University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Washington
Women's Soccer Heads to Seattle to Face Washington
October 10, 2018 | Women's Soccer
No. 10 UCLA (8-3-1, 3-2-0) at Washington (7-5-1, 2-3-0)
Date/Time: Friday, Oct. 12, 2018 – 6 p.m. PT
Location: Seattle, Wash.
Venue: Husky Soccer Stadium
Television: Pac-12 Networks (Los Angeles, Washington)
TV Talent: Elise Woodward (play-by-play), Temryss Lane (analyst)
Live Stats: gohuskies.com
SEATTLE BOUND
No. 10 UCLA (8-3-1, 3-2-0 in the Pac-12) takes a three-game winning streak into Seattle as the Bruins face Washington (7-5-1, 2-3-0) on Friday, Oct. 12 at Husky Soccer Stadium. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Washington at 6pm.
MACE, FLEMING CRUISING WITH NATIONAL TEAMS
The Bruins continue to be without starters and returning first-team All-Americans Hailie Mace (U.S.) and Jessie Fleming (Canada) as they participate in the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship, the qualifying tournament for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Mace earned her first USWNT start in a 5-0 win over Panama, playing all 90 minutes. Fleming started and played all 90 minutes for Canada against Jamaica in a 2-0 tournament-opening win.
The top two teams from each group after round robin play will advance to the semifinals. The top three teams in the tournament will qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, with an additional opportunity for the fourth-place team to qualify through a playoff against Argentina.
Both Mace and Fleming have played limited games for UCLA this fall while on national team duty, playing together just twice this season - in a 1-0 win over Long Beach State and in a 3-0 win at LMU. Even in those two games, they played very little together, totaling just 84 minutes on the field at the same time this season. Mace has played in five games, while Fleming has participated in just three. Two of UCLA's three losses, plus the tie, have come during their absence.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Washington (7-5-1, 2-3-0) is coming off a pair of road losses at Utah (2-0) and Colorado (2-1 in double overtime). The Huskies are led by sophomore Olivia Van der Jagt, who has four game-winning goals among her five goals this season. UCLA leads the overall series with Washington, 18-4-2, and has won the last two contests, including last season's 3-0 win in Seattle. Ashley Sanchez had a goal an assist in that game; Jessie Fleming and Hailie Mace also scored for the Bruins. The Huskies' last win in the series came in 2015, 2-1 in Seattle.
BRUINS SWEEP ARIZONA SCHOOLS
UCLA earned a weekend sweep over the Arizona schools, defeating Arizona State, 3-1, on Thursday and Arizona, 2-0, on Sunday. Against the Sun Devils, the Bruins scored three unanswered goals to cruise to victory. Maricarmen Reyes scored just 75 seconds into the game, and Anika Rodriguez and Ashley Sanchez also scored goals for UCLA. Against Arizona, Olivia Athens scored three minutes into the second half to break a scoreless tie, and Viviana Villacorta added an insurance goal in the 86th minute.
MCCULLOUGH HONORED BY PAC-12
Junior defender Kaiya McCullough was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 9 to become UCLA's second defensive winner this season. McCullough made two outstanding defensive plays on Sunday against Arizona's leading scorer Jada Talley to preserve the shutout in a 2-0 win over the Wildcats. In the 59th minute, McCullough headed away a pass bouncing towards Talley in front of the goal, and two minutes later, she stopped Talley on the counterattack, closing in to block Talley's shot in the box. McCullough also helped limit a dangerous Arizona State squad to nine shots in a 3-1 victory on Thursday. The Defensive Player of the Week award is the second in her career and the Bruins' 74th all-time weekly honor.
VIVA VIV
Sophomore midfielder Viviana Villacorta has been on a tear in the last two weeks, scoring all of her points in the last four games. She scored her first collegiate goal against Stanford, a goal and an assist at Cal and a goal and an assist against Arizona. Villacorta, who was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week, now ranks tied for second on the team in goals scored with three and is tied for third on the team in scoring with eight points.
NOTABLES
Twelve different Bruin players have scored goals this season, led by Anika Rodriguez, who has four, and Ashley Sanchez, Viviana Villacorta and Maricarmen Reyes, who each have three … UCLA has utilized 10 different starting lineups in 12 games this year. The starting lineups vs. Stanford, Cal and Arizona State are the only repeat starting lineups … Delanie Sheehan is one of three players who has started in every game, starting the first four games as a midfielder and then moving to right back in game five as the Bruins' depth at the outside back positions has waned due to injuries … Marley Canales returned to the pitch at Cal after missing five games due to injury … Goalkeeper Teagan Micah earned her 38th career win on Sunday, moving into sole possession of fifth on UCLA's all-time list. With 175 career saves, Micah is just two saves away from tying Gretchen Overgaard for fifth on the school career saves list.
MAINSTAYS
With UCLA's lineup in flux due to national team assignments and injuries, only three players have started every game this season - defenders Kaiya McCullough and Karina Rodriguez and midfielder Delanie Sheehan. Six other Bruins have played in all 12 games - Chloe Castaneda, Kennedy Faulknor, Olivia Athens, Julia Hernandez, Sunny Dunphy and Viviana Villacorta. Anika Rodriguez had played in every game this year until she sat out Sunday with a knee injury suffered against Arizona on Thursday. Karina Rodriguez leads the team with 1070 minutes played, followed by McCullough with 1028. Viviana Villacorta ranks third with 952 minutes, and Sheehan has totaled 923.
WINNERS IN THE CLASSROOM
For the seventh consecutive year, UCLA was recognized as a winner of the United Soccer Coaches College Team Academic Award, which recognizes exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2017-18 academic year. The Bruins posted a 3.189 composite team GPA.
BRUIN DEBUTS
Five Bruin players made their collegiate debuts in the Loyola Marymount game Sept. 13. Seeing the pitch in an official game for the first time were junior Maki Umehara; redshirt freshmen Issy Bellinghausen, Dani Satterwhite and Hannah Sharts; and true freshman Olivia de Moraes. Umehara, Bellinghausen, Satterwhite and Sharts also played in the game at San Diego State. Lauren Brzykcy made her debut against Pepperdine, sharing the shutout with Teagan Micah. Brzykcy picked up her first solo shutout against LMU.
NEW HOME
After playing home games at Drake Stadium from 2000-17, the UCLA soccer teams have moved into a new home, Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The stadium, which seats 2,145, is located at the previously-named North Athletic Field, where UCLA played selected home games from 1967-99. The new stadium was made possible thanks to a $5 million lead gift from the Annenberg Foundation. The just-completed first phase of the stadium project includes grandstand seating and press box on the west side, a Daktronics LED video board and Musco Sports lighting. Future phases of the stadium project may include expanded stadium seating, a training room, student-athlete locker room, coaches' locker rooms, meeting spaces, ticketing space, and a new press box. UCLA won its first game in the new stadium in dramatic fashion on Aug. 17, with Hailie Mace scoring the game-winning goal with two seconds remaining in a 1-0 win over Long Beach State. A record crowd of 2,496 fans attended the Bruins' game vs. Washington State on Sept. 21 in the Pac-12 opener.
NATIONAL TEAMS
UCLA has a plethora of national team players on its 2018 squad, including five who have earned call-ups to the full national team - Hailie Mace and Ashley Sanchez (U.S.), Jessie Fleming and Kennedy Faulknor (Canada), and Teagan Micah (Australia). Mace has two caps with the senior national team, Fleming has 51, and Faulknor has four. Three Bruins started for their respective countries at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup this summer - Sanchez, Viviana Villacorta (U.S.) and Maricarmen Reyes (Mexico). Two others - Delanie Sheehan and Karina Rodriguez - were on the U.S. U-20 squad at the 2018 CONCACAF Championships. and nine more have played with various U.S. Youth National Teams in their career - Olivia Athens (U-18), Lauren Brzykcy (U-17), Marley Canales (2018 U-23s, 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup), Chloe Castaneda (U-17), Maddi Desiano (U-19), Sunny Dunphy (U-19), Jacey Pederson (U-19), Kaiya McCullough (U-19), and Anika Rodriguez (U-23). In addition, Julia Hernandez played with the Spanish U-17 National Team, Olivia de Moraes with the Brazilian U-17 team and Shana Flynn with the Canadian U-20s.
NWSL CHAMPIONS
Five UCLA women's soccer alumnae won the 2018 NWSL Championship with the North Carolina Courage, who defeated Portland FC, 3-0, in the championship match on Sept. 22. Abby Dahlkemper, Katelyn Rowland and Sam Mewis started and played all 90 minutes for the Courage in the victory, and Darian Jenkins played the final minute. McCall Zerboni, a finalist for the NWSL MVP, was unavailable for the Courage after suffering a broken elbow in a U.S. National Team game earlier in the month.
GIRL POWER
UCLA features an all-female coaching staff, led by head coach Amanda Cromwell, who ranks among the nation's Top 25 winningest active coaches with 308 career wins and a .705 winning percentage at the start of the season. Cromwell's assistant coaches are two-time Olympian Jenny Bindon, Sam Greene and volunteer assistant Jane Alukonis. Cromwell, who was inducted into the inaugural class of the Annandale High School Athletic Hall of Fame earlier this month, is a former U.S. National Team player who was a member of the U.S. team at the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup and an alternate for the 1996 Olympic team.
INSTA-LEADERS
UCLA women's soccer leads all collegiate soccer teams, men or women, in Instagram followers, boasting 36.7k followers. The Bruins are also in the Top 5 in NCAA women's soccer in Twitter followers with 15.3k. Follow UCLA Women's Soccer at @UCLAWSoccer on both Instagram and Twitter and /UCLAWSoccer on Facebook.
LOOKING AHEAD
UCLA hosts the Oregon schools next week at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, facing Oregon on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 6pm in the team's annual Breast Cancer Awareness game and Oregon State on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 12pm on Senior Day.
