UCLA
Washington State
Women's Soccer Travels to Washington Schools
October 18, 2017 | Women's Soccer
UCLA at Washington State
Venue: Lower Soccer Field (2,000)
Date: Thursday, Oct. 19
Kickoff Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Elise Woodward, Danielle Slaton
Live Stats: WSUCougars.com
UCLA at Washington
Venue: Husky Soccer Stadium (2,200)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 22
Kickoff Time: 2:00 p.m. PT
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Ann Schatz, Christopher Sullivan
Live Stats: GoHuskies.com
BRUINS READY FOR FINAL REGULAR SEASON ROAD TRIP
Second-ranked UCLA (12-0-2, 5-0-1 in the Pac-12) will play its final road matches of the regular season this week when they travel to take on the Washington schools, starting with Washington State on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m., followed by the Washington Huskies on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. Both matches will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
UCLA REMAINS SECOND IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
For the second week in a row, UCLA remains the second-ranked team in the country across every national poll after spending the previous six weeks at No. 1. 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 two teams in NCAA Division I who remain unbeaten. Milwaukee (12-0-3) is the only other unbeaten team remaining in the country after Texas fell at Kansas, 2-1 on Friday. The Bruins have an 18-game unbeaten streak dating back to last season.
FLEMING NAMED PAC-12 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK
Sophomore midfielder Jessie Fleming has been selected the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, marking the third consecutive week a UCLA player has won this award. Fleming scored the game-winning goal in the 81st minute on a long-distance chip and assisted on the first goal of the game by Delanie Sheehan, as UCLA remained unbeaten after a 2-1 win over Utah. The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist is now tied for the Pac-12 lead with a career-high seven assists and ranks third on the team with 13 points. UCLA has totaled seven Pac-12 weekly honors this season.
CROMWELL SECURES 300
UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell earned her 300th career victory against Arizona State on Oct. 5. The native of Annandale, Va. is in her sixth season at UCLA and has picked up 78 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 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 Pac-12 and 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 ranks 21st 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 five of the last six games. She 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 tops in Pac-12 play with five assists.
SANCHEZ STEALS SHOW
Freshman Ashley Sanchez has established herself as one of the top freshmen in the nation. 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 ranks third on the team in points with 13 and is first in the Pac-12 with seven assists and 16th in the nation in assists per game with 0.54.
HIGH FIVE FOR HERNANDEZ
Junior forward Julia Hernandez ranks second on the team in goals (five) and fourth in points (10). Hernandez has scored her five goals in just 281 minutes of play, an average of one goal per 56 minutes.
MICAH HITS CENTURY MARK
Sophomore goalkeeper Teagan Micah surpassed the century mark for career saves and now has 123 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 seven assists this season are 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 made a big impact, with seven freshmen earning starting positions in at least one game so far this season. Karina Rodriguez has started in 13 games, and Ashley Sanchez has 12 starts. Delanie Sheehan has nine starts, Viviana Villacorta eight, 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 1111 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 seven.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Washington State is 2-4-0 in conference play coming into this weekend and are 7-5-2 overall. The Cougars are coming off a pair of road losses last week to Oregon State, 1-0 in double overtime, and at No. 18 California, 2-0. Morgan Weaver leads the WSU offense with six goals, while Maddy Haro is the team leader in points with 13 (4 g, 5 a). In net, Ella Dederick has played every minute and has posted seven shutouts with a 0.82 goals-against average.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Washington enters the weekend 9-4-2 overall and 2-2-2 in Pac-12 play after falling to top-ranked Stanford, 1-0, on Friday. Kimberly Keever is the team leader in both goals (5) and points (12), while Shannon Simon is the only other UW player with double-digit points with 11 (4 g, 3 a). Sarah Shimer has started every game for the Huskies in goal and leads the Pac-12 with 10 shutouts this season. She has made 52 saves, good for a .881 save percentage and has registered a 0.45 goals-against average so far in 2017.
LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP
The Bruins earned their sixth home victory of the season with a 2-1 win over Utah on Thursday. Midfielder Jessie Fleming broke a 1-1 tie in the 81st minute with a long distance chip over the goalkeeper as UCLA remained unbeaten at 12-0-2, 5-0-1 in Pac-12 Conference play. The first half of the game was a defensive battle, but it was UCLA who struck first in the second half, with Delanie Sheehan and Fleming connecting to create the game's first goal at 53:47.
BRUINS EARN TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD
The UCLA women's soccer team is earning high distinctions both on and off the field. The unbeaten Bruins have received the United Soccer Coaches College Women's Team Academic Award for the sixth consecutive year, posting a 3.35 team GPA. Additionally, the team was announced as the winner of the UCLA Athletics Most Improved Team GPA Award for large teams and was also the runner-up for the Highest Team GPA Award. College Team Academic Award recipients are active members of the United Soccer Coaches College Services Program with a composite grade point of average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale for all players on the roster.
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.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will begin a three-game homestand to finish the regular season next week starting on Thursday, Oct. 26 against top-ranked Stanford at 7:30 p.m. PT before taking on No. 18 California on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. PT. Both matches will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks and are a part of doubleheaders at Drake Stadium with the men's soccer team.
