UCLA
Oregon
No. 1 UCLA Returns Home for Pac-12 Matches
September 27, 2017 | Women's Soccer
Oregon (6-1-2, 0-1-0) at No. 1 UCLA (8-0-1, 1-0-0)
Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017 โ 5 p.m. (PT)
Los Angeles, Calif. (Marshall Field at Drake Stadium)
Internet Radio: UCLABruins.com (Nick Koop)
Live Stats: UCLALiveStats.com
Tickets: UCLABruins.com/tickets ($8 adults / $5 youth 12 and under)
Twitter: @UCLAWSoccer
Oregon State (3-4-2, 0-1-0) at No. 1 UCLA (8-0-1, 1-0-0)
Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017 โ 1 p.m. (PT)
Los Angeles, Calif. (Marshall Field at Drake Stadium)
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Mark Rogondino and Tammy Blackburn)
Internet Radio: UCLABruins.com (Nick Koop)
Live Stats: UCLALiveStats.com
Tickets: UCLABruins.com/tickets ($8 adults / $5 youth 12 and under)
Twitter: @UCLAWSoccer
DOUBLE DOUBLEHEADERS
Top-ranked UCLA (8-0-1, 1-0-0 in the Pac-12) will host a pair of doubleheaders this weekend with the UCLA men's team. The Bruin women have the opening games on Thursday, Sept. 28 against Oregon (6-3-0, 0-1-0) at 5pm and on Sunday, Oct. 1 against Oregon State (3-4-2, 0-1-0) at 1pm. The Bruin men will play California on Thursday at 8pm and Stanford on Sunday at 5pm. One ticket is good for each game that day.
BRUINS REMAIN ATOP NATIONAL RANKINGS
For the fourth week in a row, UCLA holds tight at No. 1 across all national polls. The Bruins are in their fifth week as the top-ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches national rankings and their fourth 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.
STILL UNBEATEN
UCLA is one of just four teams in NCAA Division I who remain unbeaten. The other unbeatens after Sunday's play are Texas (10-0-0), Rutgers (8-0-2) and Milwaukee (10-0-1). The Bruins have a 13-game unbeaten streak dating back to last season.
McCULLOUGH EARNS PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK HONORS
Sophomore Kaiya McCullough earned her first career Pac-12 honor, being named the Defensive Player of the Week. McCullough helped the Bruins earn their third road shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory at Colorado. Her defensive effort led the way as UCLA held Colorado to just three shots in the game, only one of which was on goal.
MACE SETS THE PACE
Junior forward Hailie Mace continues to pace UCLA in the scoring column, leading the team in points (14) and goals (6), 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.
SANCHEZ STEALS SHOW
Freshman Ashley Sanchez has been on a scoring tear in the Bruins' last three games, playing a hand in four of the team's last five goals. 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 goals with two, second in assists with five and fourth on the team in points with nine.
HIGH FIVE FOR HERNANDEZ
Junior forward Julia Hernandez sits just behind Hailie Mace atop the team leaderboard in both goals (five) and points (10). Hernandez has scored her five goals in just 238 minutes of play, an average of one goal per 47 minutes.
FLEMING AMONG NATION'S ASSIST LEADERS
Sophomore midfielder Jessie Fleming ranks sixth in the nation in assists with six, already one more than her season total a year ago. 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 112 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 three shutouts this season and has 12 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 nine matches. Junior Hailie Mace did not score a goal coming into this season and already has six 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 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 five, surpassing her three points from last year, 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 eight games. Ashley Sanchez has seven starts, Viviana Villacorta four, Olivia Athens two, and Marley Canales and Kennedy Faulknor one each. Sheehan ranks third on the team in goals scored with three, while Sanchez is second on the team with five assists. Athens and Villacorta are tied for third in assists with three each. Rodriguez is second among field players with 736 minutes played. Additionally, Canales has played in eight games, and Faulknor made her UCLA debut in a starting role at Weber State and has played in three 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 eight starts and Winter five.
SCOUTING THE DUCKS
Oregon enters the match with a 6-3-0 record and is 0-1 in conference play. Marissa Everett leads the squad with nine points (3g, 3a), and Kyra Fawcett is the Ducks' leading goal-scorer with four goals. Oregon is coached by former UCLA assistant coach Kat Mertz (2000-04). Additionally, associate head coach Manny Martins was a Bruin assistant from 2011-12. UCLA leads the all-time series with Oregon, 18-2, and has won 10 consecutive. Last year's contest in Eugene was a bittersweet victory. While the Bruins won 3-2 on a late goal by Claire Winter, the team also lost Darian Jenkins for the year with a fractured leg.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Oregon State enters the week with a 3-4-2 record and is 0-1 in conference play. The Beavers have five players with one goal apiece. Diana Santiago is the team's leading scorer with three points. Goalkeeper Bella Geist has recorded four shutouts. UCLA leads the all-time series with Oregon State, 18-4, and has won five of the last six, including last year's contest in Corvallis, 1-0, on a Darian Jenkins goal.
LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP
Ashley Sanchez scored the game-winning goal and picked up an assist, while Sunny Dunphy recorded her first goal of the season as the top-ranked Bruins opened Pac-12 play with a 2-0 victory at Colorado on Sept. 22. UCLA outshot Colorado, 18-3, and held a 9-1 advantage in shots on goal.
ROAD WARRIORS
With UCLA's 2-0 win at Colorado, the Bruins improved to 5-0 on the road, with three shutouts. UCLA is outscoring its opponents 12-2 in road games.
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 played in 72 games and made 47 starts, scoring three goals and totaling 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.
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.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins begin a two-match road swing through the state of Arizona next week as they play at Arizona state on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. (PT) before taking on Arizona on Sunday, Oct. 8 at noon (PT).
