Arkenberg Leads UCLA Past USC

A tiny heart and a soccer ball hung from the chain around Traci Arkenberg’s neck Sunday as she celebrated the UCLA women’s soccer team’s 3-1 Pacific 10 victory over USC.

The pendants were fitting decorations for a player who, despite being the focus of the Trojan defense, scored the 20th winning goal of her career and helped give the host Bruins sole possession of first place in the conference.

Arkenberg, a senior forward from Palos Verdes Estates, scored her 18th goal of the season in the 68th minute, giving the Bruins (13-2 overall and 5-0 in conference play) a 2-1 lead and eventually, their sixth consecutive victory.

USC (13-2-1, 4-1) unbeaten in its previous 13 games, assigned aggressive fullback Katie Ticehurst to shadow Arkenberg, who managed only two shots on goal but made the most of her limited opportunities.

“I’m used to giving [defenders] piggy-back rides the whole game,” Arkenberg said. “This was a great result for us; we put ourselves in great position to get into the playoffs.”

UCLA, ranked No. 15 nationally by Soccer News, and USC, ranked No. 18, play host to conference foes Arizona, Arizona State, Washington and Washington State to close the regular season. A Bruin-Trojan rematch in the opening round of the NCAA tournament is a possibility.

Sunday, before a UCLA women’s soccer-record crowd of about 2,000, Williams opened the scoring six minutes into the second half by heading in a 40-yard free kick from Skylar Little.

USC pulled even in the 58th minute on a goal by Andrea Warner before Arkenberg scored her eighth goal in five matches against USC with a five-yard blast on the rebound of a Williams shot. Lari Kiremidjian scored UCLA’s third goal with four minutes to play.

With her goal, Arkenberg tied her records for goals and points (43) in a season.