COLLEGES / ALAN OTA : San Diego Coach Eager for Rematch With UCLA

University of San Diego soccer Coach Seamus McFadden can hardly wait for the Toreros’ match against UCLA on Sunday. San Diego enters the NCAA tournament second-round with a six-game winning streak and hopes of getting revenge for an overtime loss to the Bruins earlier this season.

In Saturday’s playoff opener, host San Diego (16-4) was held scoreless in the first half by Stanford before winning 3-0.

“This is the best offensive team I’ve ever had,” said McFadden, who is in his 14th season. “We have a lot of firepower.”

The Toreros are led by freshman Guillermo Jara, who has 14 goals and 15 assists, and 6-foot-5 senior Chugger Adair, with 14 goals and eight assists. Junior midfielder Toby Taitano has five goals and 13 assists.

UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid says containing the three players will be a challenge for the Bruins (13-2-3).

“Jara was an excellent freshman recruit and I only wish we had him,” Schmid said. “Adair is very unique in that not many players of his size have his touch. And if you give Taitano enough time and space, he’ll cut you to pieces.”

San Diego was the only team to score against UCLA in its first nine games. The Bruins won 2-1.

“It’s been our defense that has kept us in the hunt,” Schmid said. “The key for this game will be in the middle of the field. If our midfielders can dominate theirs, we will control the game.”

In 1990, the teams met in the second round of the tournament with UCLA winning in overtime 2-1. The Bruins went on to win their second national championship. McFadden hopes his team has benefited from that experience.

“At this stage, you not only have to be good, but a little bit lucky,” McFadden said. “In the past, UCLA’s had the luck. Now we’re a little bit hungrier.”

The game starts at 1 p.m. at the North Soccer Field.

Beth Bartholomew of UCLA will be the only Bruin competing in the NCAA cross-country championships at Bloomington, Ind., on Monday. At Saturday’s District VIII meet in Tucson, the junior finished ninth in 17 minutes, 53 seconds in the 5-K race and was later named an at-large selection.

The UCLA women’s team finished fifth with 122 points. Bruin junior Karen Hecox was 10th in 17:55.

Until now, Bartholomew’s best races had been confined to track, where she finished third in the Pacific 10 Conference 1,500-meter run in the spring.

“Beth is a middle-distance runner who has really made the step up to the longer race,” UCLA Coach Bob Larsen said.

Bartholomew is the first Bruin to compete in the NCAA meet since 1988.

Leading the UCLA men, who finished fifth with 142 points, was sophomore Creighton Harris, who was eighth in 31:52 over the 10-K course.

Notes

The Pepperdine men’s basketball team will host an exhibition game against the Lafayette (Ind.) Hustlers tonight at 7:45. On Monday, the Waves play the Russian Select Team at 2 p.m. Both games are at the Firestone Fieldhouse. Pepperdine opens the season Dec. 1 at Texas Tech. The women’s team opens on the road against UC Irvine.

The top-ranked UCLA women’s volleyball team (25-0, 15-0 in Pacific 10 play) will host Arizona (10-14, 4-12) tonight and No. 16 Arizona State (21-6, 10-6) on Friday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. in the John Wooden Center. On Tuesday, the Bruins will host No. 10 USC (18-6, 11-4) at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.

The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team (11-15, 7-4 in the West Coast Conference) will play at the University of San Francisco tonight, at St. Mary’s on Friday and at Santa Clara on Saturday. All three matches begin at 7 p.m. The Waves had their 41-match home-court winning streak in league play broken last weekend with a four-game loss to Santa Clara.

The UCLA water polo team will host USC in its final home match of the season Saturday at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center at 2 p.m. The Bruins (10-12) have lost two matches to the Trojans this season.

The fifth-ranked Pepperdine water polo team (16-9) will play at No. 9 Pacific on Saturday at 1 p.m. and No. 12 Fresno State on Sunday at the Clovis West Swim Complex at 11 a.m. The pairings and seedings for the eight-team NCAA Championships will be announced Sunday afternoon.

The UCLA men’s and women’s swim teams will begin their conference schedules by hosting dual meets against Arizona State on Friday at 2 p.m. and Arizona on Saturday at 10 a.m. Both meets will be at the men’s gym pool. The UCLA men beat Texas, 154-89, on Saturday. Bruin Brian Kurza won the 50-meter freestyle in 20.66.