Rodriguez Earns Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week
November 07, 2017 | Women's Soccer
UCLA forward Anika Rodriguez has been selected the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, the fourth time in six weeks a UCLA player has won the award.
Rodriguez (Torrance, Calif.) came off the bench to score the game-tying goal in the second half and assisted on the game winner in overtime as the fifth-ranked Bruins defeated No. 6 USC, 3-2, in overtime in front of a NCAA regular season record crowd of 11,925.
With UCLA down 2-1 in the second half, Rodriguez intercepted a pass in the back third and beat USC's goalkeeper for the equalizer, her fifth goal of the season. In overtime, she set up Ashley Sanchez for the game-winner just 80 seconds into extra time, taking a through ball from Sunny Dunphy and laying off a pass to Sanchez, whose shot deflected off a defender and into the back of the net for the golden goal.
Rodriguez now has seven assists on the year, tied for second on the squad. She ranks third in scoring with 17 points.
UCLA has totaled eight Pac-12 weekly honors this season โ a league-high three by Hailie Mace, and one each by Rodriguez, Jessie Fleming, Teagan Micah, Ashley Sanchez and Kaiya McCullough. This is Rodriguez's first career Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honor.
The Bruins are a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host their first round game against San Diego State on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7pm from Drake Stadium.
