BARHAM SPARKS USC WIN : USC 5, UCLA 4.

Byline: Heather Gripp Daily News Staff Writer

When Courtney Barham scored USC's third goal, she thought she was sealing a victory. Barham did score the deciding goal, but it was on a shot 36 minutes later.

Barham's header at the corner of the net in the 89th minute gave the USC women's soccer team a 5-4 win over UCLA on Sunday in front of a record home crowd of 1,057 at the L.A. Coliseum. The Bruins rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie it 4-4 in the 87th minute but ended up with their second loss ever to USC (11-6-1, 5-2).

``When I scored the third goal, I thought it was a nail-in-the-coffin type of goal,'' said Barham, a senior who capped her final regular-season home game with her 14th point of the season. ``I was never thinking it'd be wiped out completely. That second goal, I was ecstatic.''

The Pac-10 win moves the Women of Troy into a tie with the Bruins (15-3-1, 5-2), who entered the contest a half game behind Washington.

``The local rivalry is one thing,'' Barham said, ``but the last few years in the Pac-10, it's come down to who's won between UCLA and USC. This year was even more intense.''

The Bruins won the Pac-10 title and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals last year. The Women of Troy have never reached the playoffs. Both teams close out the regular season with games at Arizona and Arizona State.

``They (the Arizona teams) don't have a chance as far as Pac-10 is concerned, but they're going to go in there trying to take us down,'' Barham said. ``It's definitely not over yet''.

That same ``it's-not-over-till-it's over'' philosophy was applied by USC against UCLA, which is ranked No. 11 by Soccer America.

The unranked Women of Troy dominated the first half, starting in the fourth minute with Kim Clark's first of two goals. USC outshot the Bruins 13-4 for a 2-0 lead at the half.

``I told the girls at halftime, if we could just get the third goal, that should do it,'' said USC coach Jim Millinder, who earned his 50th career win.

Barham made it 3-0 in the 53rd minute. Five minutes later, Karissa Hampton's outside shot sailed into the upper left corner of the goal to give UCLA its first score. Tracey Milburn and Venus James combined to bring UCLA within one at the 61st minute. Following a USC goal by Isabelle Harvey, the Bruins' Staci Duncan broke through the defense to dribble downfield and pass off to Vanessa Clark, who scored the tying goal two minutes prior to Barham's deciding goal.

``It's like the worst feeling to lose to USC,'' said James, whose two goals moved the sophomore into a tie for the team lead at nine. ``It's good for us to learn from, though. This is what it's going to take to make it in the playoffs. We have to play 90 minutes, not just 45.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO USC celebrates after a goal Sunday as the unranked Women of Troy defeated No. 11 UCLA, outshooting the Bruins 13-4 in the first half.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Special to the Daily News