UCLA
Arizona State
Women's Soccer Hosts Pac-12 Opener Thursday
September 21, 2016 | Women's Soccer
#11 UCLA (6-2-0) vs. Arizona State (5-2-1)
Thursday, Sept. 22- 7 pm PT
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Christian Miles, Tracey Bailey)
Listen: uclabruins.com (John Ramey)
Live Stats: uclabruins.com/livestats
Twitter: @uclawsoccer
Tickets: $8 adults/$5 youth; UCLA students free
UCLA Begins Pac-12 Play Thursday vs. ASU
No. 11 UCLA (6-2-0) will kick off Pac-12 play on Thursday against Arizona State (5-2-1) at Drake Stadium at 7pm. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks and audio broadcast on uclabruins.com.
Olympian Night
Thursday night's game against ASU is Olympian Night, and UCLA will pay tribute to its Olympic competitors, six of whom were in Rio this summer, including bronze medalist Jessie Fleming and goalkeeper coach Aline Reis. In honor of the Olympians' world-wide accomplishments, UCLA will offer fans wearing an international jersey free admission into the game.
In the Rankings
UCLA remained at No. 11 in the NSCAA poll and moved up two spots to No 10 in the Soccer America poll. The Bruins rose four spots to eighth in the Top Drawer Soccer poll.
Last Time Out
UCLA wrapped up non-conference play with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Long Beach State on Sunday night. Amber Munerlyn scored in the first half, and Darian Jenkins recorded the game-winner in the second half. Anika Rodriguez had the assist on both goals.
Bruins Sweep Pac-12 Player of the Week
UCLA made it a clean sweep of the Pac-12 Player of the Week awards, with senior forward Darian Jenkins winning offensive honors for the second time this season, sophomore defender Hailie Mace winning defensive honors, and freshman Teagan Micah winning Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time. Jenkins scored a pair of game-winning goals in Bruin victories at No. 25 Pepperdine (3-0) and against Long Beach State (2-1). Mace played outstanding defense in the two victories and added an assist in the Pepperdine match. Micah earned her fourth shutout against Pepperdine and made critical saves late in the Long Beach win.
Pac-12 Leaders
UCLA is leading the Pac-12 in all scoring categories - points (59), goals (19), goals per game (2.38), assists (21), and assists per game (2.62). Individually, Darian Jenkins is tied for the Pac-12 lead in points (14) and goals (6) and is first in game-winning goals (4). Jessie Fleming leads the conference in points per game (2.20) and goals per game (1.0). Anika Rodriguez is the conference leader in assists (5) and assists per game (0.62).
One Streak Ends, Another Begins
Freshman midfielder Jessie Fleming's scoring streak ended at four games, although she played just eight minutes in her fifth game of the season against Long Beach State. However, senior forward Darian Jenkins extended her scoring streak to three games with a goal in the Pepperdine and the Long Beach State games. All three of Jenkins' goals in the streak were game-winners, and she ranks fourth in the nation with four game-winning goals this season.
Multiple Weapons
UCLA has many options on offense, with eight players scoring 19 goals in eight games played. The Bruins have outscored opponents, 19-8, this season. Darian Jenkins lead the team with six goals, and Jessie Fleming is close behind with five. Seven other players have one goal each - Anika Rodriguez, Annie Alvarado, Amber Munerlyn, Julia Hernandez, Chloe Castaneda, Gabrielle Matulich and Gabbi Miranda. Rodriguez leads the Pac-12 with five assists.
Bruin Strong
Four Bruins have logged over 600 of 734 minutes of playing time in the team's eight games this season. Goalkeeper Teagan Micah has played in all 734 minutes, while defenders Kaiya McCullough (705), Hailie Mace (691) and Zoey Goralski (682) have each played over 600 minutes.
Fresh Faces
Only four players have started in all eight games this season, and three of them are freshmen - goalkeeper Teagan Micah, defender Kaiya McCullough and midfielder Anika Rodriguez. The fourth is sophomore Hailie Mace. Three other newcomers have earned starts this season - sophomore transfer Julia Hernandez, redshirt freshman Chloe Castaneda and freshmen Jacey Pederson and Sunny Dunphy.
About the Sun Devils
Arizona State is 5-2-1 and coming off two straight shutouts against Northern Illinois (3-0) and Cal State Fullerton (2-0). Jazmarie Mader is tied for the Pac-12 lead in goals scored with six and leads her eam with 12 points. UCLA is 3-1 all-time against Long Beach State, with the Beach winning last year's contest, 1-0, in Long Beach. UCLA is 16-1-2 all-time against Arizona State and unbeaten in the last 15 contests against the Sun Devils. The last two seasons have seen 1-1 ties between the two teams.
Proctor Returns to Pitch
Sixth-year senior Courtney Proctor made her season debut last Friday, playing five minutes at Pepperdine. She improved her production to 21 minutes on Sunday against Long Beach State. Proctor began her career at UCLA in 2011, redshirted due to a torn ACL in 2012, played 24 games during UCLA's NCAA championship year in 2013 then played just six games in 2014 due to injury. She was granted a redshirt exception after the 2015 season and came back for her sixth season this year.
International Bruins
UCLA has five international players on its roster this season, all from different countries. Siri Ervik is the lone upperclassman of the group, having arrived from Norway in 2014. The other four are freshmen - Jessie Fleming from Canada, Julia Hernandez from Spain, Teagan Micah from Australia, and Maki Umehara from Japan. Hernandez and Umehara both went to school in the United States (Hernandez played one year at Eastern Florida State College in 2015, and Umehara was born in New York and played at Scarsdale HS in New York in 2012).
#LaurenStrong
The Bruins debuted new warmup shirts to support UCLA alumna Lauren Holiday, who was recently diagnosed with an operable brain tumor. She will have surgery after she gives birth to her first child with husband and fellow UCLA alum Jrue Holiday. UCLA's shirt has the hashtag #LaurenStrong on the front. On the back is her last name with the number 8, which she wore at UCLA.
Crosstown Showdown Moved to StubHub Center
The highly-anticipated Nov. 4 crosstown showdown between UCLA and USC has been moved from McAlister Field on the USC campus to the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. The match will kick off at 7:00 pm and will be televised live on Pac-12 Network. Both UCLA (No. 11 ) and USC (No. 10) are currently ranked in the Top 11. The series between the two teams has averaged over 8,000 fans in the last two years, with an NCAA record 10,128 on hand at the Coliseum in 2014 to see the Bruins defeat the Trojans, 2-0, to capture the Pac-12 title outright.
UCLA Olympians
UCLA had six Bruins in Rio for the Olympics this summer, including bronze medalist Jessie Fleming (Canada) and semifinalist Aline Reis (Brazil). Fleming, a freshman, started six matches for Team Canada and recorded one assist. Reis, the Bruins' goalkeeper coach, started and played in one game for Team Brazil, posting a shutout against South Africa in group play. Former UCLA head coach Jill Ellis selected two Bruins for Team USA - incoming freshman Mal Pugh, who played in three games with two starts and became the youngest player in U.S. Soccer history to score a goal, and alternate Sam Mewis. Rounding out the Bruin contingent in Rio was two-time New Zealand Olympian Rosie White, who played in two of three games for the Football Ferns.
Looking Ahead
The Bruins will travel to Oregon next week to face Oregon State on Sept. 29 and Oregon on Oct. 2.
Alumni Weekend
UCLA Soccer will host a Fall Alumni Weekend for both men's and women's alumni on Oct. 20-23. The weekend activities include a ticket to the UCLA Football Homecoming game on Oct. 22, halftime recognition at the Oct. 23 games, a men's alumni game, a postgame clinic after the women's game, and a barbeque. Alumni seeking more information can contact assistant coaches Phil Marfuggi or Louise Lieberman.
