UCLA Announces 2018 Women's Soccer Schedule
June 20, 2018 | Women's Soccer
The UCLA women's soccer team moves into a new home - Wallis Annenberg Stadium - in 2018 with a seven-game home schedule. The season officially kicks off Aug. 17 in the new stadium against Long Beach State.
UCLA will have 12 games televised on the Pac-12 Network, including 10 of its 11 conference games.
"I think our schedule sets us up really well for the postseason," said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. "We have a great preseason scrimmage against BYU (Aug. 10), who is always a tough squad. We'll be able to see some things about ourselves and our rookies right away, and we'll be tested throughout the course of the whole season."
The Bruins' non-conference schedule includes a challenging road stretch at Penn State on Aug. 25, at Florida on Aug. 31 and at Florida State on Sept. 2.
"That's going to be a big road trip, not only for competition and to see where we are, but also for team-bonding," said Cromwell. "We're going to be able to spend a couple of days at my family's vacation home in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, so we'll have some of that team bonding time and set the tone for the season."
Following the two-week trip, the Bruins will then return home to host Pepperdine on Sept. 7 before staying in Southern California for a pair of road matches at Loyola Marymount (Sept. 13) and San Diego State (Sept. 16).
"All of these California schools, including Long Beach State, always give us their best games," Cromwell said. "They all have quality players, and it's always going to be a battle, which will help us prepare for the Pac-12."
Pac-12 Conference play begins Sept. 21 at home against Washington State, followed by road matches at defending NCAA champion Stanford on Sept. 27 and at California on Sept. 30. The regular season is culminated by the annual crosstown showdown against USC on Nov. 2. Last season's matchup with USC, won by UCLA in overtime, drew an NCAA record crowd of 11,925.ย
"The game with USC should again be a great atmosphere," Cromwell said. "The crosstown rivalry is always strong, and hopefully the fans come out in full force."
The Bruins return nine starters and 87.5% of its goal-scoring from last year's NCAA runner-up squad, including first-team All-Americans Jessie Fleming and Hailie Mace and All-Region honorees Ashley Sanchez and Kaiya McCullough. Also returning is midfielder Anika Rodriguez, who scored 25 points a year ago, and goalkeeper Teagan Micah, who ranks fifth on UCLA's career shutout list and led the nation in goalkeeper minutes played with 2,268 in 2017.
All home games, with the exception of the Aug. 10 scrimmage with BYU at Drake Stadium, will be played at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, which is located at the Bruins' former practice field, the North Athletic Field. The new stadium was made possible thanks to a $5 million lead gift from the Annenberg Foundation. For more information, visit woodenathleticfund.com/annenberg.
Tickets for the 2018 season will go on sale later this summer. Visit uclabruins.com/tickets for more information. Bruin fans can stay connected with the soccer program by joining the Center Circle Club. Join today for only $100 and receive an exclusive team scarf, as well as complimentary admission to all home games.
Download the Bruin Calendar to sync the 2018 schedule to your personal calendar.
