Rivalry game means more than ever

Records and pride are on the line Friday night at the Coliseum.

The Women of Troy will host UCLA in what should be the most intriguing soccer game Los Angeles will see all year. You'll be there if you love the sport, and if you made the mistake of hopping on the Beckham Bandwagon, here's your chance to repent. (Seriously, the Galaxy has two wins in the last four months and Becks is scoring a zero on the zeitgeist in L.A.) At least Chivas USA will make the postseason -- but both the Trojans and Bruins are legit national title contenders. Again.

Last year UCLA won the Pac-10 and was a heavy favorite to hoist the NCAA championship trophy for the first time. The Bruins beat USC in the regular season and historically dominate the series but were derailed by the upstart Trojans in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament -- which USC won on its way to its first title.

Each team boasts an Olympic gold medalist. USC's Amy Rodriguez and UCLA's Lauren Cheney teamed up in the Olympics this summer and became friends. Both have a big scoring punch and can go blow-for-blow on the scoreboard. But it won't be easy for either.

Each team boasts a shutdown threat. The Bruins have a practically impenetrable defense, leading the nation with just two goals allowed through 15 games. One of those was in the opener, so that's just one goal in the last 14 games. They're led by Erin Hardy, Lauren Wilmoth and Lauren Barnes, who all play on youth national teams. USC counters with two big-time net minders, including Kristin Olsen (who was a finalist for last season's national player of the year awards) and Brittany Massro. They combined for 15 shutouts in 2007.

Each team boasts excellent coaching. UCLA's Jillian Ellis has built one of the nation's elite programs in Westwood and also serves as an assistant coach for the national team (she joined Rodriguez and Cheney in Beijing). On the other bench, Ali Khosroshahin won the national title in his first season at USC and was a no-brainer pick for national coach of the year -- winning the honor in three publications.

Each team boasts a top-10 ranking and a chance to play for the national championship. Each is loaded with players who could make it to the professional ranks (the new women's league kicks off this year and had two Bruins taken in the first round of the inaugural draft). Each team is just darned good.

If that's not enough reason to go (trust me, it is), the schools are hoping to play in front of an NCAA record crowd. The game is being held in the Coliseum with the hope of having more than 15,000 fans in attendance. The previous record for a women's soccer game was 14,410 for a national title bout between North Carolina and Notre Dame in 1999. UCLA played before a crowd of 9,566 in the 2000 national championship game.

This game will not be a boring 69-0 blowout like that other USC "football" team had last week, and with tickets just $7 for adults ($5 for kids), it's a great game to bring the family to. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

-- Adam Rose
Photo by Sam Haythorn