UCLA vs. VCU
Marshall Field at Drake Stadium
Friday, Sept. 25 - 4:30 pm PT
TV - Pac-12 Networks (Christian Miles, Christopher Sullivan)
Radio/Live Stats - www.UCLABruins.com
Twitter - @UCLAMSoccer | #VCUvsUCLA
UCLA vs. UC Irvine
Marshall Field at Drake Stadium
Sunday, Sept. 27 - 7:00 pm PT
TV - Pac-12 Networks (Christian Miles, Cobi Jones)
Radio/Live Stats - www.UCLABruins.com
Twitter - @UCLAMSoccer | #UCIvsUCLA
UCLA Closes Out Home Stand This Weekend
The UCLA Bruins conclude a five-game home stand this weekend with a pair of non-conference matches against VCU and UC Irvine. The Bruins open the weekend against the Rams on Friday, September 25 at 4:30pm PT before closing out against the Anteaters on Sunday, September 27 at 7:00pm PT. Both games can be seen live on the Pac-12 Networks or listened to live at uclabruins.com.
In The Rankings
UCLA remains unranked in the NSCAA Coaches' Poll, the Soccer America Poll and the Top Drawer Soccer Poll. VCU and UC Irvine also find themselves unranked in all major polls.
Scouting the Rams
The VCU Rams enter the weekend with an overall record of 2-5-1 and 0-2 in road games this season. The Rams lost their opening four matches of the season before turning it around as of late. VCU is 2-1-1 in its last four, but went 0-1-1 last weekend against No. 25 Georgetown and No. 4 Virginia. The Rams battled the Hoyas to a 2-2 draw last Thursday and fell to the Cavaliers, 1-0, on Monday. The VCU offense is led by sophomore Raphael Andrade Santos and junior Jason McGlothern who each have a trio of goals this season. In net, sophomore Pierre Gardan has gone 2-3-1, allowing eight goals in six games, while senior Garrett Cyprus is 0-2, allowing five goals in two games.
This will mark the first ever meeting between UCLA and VCU on the pitch. The Bruins are 10-8 all-time against current members of the Atlantic-10 Conference.
Bruin - Ram Connections
-- UCLA sophomore defender Chase Gasper and VCU junior forward Simon Kargbo, sophomore defender Cedric Ekoue and junior forward Rahim Costa-Dorsey are all from Alexandria, Va.
-- UCLA freshman goalkeeper Pepe Barroso Silva and VCU junior forward Jorge Herranz are both from Madrid, Spain.
-- UCLA sophomore forward Seyi Adekoya and VCU junior midfielder Jason McGlothern are both from Seattle, Wash.
Scouting the Anteaters
The UC Irvine Anteaters enter the weekend with an overall record of 1-4-2 and 0-4-1 away from home this season. The Anteaters have not won since their opening match agaisnt Loyola (Ill.) on August 28. UC Irvine has been shut-out four times this year and has not scored more than one goal in any game. This past weekend, the Anteaters fell at Oral Roberts, 2-1, on Thursday and at SMU, 2-0, on Sunday. The UC Irvine offense is led by freshman midfielder Ivan Canales, who has two goals, and junior forward Edgardo Molina, who has one goal. In between the pipes, senior Michael Breslin has started all seven games, posting a 1.34 GAA, after allowing 10 goals against.
UCLA is 15-3-0 all-time against UC Irvine, but lost the last meeting, 3-1, at Irvine in 2013. Under Head Coach Jorge Salcedo, the Bruins are 2-1 against the Anteaters, claiming victories in 2012 and 2004. UCLA holds an 8-1-0 edge over UC Irvine in nine all-time home meetings.
Bruin - Anteater Connections
-- UCLA senior defender Edgar Contreras and UCI senior midfielder Gerardo Gonzalez both transferred from Taft College (Taft, Calif.).
-- UCLA sophomore midfielder Will Cline and freshman forward Robert Knights, along with UCI senior midfielder Mats Bjurman are all from Irvine, Calif.
Weekend Produces Opposite Results
After losing three consecutive matches, the Bruins opened last weekend with a resounding, 4-1, win over the Cal Poly Mustangs on Friday. Following the Mustangs first-half goal, UCLA erupted for four second-half goals to down Cal Poly at home. The Bruins' four-goal output is the most they've scored in a game this season and the first time they've scored four in a game since November 24, 2013. It also marked the first time since November 21, 2010 that UCLA had scored four goals in one half.
However, on Monday, the Bruins earned a completely opposite result, getting downed by UC Santa Barbara, 4-2. Larry Ndjock netted the game's first goal on a penalty kick in the first half, but the Gauchos responded with four unanswered goals to shock UCLA and capture the first victory over the Bruins on their home soil since 1978 and just their fifth win all-time over UCLA.
Youth Reigns Supreme
For UCLA this season, the youth has carried the scoring load through six games. Of the Bruins' 10 goals, eight have been scored by freshmen or sophomores. The scoring breakdown by class can be found below.
| Class | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Freshman | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| Sophomore | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| Junior | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Senior | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Adekoya Getting Hot
UCLA sophomore striker Seyi Adekoya is getting hot quickly for the Bruin offense. The Seattle native, who had five goals a year ago, has three goals so far on the 2015 campaign to lead UCLA. After not scoring in the team's opening four matches, Adekoya has three goals over his last two matches to jump to the top of the Bruin stat sheet with six points. The preseason All-Pac-12 selection finds himself just one goal back of the conference lead.
Yueill the Rookie Class of the Conference
UCLA freshman midfielder Jackson Yueill has proved he's the class of the Pac-12 among freshmen so far this season. The Minnesota native currently leads all freshman in the conference with six points on two goals and two assists. His six points are tied with Seyi Adekoya for the team lead through six matches.
Second Half Adjustments
UCLA has been a completely different team in the second half so far this season. Eight of the team's 10 goals have been scored in the second half and 55 of their 83 shots have come in the second half. The shot differential in the second half also favors UCLA, 55-29, over opponents.
Nothing Like Home Cooking
UCLA has had a lot of success against non-conference opponents at home under Head Coach Jorge Salcedo. Since Salcedo took over in 2004, the Bruins have gone 34-8-5 at home against non-conference foes. Six of Salcedo's 11 previous seasons have resulted in zero home losses to non-conference opponents, four have resulted in one loss and just one resulted in two losses. So far in 2015, UCLA is 2-2-0 against non-conference opponents at home, taking down New Mexico and Cal Poly, while falling to UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara. The Bruins close out their non-conference home schedule this weekend with a pair of games.
Adekoya, Amick & Danladi Earn All-Pac-12
UCLA sophomores Seyi Adekoya and Abu Danladi, along with junior Michael Amick, were each named to the inaugural Preseason All-Pac-12 team this season. UCLA's three representatives ties Stanford for a conference-high, followed by Washington and Oregon State with two and California with one. Danladi and Adekoya return to Westwood after finishing second and third respectively in points on the team last season, while Amick comes back to anchor a strong Bruin backline. Amick earned first team All-Pac-12 a season ago, while Adekoya was named second team All-Pac-12.
Amick Named to MAC Hermann Watch List
UCLA junior Michael Amick was recently named to the 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy watch list. Amick is one of 30 men and 28 women from Division I soccer programs to be named to their respective watch lists. Last season, the MAC Hermann Trophy was awarded to UCLA midfielder Leo Stolz, marking the first Bruin to win the award since the MAC Player of the Year and the Hermann Trophy merged in 2002. Amick, a third team NSCAA All-American last season, is one of 13 players on the watch list who received NSCAA All-American nods in 2014.