UCLA
Utah
Women's Soccer Returns Home to Host Utah
October 11, 2017 | Women's Soccer
Utah (5-6-2, 0-4-1) at No. 2 UCLA (11-0-2, 4-0-1)
Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017 โ 8 p.m. (PT)
Los Angeles, Calif. (Drake Stadium)
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Drake Stadium (11,000)
Kickoff Time: 8:00 p.m. PT
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Christian Miles, Temryss Lane
Live Stats: UCLALiveStats.com
Audio Broadcast: uclabruins.com
Audio Talent: Nick Koop
Tickets: $8 adults / $5 youth 12 and under
Promotion: Paint it Pink
Giveaway: Pink Signs and Poms Poms
BRUINS HOST UTES ON THURSDAY
Second-ranked UCLA (11-0-2, 4-0-1 in the Pac-12) returns to Westwood this week for a Pac-12 matchup against Utah on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. PT. The match will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network and can also be heard over the internet at UCLABruins.com. It will also be UCLA's annual Breast Cancer Awareness match. Fans who wear pink will be granted free admission.
UCLA DROPS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
For the first time in six weeks, UCLA fell out of the No. 1 position following a 2-2 tie at Arizona. The Bruins are now the second-ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches national rankings after a six week stint at the top, and are also No. 2 in both the Top Drawer Soccer and Soccer America polls. UCLA's last foray at the top of the rankings came in 2014, when the Bruins spent the entire regular season ranked No. 1.
STILL UNBEATEN
UCLA is one of just three teams in NCAA Division I who remain unbeaten. The other unbeatens after Sunday's play are Texas (11-0-2) and Milwaukee (11-0-3). The Bruins have a 17-game unbeaten streak dating back to last season.
MACE NAMED PAC-12 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK AGAIN
Junior Hailie Mace earned her second-straight Pac-12 honor of the season and her third of the season, being named the Offensive Player of the Week. She is also leading the league with three weekly Pac-12 honors. Mace totaled three more goals on the road at Arizona State and Arizona. She scored two goals in the Bruins' 3-0 win at Arizona State and netted another goal in a 2-2 tie at Arizona. Mace now leads the Pac-12 in goals scored (12) and points (27) and is tied for the conference lead in game-winning goals (4). She has scored six goals in her last four games.
CROMWELL SECURES 300
UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell earned her 300th career victory against Arizona State on Thursday. The native of Annandale, Va. is in her sixth season at UCLA and has picked up 77 wins with the Bruins, including the 2013 national championship. Before coming to Westwood, she spent 14 seasons at Central Florida, where she collected 203 victories, and also coached at UMBC for two years, where she totaled 20 wins. Cromwell currently ranks among the top-25 winningest active coaches and the top-30 all-time winningest coaches in NCAA history.
MIDSEASON HONORS
UCLA had a total of nine players honored by Top Drawer Soccer this week on its Top 100 Midseason list. Sophomore Jessie Fleming earned the number one overall spot after being ranked No. 4 during the preseason. Junior Hailie Mace went from unranked to inside the top-10 earning the No. 8 ranking., while sophomore Kaiya McCullough came in at No. 61 and Anika Rodriguez landed at No. 89. Five freshmen earned Midseason freshman honors with three in the top 10 - Ashley Sanchez (No. 2), Delanie Sheehan (No. 4) and Karina Rodriguez (No. 10). Viviana Villacorta earned the No. 60 ranking, and Olivia Athens came in at No. 77.
MACE SETS THE PACE
Junior forward Hailie Mace continues to pace UCLA in the scoring column, leading the team in points (27) and goals (12), both career-high totals for the former defender. On Aug. 24, Mace recorded a first half hat trick, the 26th hat trick in UCLA women's soccer history, in the 4-2 win over Santa Clara. She also added a brace against Oregon State, scoring two goals in just over six minutes and against Arizona State. Mace also ranks 14th in the NCAA in game-winning goals (4).
RODRIGUEZ IS ROLLING
Sophomore Anika Rodriguez has been on a scoring tear, having scored or recorded an assist in each of the last four games. Last week, Rodriguez tallied three points in both road matches in Arizona and has totaled 11 points in conference play, second in the Pac-12 behind only teammate Hailie Mace. Rodriguez now ranks second on the team in points with 14 and is second in the Pac-12 with six assists.
SANCHEZ STEALS SHOW
Freshman Ashley Sanchez has been on a roll in the Bruins' last seven games, having scored or recorded an assist in four of the last seven games. At Virginia on Sept. 7, she scored the game's first goal and assisted on the game-winner and was subsequently named Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week, and at Colorado on Sept. 22, she scored the game-winner and assisted on the second goal. Sanchez now ranks third on the team in points with 13 and is first in the Pac-12 with seven assists and 10th in the nation in assists per game with 0.58.
HIGH FIVE FOR HERNANDEZ
Junior forward Julia Hernandez sits behind Hailie Mace atop the team leaderboard in goals (five) and fourth in points (10). Hernandez has scored her five goals in just 268 minutes of play, an average of one goal per 54 minutes.
MICAH HITS CENTURY MARK
Sophomore goalkeeper Teagan Micah surpassed the century mark for career saves and now has 122 in her career. She posted a season-best six saves in the Bruins' shutout win at BYU and four in the win at Virginia, including a huge stop in the final minute to prevent overtime. Micah has recorded five shutouts this season and has 14 in her brief Bruin career, tied for eighth all-time at UCLA.
SETTING CAREER HIGHS
A number of Bruins have already set career-highs this season. Junior Hailie Mace did not score a goal coming into this season and already has 12 and has also tied her career-high with three assists. Sophomore Julia Hernandez netted just one goal in her first season in Westwood in 2016 but now has five. Jessie Fleming's six assists this season are already a career-high. Also, Gabrielle Matulich has set a career-best in points with eight, surpassing her three points from last year, while MacKenzie Cerda has tied a career-high with seven points.
FRESH FACES
UCLA's freshman class has already made a big impact, with seven freshmen earning starting positions in at least one game so far this season. Karina Rodriguez has started in 12 games, and Ashley Sanchez has 11 starts. Delanie Sheehan has nine starts, Viviana Villacorta seven, Olivia Athens two, and Marley Canales and Kennedy Faulknor one each. Sanchez ranks third on the team in scoring with 13 points and is first in assists with seven. She and Sheehan have each scored three goals apiece, and Athens and Villacorta each have three assists. Rodriguez is second among field players with 1021 minutes played. Additionally, Canales has played in 10 games, and Faulknor made her UCLA debut in a starting role at Weber State and has played in five games.
SUPER SENIORS
With an underclassman-heavy squad and just eight upperclassmen, the Bruins are leaning on the experience of the senior class, particularly fifth-year seniors Zoey Goralski and Claire Winter. The duo, who are the last remaining players from UCLA's 2013 NCAA Championship team, serve as team co-captains, along with Jessie Fleming. Both Goralski and Winter have played in every game, with Goralski earning 12 starts and Winter six.
SCOUTING THE UTES
Utah comes into Thursday's match with a 0-4-1 record in conference play and are 5-6-2 overall on the season. The Utes are currently in a four-game losing streak and last earned a win on Sept. 15 against Kansas at home, 2-1. Hailey Skolmoski leads Utah with seven goals on the season and is fourth in the conference. Right behind her is Paola Van der Veen with six goals. The duo are tied for the team lead with 15 points, which rank sixth in the Pac-12. In net, Carly Nelsonhas made all 13 starts for the Utes and has a 1.30 goal-against average with 45 saves.
LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP
The top-ranked Bruins made a roadtrip through Arizona last week and came home with a 1-0-1 mark. UCLA began the week with a convincing 3-0 win at Arizona State for head coach Amanda Cromwell's 300th career victory. Hailie Mace scored twice, and Anika Rodriguez capped the game off with a goal in the 54th minute. In Sunday's match at Arizona, UCLA jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half with goals from Mace and Rodriguez, but the Wildcats tied the match in the second half and were able to keep the Bruins off the board in overtime for the 2-2 draw.
GORALSKI SELECTED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
UCLA co-captain Zoey Goralski has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award for women's soccer. The award honors student-athletes who excel both on and off the field. Goralski, a defender/forward from Naperville, Ill., is a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention selection and 11-time member of the UCLA Athletic Director's Honor Roll. She is slated to graduate in Fall 2017 with a degree in Physiological Sciences. A three-year starter, Goralski has scored three goals and totaled 15 assists. She led the team with five assists in 2015 and matched that number in 2016. As a redshirt freshman in 2014, she played in 22 games and earned All-Freshman honors by Soccer America and the Pac-12. Goralski is currently a member of the U.S. Under-23 National Team.
FLEMING HEADS MAC HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST
Sophomore midfielder Jessie Fleming has been selected to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for 2017. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female players of the year. Fleming, a member of the full Canadian Women's National Team since 2013, was one of just two freshmen to receive All-America honors last season, being selected to the NSCAA All-America third team after leading UCLA in goals (11) and points (27). In her first game as a Bruin, less than 10 days after winning a bronze medal at the Olympic Games with Team Canada, she scored two goals, and she went on to score a goal in each of her first four games. Fleming was selected the Top Drawer Soccer Freshman of the Year.
NATIONAL TEAMS
UCLA has a plethora of national team players on its 2017 squad, including four who have earned call-ups to the full national team - Fleming (Canada), Teagan Micah (Australia) and freshmen Ashley Sanchez (U.S.) and Kennedy Faulknor (Canada). Three played with the U.S. U-23 National Team in July - Sanchez, Zoey Goralski and Hailie Mace. Karina Rodriguez and Viviana Villacorta have played with the Under-20s this year, and Kaiya McCullough and Delanie Sheehan have played with the Under-19s in 2017. Eleven more Bruins have played with various U.S. Youth National Teams in their career - Olivia Athens (U-18), Lauren Brzykcy (U-17), Marley Canales (2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup), Chloe Castaneda (U-17), MacKenzie Cerda (U-18), Sunny Dunphy (U-19), Chloe Hemingway (U-18), Gabrielle Matulich (U-20), Jacey Pederson (U-19), Anika Rodriguez (U-17), and Claire Winter (U-15). In addition, Siri Ervik played with the Norwegian U-19 National Team, and Julia Hernandez played with the Spanish U-17 National Team.
PAC DRAKE
UCLA will attempt to break the NCAA women's soccer attendance record on Friday, Nov. 3 when it hosts crosstown rival USC at Drake Stadium. The national record is 10,128, which was set in 2014 during UCLA's 2-0 win over USC in the Los Angeles Coliseum. The last three meetings between the two schools have averaged over 8,200 fans. Tickets for the match are on sale for just $1 at uclabruins.com/tickets.
