Bruins Face Top 20 Foes in Bay Area
October 28, 2015 | Women's Soccer
UCLA at California
@Berkeley, Calif.
Thursday, Oct. 29 - 3:30 pm PT
TV - Pac-12 Networks (Ann Schatz, Tammy Blackburn)
Live Stats - calbears.com
UCLA at Stanford
@Stanford, Calif.
Sunday, Nov. 1 - 3:30 pm PT
TV - Pac-12 Networks (JB Long, Krista Blunk)
Live Stats - gostanford.com
UCLA Travels to Bay Area for Pivotal Matches
UCLA (8-7-1, 4-3-1 in the Pac-12) heads up north to the Bay Area for a pair of pivotal matches against Top 20 opponents. The Bruins first play 20th-ranked California (12-4-2, 5-3-0) on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 3:30pm in Berkeley. On Sunday, Nov. 1, UCLA will play at No. 4-ranked Stanford (14-2-0, 8-0-0) at 3:30pm. Both matches will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.
Bruins vs. Bears
UCLA is 16-4-1 all-time against California and unbeaten in the last 10 matchups. Cal's last victory came in 2004, a 1-0 double overtime win in Berkeley. UCLA won last year's contest in Los Angeles, 3-0, thanks to goals by Darian Jenkins, Sarah Killion and Zoey Goralski.
California is led by Arielle Shipp, who has totaled 11 goals and 5 assists this season. She leads the Pac-12 in points scored with 27. Goalkeeper Emily Boyd has been outstanding as well, holding a Pac-12-best 0.54 goals against average with 10 shutouts. Her goals against average ranks 17th nationally.
UCLA vs. Stanford
UCLA is 11-11-2 all-time against Stanford with wins in each of the last three contests. The Bruins won last year's matchup in Los Angeles, 2-1, with Annie Alvarado scoring the game-winner, her first career goal, in the 85th minute. UCLA also won the last time the two teams played in Stanford, a regular season 2-1 double overtime victory in 2013. Lauren Kaskie scored the golden goal to snap Stanford's seven-game winning streak in the series.
Stanford has won eight-straight matches, all Pac-12 contests, and is looking to wrap up the conference title with a pair of wins this weekend. The Cardinal will face second-place USC on Thursday night prior to hosting the Bruins. USC is just one game back in the standings. Four Stanford players are in double-digit scoring, led by this week's Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week Haley Rosen, who has 14 points (5g, 4a). Campbell is this week's Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year and holds a 0.67 goals against average with six shutouts.
Stanford is coached by former UCLA women's soccer assistant Paul Ratcliffe, who coached under head coach Joy Fawcett from 1995-97. Ratcliffe played on UCLA's 1990 NCAA Championship team with current UCLA men's head coach Jorge Salcedo.
Cromwell Earns 50th UCLA Win
Bruin head coach Amanda Cromwell earned her 50th win at UCLA on Friday with a 2-1 win over Colorado. Cromwell, who has coached in 65 games at UCLA in three seasons, is the second-fastest to 50 in UCLA women's soccer history, just behind Jill Ellis, who earned her 50th victory in her 63rd game. Cromwell holds a 273-107-33 record in 19 years of coaching and ranks among the top-15 winningest active coaches and the top-20 all-time winningest coaches in NCAA history.
Bruins Earn Weekend Sweep
A strong team effort on both ends of the field led to UCLA's first Pac-12 weekend sweep of the season, with wins over Colorado (2-1) and Utah (1-0). Amber Munerlyn and Annie Alvarado scored second-half goals for the Bruins in the Colorado game, and goalkeeper Siri Ervik made six big saves to help UCLA claim the victory. Against Utah, the Bruin defense was stout in front of Ervik, allowing just three shots, only one on goal. Kodi Lavrusky scored the game's only goal, muscling past a Utah defender to win a bad clearance and poke it into the back of the net in the 67th minute.
Siri Saves the Day
On Oct. 9, redshirt freshman Siri Ervik became the third Bruin goalkeeper to earn a start this season, and she's doing all she can to make it a permanent gig. Since her first career start against Arizona, Ervik has made 14 saves and allowed five goals in five games, holding a 0.96 goals against average. She was pivotal in the 2-1 win over Colorado on Friday, making six saves, including a sequence in the 63rd minute when she made a kick save on a shot, then scrambled to her feet to make a miraculous save off the crossbar on the rebound shot.
Much Love for Lavrusky
Senior forward Kodi Lavrusky has been on fire for the Bruins. In her last five games, she has totaled three goals and two assists. Her hot streak started in the 5-1 win over Arizona when she assisted on the game's first goal and scored the Bruins' third goal. Against Arizona State, she scored the game's first goal, and she assisted on the Bruins' only goal at Oregon State. Although she was shut out of scoring against Colorado, she was still goal-dangerous, coming inches shy of scoring a goal in the second half. Lavrusky scored the game's only goal against Utah on Sunday.
Bruins Earn NSCAA Team Academic Award
For the fourth-straight year, UCLA has earned a NSCAA Team Academic Award. The Bruins earned the first NSCAA Team Academic Award in school history for the 2011-12 campaign and have won it every year since. The 2014-15 Bruins posted a 3.03 team GPA to receive the distinction.
Spread Offense
Ten different UCLA players have scored the Bruins' 23 goals this season. Darian Jenkins leads the team in goals scored with five, followed by Kodi Lavrusky, who has four, and Amber Munerlyn and Annie Alvarado, who have three each. Taylor Smith and Lauren Kaskie have two goals apiece, while Gabbi Miranda, MacKenzie Cerda, Kristiana Konkol-Mroczkowski and Claire Winter have one each. Zoey Goralski leads the team in assists with five, followed by Lavrusky, Alvarado, Smith and Cerda, who have two each.
Pac-12 Leaders
Forward Darian Jenkins leads the Pac-12 in goals per game in conference play with an average of 0.57. She is also tied for the Pac-12 lead in goals in conference games with four in seven games. Defender Zoey Goralski is the Pac-12 leader in assists in conference games, recording four in eight games for a conference-best 0.50 assists per game average. Goralski has a team-high five assists on the year, with three coming on game-winning goals. Additionally, UCLA leads all conference teams in home attendance, averaging 1,315 fans per game. The Bruins also lead in overall attendance average, with an average of 1,342 fans coming out to see UCLA.
Tight Ballgames
Twelve of UCLA's 16 matches have been decided by just one goal. The Bruins have won four games by a 1-0 score, three by a 2-1 count and one by a 5-1 margin.
First-Timers
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Siri Ervik became the latest Bruin to make her collegiate debut, earning the start and the victory in a 5-1 win over Arizona. Additionally, Alyssa Alarab and Taylor Alderete saw their first minutes of the season against the Wildcats.
Of the 20 players who have earned at least one start this year, 11 are first-year starters (Hailie Mace, Zoey Goralski, MacKenzie Cerda, Madison Tye, Gabrielle Matulich, Belden Long, Cassie Sternbach, Arielle Schechtman, Reema Bzeih, Claire Winter and Ervik).
New-Look Bruins
UCLA returns two starters from last season's historic team - forward Taylor Smith and midfielder Annie Alvarado. Smith started all 24 games last year and ranked third on the team in scoring with 24 points (9g, 6a). Alvarado started in 23 of 24 games (missing only on Senior Day) and recorded a goal (the game-winner against Stanford) and two assists.
The Bruins are not, however, without a large group of experienced players. Nine of this year's team members played in at least 15 games last year - Smith, Alvarado, Darian Jenkins, Zoey Goralski, Kodi Lavrusky, MacKenzie Cerda, Gabbi Miranda, Lauren Kaskie and Kristiana Konkol-Mroczkowski. Additionally, Courtney Proctor, who played in 24 games in 2013, returns after missing most of 2014 with injuries. Seven of the aforementioned players were important contributors on UCLA's NCAA Championship squad in 2013, with Jenkins earning All-America honors that season, Smith scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime at North Carolina to send the Bruins to the College Cup, and Lavrusky scoring the championship-winning goal in the final.
Seven of the Bruin starters last year are now playing professionally (Abby Dahlkemper, Caprice Dydasco, Sarah Killion, Sam Mewis, Megan Oyster and Katelyn Rowland in the NWSL and Rosie White in the FA WSL). Rowland, along with Lauren Holiday, won the NWSL Championship recently with FC Kansas City.
Tough Schedule
UCLA plays one of the toughest schedules in the nation, with 14 matches scheduled against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago, including national runner-up Virginia, College Cup participant Stanford and 22-time NCAA champion North Carolina. UCLA's game against Cal will be the Bruins' seventh against a Top 25 team. Sunday's game will mark the third time the Bruins will face a Top 5 squad this season.
Seven Bruins on All-Century Team
Seven UCLA players, led by Starting XI selections Lauren Cheney (2006-09) and Abby Dahlkemper (2011-14), were selected to the Pac-12's All-Century Women's Soccer Team. Named to the reserve squad were Sydney Leroux (2008-11), Sam Mewis (2011-14), Christina DiMartino (2005-08), Nandi Pryce (2000-03) and Katelyn Rowland (2011-14).
Crosstown Rivalry Comes to Westwood
The annual crosstown matchup between UCLA and USC comes to Westwood this season with the regular season finale on Nov. 6 at 6pm. With over 10,000 fans attending last year's matchup, this rivalry is not one to be missed! Tickets are on sale now at uclabruins.com/tickets. UCLA won last year's game at the Coliseum, 2-0, and clinched the Pac-12 title outright thanks to a pair of late goals by Kylie McCarthy.