long Beach State women’s volleyball team (11-1) continues to roll after ending No. 3 Florida’s 37-game home winning streak Sept. 19, but the real surprise is at Malibu where Pepperdine is 11-0. Pepperdine, ranked 12th in the USA Today/AVCA poll, has beaten ranked teams in its last three victories.

The Waves will start West Coast Conference play this weekend at Santa Clara and St. Mary’s. Santa Clara twice defeated Pepperdine last season, both matches going five games.

Loyola Marymount will also head north to begin WCC play with matches against St. Mary’s on Friday and Santa Clara on Saturday. LMU hopes to extend its 31-match WCC winning streak. . . .

After a tough conference loss at Washington State, No. 7 USC (10-1) faces an even greater challenge Friday. Stanford will bring its 11-match winning streak to the North Gym. . . .

On Saturday, UCLA will play No. 4 Stanford at Pauley Pavilion, and Long Beach State will host No. 10 Pacific.

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Pepperdine’s undefeated and top-ranked men’s water polo team begins a four-game homestand with a doubleheader Saturday against UC Santa Barbara and Occidental.

Pepperdine’s quick starts and stubborn defense have helped the Waves to a 9-0 record. They have outscored opponents in the first quarter, 25-3, and have yielded an average of only four goals a game. After Saturday, the Waves will have a week to prepare for No. 2 California when they meet at Pepperdine on Oct. 11. . . .

No. 6 UCLA and No. 3 USC will bump heads Friday in Westwood for the first time since they played for the NCAA championship last season. The Trojans surrendered the No. 2 spot after a 9-8 loss at Cal on Saturday but hope to avenge the loss to the Bruins that gave UCLA the ’96 title.