Kicking It Into High Gear

Chad Barrett has played only five matches with the UCLA men’s soccer team, but he is feeling right at home with the defending national champions.

In 45 minutes against Cal State Fullerton on Sunday, the freshman from Beaverton, Ore., also showed he could make the Home Depot Center his new home in a few years.

Barrett had a role in five second-half goals as the third-ranked Bruins defeated the Titans, 5-0. He scored twice and assisted on three goals by Matt Taylor in a breakout performance.

“Oh, yeah, I had a lot of fun,” said Barrett, who leads UCLA with 15 points. “It was like a professional atmosphere out there. We were at the [Galaxy] game the night before, and everyone kept asking about us playing on the field.”

UCLA Coach Tom Fitzgerald praised his new forward, who is a member of the U.S. under-18 national team and was Oregon’s high school soccer player of the year.

“He’s got a nose for the goal,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s like a bull in a china closet.”

Both teams relished the opportunity of playing at the new stadium in Carson.

“The ambience is remarkable,” Fullerton Coach Al Mistri said. “I would love to play a match here every year if we could. For our kids, it was a treat.”

*

The Fullerton women’s soccer team took a major hit Sunday when standout sophomore goalkeeper Karen Bardsley broke her right leg in a match at Washington. She will miss the rest of the season.

Bardsley was playing in her first match for the Titans after spending a week with the English national team. She was injured in a collision with a player for the Huskies as both chased a loose ball in a match won by Washington, 3-0.

Bardsley was the Big West Conference’s top freshman last year.

Fullerton is also without junior Kellie Cox for the season, who suffered a lacerated and bruised liver against Fairleigh Dickinson on Sept. 1.

*

Pepperdine sophomore Carolina Llano took individual honors at the NCAA Fall Preview golf tournament in Opelika, Ala.

Llano bested Lisa Meldrum of Oklahoma by three shots thanks to a final-round 66 that included a hole in one on the par-three 15th.