UCLA
USC
UCLA Hosts USC in Crosstown Showdown Friday
November 02, 2017 | Women's Soccer
No. 5 UCLA (14-2-2, 7-2-1) vs. No. 6 USC (14-2-1, 8-1-1)
Venue: Marshall Field at Drake Stadium (11,700)
Kickoff Time: 7 p.m. PT
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Jim Watson (play-by-play), Temryss Lane (analyst)
Internet Radio: uclabruins.com
Radio Talent: Dave Marcus
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
Tickets: $1
UCLA CONCLUDES REGULAR SEASON WITH RIVALRY GAME
Fifth-ranked UCLA (14-2-2, 7-2-1 in the Pac-12) will wrap up the regular season on Friday, Nov. 3 with a 7 p.m. PT contest against crosstown rival and sixth-ranked USC (14-2-1, 8-1-1). The match will be televised on the Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Los Angeles.
PAC-DRAKE
UCLA has its eyes set on breaking the NCAA women's soccer regular season attendance record of 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, including a Drake Stadium record 6,253 in 2015. There are a limited quantity of advance tickets available at ticketmaster.com. Fans who have not purchased tickets in advance can line up for standby tickets at the Southwest box office at Drake Stadium beginning at 5pm on Friday.
PARKING/ENTRY ADVISORY
With a large crowd expected on Friday, fans are encouraged to arrive early. There are several campus parking lots adjacent to Drake Stadium - Lots 4 and 7 off Sunset Boulevard on the North side of campus; Lots 8 and 9 off Westwood Boulevard on the South side of campus; and Sunset Village on Charles E. Young Dr. North, which is near the North entrance of Drake Stadium. Entrance gates will be open on both the upper South and upper North entrances. UCLA students may enter at the lower South entrance. All bags, purses and backpacks brought into the venue will be searched at each entrance.
SENIOR SALUTE
UCLA will honor its six seniors prior to Friday's game against USC. Senior ceremonies will take place at approximately 6:45pm. The Bruin seniors - MacKenzie Cerda, Siri Ervik, Zoey Goralski, Chloe Hemingway, Gabrielle Matulich and Claire Winter - were Pac-12 Champions in 2014 and competed in the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and 2016. Fifth-year seniors Goralski and Winter were members of the 2013 NCAA Championship squad.
FLEMING ON NATIONAL TEAM DUTY
Midfielder Jessie Fleming will miss the Bruins' next two games after being called into Canadian National Team duty for the team's two games against the U.S. National Team. The two teams will play each other on Nov. 9 in Vancouver and Nov. 12 in San Jose.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
UCLA remains in the Top 10, moving up one spot to No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches poll. The Bruins spent six weeks at No. 1 from September to October.
NOTABLES
UCLA had an 18-game unbeaten streak come to an end on Oct. 19 when it dropped its first game of the year, 1-0 at Washington on Oct. 22 โฆ The Bruins won their first seven games of the season to record the program's longest winning streak to begin a year since the 2001 team won its first 11 games.
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 goals (13), and the team in points (29), 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 12th in the NCAA in goals scored and 19th in points scored.
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 second on the team in points (18) and goals scored (5) and leads the Pac-12 and is ranked 23rd nationally in assists with eight.
RODRIGUEZ IS ROLLING IN PAC-12 PLAY
Sophomore Anika Rodriguez saved her best play of the season for conference play, scoring 11 of her 14 points during Pac-12 play. Her 11 points in conference games rank sixth in the conference, and her five assists in conference games are second-best in the Pac-12. Rodriguez is fourth on the team in points with 14 and third in assists with six.
HIGH FIVE FOR HERNANDEZ
Junior forward Julia Hernandez ranks second on the team in goals (five) and fifth in points (10). Hernandez has scored her five goals in just 393 minutes of play, an average of one goal per 79 minutes.
MICAH HITS CENTURY MARK
Sophomore goalkeeper Teagan Micah surpassed the century mark for career saves and now has 133 in her career, which rank sixth all-time at UCLA. She posted a season-best six saves twice this season (in the Bruins' shutout win at BYU and at Washington State). Micah has recorded seven shutouts this season and has 16 in her brief Bruin career, tied for sixth 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 13 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 17 games, and Ashley Sanchez has 16 starts. Delanie Sheehan has 10 starts, Viviana Villacorta nine, Olivia Athens five, and Marley Canales and Kennedy Faulknor one each. Sanchez ranks second on the team in scoring with 18 points and goals scored with five and is first in assists with eight. Sheehan ranks fifth on the team in points with 10 (4g, 2a), and Athens and Villacorta each have three assists. Rodriguez is third among field players with 1426 minutes played. Additionally, Canales has played in 11 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 16 starts and Winter 11.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
USC sits at No. 6 in the United Soccer Coaches poll with a 14-2-1 overall and 8-1-1 conference record. The Trojans split last weekend, defeating Cal, 1-0, and losing to Stanford, 3-1. The defending NCAA champions began the season 14-1-1, its best-ever start to a season. Five of those 14 wins were comeback victories. Alex Anthony leads USC in scoring this year with seven goals and 16 points. Goalkeeper Kaylie Collins has posted seven shutouts and has a 0.74 goals against average.
LAST TIME AGAINST USC
Playing in front of a crowd of over 8500 at the StubHub Center, No. 18 UCLA shut out No. 5 USC, 1-0. Senior Annie Alvarado scored the game-winning goal with a volley in the 27th minute, and then-freshman goalkeeper Teagan Micah recorded her seventh shutout of the season, making a career-high seven saves. The Bruin defense also made some key defensive stops to keep the Trojans off the board. Jacey Pederson blocked a shot in the box in the 80th minute, and Hailie Mace blocked a shot in the 89th minute.
LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP
UCLA split against the Bay Area schools, falling to No. 1 Stanford by a 1-0 score and beating No. 16 Cal, 1-0. The Bruins' match against Stanford was not without controversy, as Hailie Mace had a shot go off the crossbar and down. Referees ruled that the ball did not cross the goal line, and Stanford scored what turned out to be the game-winner a minute later. In UCLA's win over the Golden Bears, freshman Ashley Sanchez provded the only goal of the game in the 57th minute, taking a long pass from Kaiya McCullough and evading several defenders before putting the ball past Cal goalkeeper Emily Boyd for the game-winner.
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.
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.
LOOKING AHEAD
Selection Monday is coming up on Nov. 6. The 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on NCAA.com at 1:30 pm PT. The first round of the tournament begins on Friday, Nov. 10.
