UCLA
Pepperdine
No. 1 UCLA Hosts Pepperdine in Final Non-Conference Match
September 14, 2017 | Women's Soccer
Pepperdine (4-2-1) at No. 1 UCLA (7-0-0)
Friday, Sept. 15, 2017 โ 7:00 p.m. (PT)
Los Angeles, Calif. (Marshall Field at Drake Stadium)
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Kate Scott)
Internet Radio: UCLABruins.com (Nick Koop)
Live Stats: UCLALiveStats.com
Tickets: UCLABruins.com/tickets ($8 adults / $5 youth 12 and under)
Twitter: @UCLAWSoccer
NO. 1 UCLA vs. PEPPERDINE
Top-ranked UCLA (7-0-0) returns home after two straight weeks on the road and will host Pepperdine (4-2-1) on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m. PT on Marshall Field at Drake Stdium. The match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network.
BRUINS ATOP NATIONAL RANKINGS
UCLA ranks No. 1 across all polls with a 7-0 record. The Bruins are in their third week as the top-ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches national rankings and their second atop the Soccer America and Top Drawer Soccer rankings. This is the first time UCLA has been ranked No. 1 since spending the entire regular season in 2014 ranked first.
SANCHEZ EARNS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Freshman forward Ashley Sanchez was named the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week, as well as the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week. Sanchez had a hand in both goals as No. 1 UCLA defeated No. 8 Virginia, 2-1, on the road on Sept. 7. Sanchez scored her first collegiate goal in the 11th minute to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead, then with the score knotted at 1-1 in the second half, she one-timed a perfect through ball to Mackenzie Cerda, who knocked in the game-winner in the 57th minute. Sanchez ranks second on the team with four assists and is 19th nationally with an assists per game average of 0.67.
Sanchez is the second Bruin to earn Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors this season, joining Hailie Mace, and the second to receive Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week acclaim, joining Jessie Fleming.
HIGH FIVES FOR MACE, HERNANDEZ
Junior forwards Hailie Mace and Julia Hernandez have been pacing UCLA in the goal-scoring column, scoring five goals apiece, career-high totals for both. Mace leads UCLA in scoring with 12 points on five goals and two assists. She recorded a first half hat trick, the 26th hat trick in UCLA women's soccer history, in the 4-2 win over Santa Clara on Aug. 24. Mace ranks in the Top 25 nationally in ninth in the nation in goals and game-winning goals (2). Hernandez has scored her five goals in just 219 minutes of play, an average of just over one goal per 45 minutes.
FLEMING SECOND IN THE NATION IN ASSISTS
When she's not scoring goals, she's setting up goals. Sophomore midfielder Jessie Fleming ranks second in the nation in assists with six. Four of her six assists were on game-winning goals, including the assists in each of the last three victories. She also scored the game-winning goal in the Bruins' season-opening win against San Diego State. The Canadian National Team star was the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week on opening weekend after recording two goals and three assists in the first two games.
MICAH HITS CENTURY MARK
Sophomore goalkeeper Teagan Micah has surpassed the century mark for career saves and now has 110 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 a shutout in two of her last three games and has 11 in her brief Bruin career, ranking ninth all-time at UCLA.
SETTING CAREER HIGHS
A number of Bruins have already set career-highs this season through the first seven matches. Junior Hailie Mace did not score a goal coming into this season and already has five and has tied her career-high with two assists. Sophomore Julia Hernandez netted just one goal in her first season in Westwood in 2016 but now is tied for the team lead with five. Also, senior Gabrielle Matulich has set a career-best in points with five, surpassing her three points from last season, while MacKenzie Cerda has tied a career-high with six 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 and Delanie Sheehan have started in six games. Ashley Sanchez has five starts, Viviana Villacorta three, Olivia Athens two, and Marley Canales and Kennedy Faulknor one each. Sheehan ranks third on the team in goals scored with three and is fourth in points with eight. She also ranks 24th in the nation with two game-winning goals. Sanchez is second on the team in assists with four, while Athens is tied for third with three. Villacorta has two assists on the year. Rodriguez is second among field players with 536 minutes played. Additionally, Canales has played in six games, and Faulknor made her UCLA debut in a starting role at Weber State.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine comes into the match receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches top-25 poll and have won four out of its last five matches. The Waves are coming off a roadtrip to Chicago, where they fell to DePaul, 1-0, before defeating Northwestern by the same score. Pepperdine as a team has allowed just three goals all season and has collected four shutouts as Brielle Preece has a 0.42 goals-against average in seven matches in net. Offensively, the Waves are led by Devyn Gilfoy with a team-best four goals and Bri Visalli with five points on two goals. Pepperdine was tabbed to finish third in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll as Visalli was tabbed to the preseason all-conference team.
HISTORY WITH PEPPERDINE
UCLA leads the all-time series with Pepperdine, 18-3-2, and is not only unbeaten in the last seven matches but has not allowed a goal in the last six matches against the Waves. In last year's matchup in Malibu, the Bruins scored three goals in under five minutes in the second half to break the Waves, 3-0. Gabrielle Matulich had one of the Bruin goals, with an assist going to Hailie Mace.
LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP
UCLA was on the road for a top-10 matchup at No. 8 Virginia on Thursday and came out with a 2-1 victory at head coach Amanda Cromwell's alma mater. UCLA weathered a heavy Virginia attack early and grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute when Delanie Sheehan lobbed a pass into the box for Ashley Sanchez who finished bottom right. After UVA tied the match late in the first half on a free kick just outside the box, the Bruins scored the game-winner in the 57th minute. MacKenzie Cerda took a shot far post from six yards out for the deciding goal, assisted by Sanchez and Jessie Fleming.
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. Under-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
The Bruins will begin Pac-12 play on the road next week as they travel to Colorado on Friday, Sept. 22 at 2:30 p.m. PT. The match will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.
