UCLA
Arizona State
Bruins Return Home for Thursday, Sunday Doubleheaders
October 03, 2018 | Women's Soccer
No. 15 UCLA (6-3-1, 1-2-0) vs. Arizona State (6-3-1, 1-1-1)
Date/Time: Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 – 5 p.m. PT
Venue: Wallis Annenberg Stadium (2,145)
Television: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Christian Miles (play-by-play), Tammy Blackburn (analyst)
Internet Radio: uclabruins.com
Radio Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
Tickets: $10 adults / $5 military & youth (3-12); UCLA students free
Promotion: Free Diddy Riese cookies to the first 400 fans
No. 15 UCLA (6-3-1, 1-2-0) vs. Arizona (8-2-1, 1-1-1)
Date/Time: Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018 – 3 p.m. PT
Venue: Wallis Annenberg Stadium (2,145)
Television: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Jim Watson (play-by-play), Tammy Blackburn (analyst)
Internet Radio: uclabruins.com
Radio Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
Tickets: $10 adults / $5 military & youth (3-12); UCLA students free; Free admission with UCLA/Washington football ticket
Promotion: Free pizza for first 150 students; Postgame Autograph Session
UCLA SOCCER HOSTS PAIR OF DOUBLEHEADERS
The UCLA women's and men's soccer teams will host a pair of doubleheaders this week at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. On Thursday, Oct. 4, the UCLA women begin the twin bill at 5pm with a matchup against Arizona State, followed by the UCLA men against Washington at 8pm. The Bruin men kick off the Sunday, Oct. 7 doubleheader at 12pm against Oregon State, followed by the Bruin women vs. Arizona at 3pm. Admission each day is good for both games. All four games will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
MACE, FLEMING BACK ON NATIONAL TEAM DUTY
The Bruins will 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. Both have played limited games for UCLA this fall while on national team duty. 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.
The U.S. is in Group A in Cary, N.C. and will open play on Oct. 4 against Mexico before playing Panama on Oct. 7 and Trinidad & Tobago on Oct. 10. Canada plays in Group B in Edinburg, Texas and will face Jamaica on Oct. 5, Cuba on Oct. 8 and Costa Rica on Oct. 11. 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.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
Arizona State (6-3-1, 1-1-1) is coming off a 0-1-1 weekend, tying Colorado, 1-1, and falling to Utah, 2-0. The Sun Devils' top 3 scorers are freshmen - Nicole Douglas (6g, 13pts), Alexia Delgado (3g, 6pts) and Cori Sullivan (2g, 5pts). UCLA leads the overall series with Arizona State, 18-1-2, and is unbeaten in the last 17 contests. The Sun Devils' only win came in 2000 in Tempe. The Bruins won last year's contest in Tempe, 3-0, thanks to a pair of goals by Hailie Mace and a goal by Anika Rodriguez. The win was head coach Amanda Cromwell's 300th career victory.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Arizona (8-2-1, 1-1-1) went 1-0-1 last week, defeating Utah, 2-1, and tying Colorado, 1-1. The Wildcats, who are ranked No. 20 in Top Drawer Soccer's poll, have three players in double-figure points - Jada Talley (6g, 12pts), Jill Aguilera (4g, 11pts) and Emily Knous (4g, 10pts). Goalkeeper Lainey Burdette has five shutouts and a 0.61 goals against average in 11 games. UCLA leads the overall series with Arizona, 21-1-1, and is unbeaten in the last 13 matchups, with the Wildcats' only win coming in 2004 in Tucson. The two teams tied last year in Tucson, 2-2.
BRUINS SPLIT IN BAY
UCLA split its games in the Bay Area last week, falling to top-ranked Stanford, 3-2, and dominating California, 4-0. The Bruins nearly overcame a two-goal deficit at Stanford, closing to within one just 39 seconds after the Cardinal went ahead 3-1. The Bruins nearly got the equalizer in the 89th minute, but Viviana Villacorta's ball in the box was cleared out by the Cardinal defense. Goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy kept the Bruins in the game with a career-high eight saves on 24 Stanford shots. At Cal, UCLA dominated on both ends of the field, totaling a season-high-tying 21 shots and scoring a season-best four goals in the 4-0 victory. Anika Rodriguez scored two goals, and Viviana Villacorta added a goal, her second of the weekend, and an assist. Sunny Dunphy scored the game-winner in the 18th minute.
NOTABLES
Twelve different Bruin players have scored goals this season, led by Anika Rodriguez, who has three, and Hailie Mace, Ashley Sanchez, Viviana Villacorta, Delanie Sheehan and Maricarmen Reyes, who each have two … UCLA is 1-2-1 in games in which both Hailie Mace and Jessie Fleming have not played, with the first win coming at Cal last weekend. The Bruins are 2-2-1 when Mace has not played and 3-3-1 when Fleming has not played … UCLA has utilized nine different starting lineups in 10 games this year. The starting lineups at Stanford and Cal 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.
MACE SELECTED AS CANDIDATE FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Senior forward/defender Hailie Mace has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, which is awarded to a senior student-athlete who has notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The candidates will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the regular season and placed on the official ballot. The winner will be announced the Women's College Cup in December. Mace is the only returning first-team All-American on the nominee list. In 2017, she scored a team-best and career-high 15 goals and 33 points. This season she leads the team in scoring with eight points despite having missed five games while on national team duty.
MAINSTAYS
With UCLA's lineup in flux early 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. Rodriguez leads the team with 890 minutes played, followed by McCullough with 848. Viviana Villacorta ranks third with 776 minutes, and Sheehan has totaled 771. Seven other Bruins have played in all 10 games - Anika Rodriguez, Chloe Castaneda, Kennedy Faulknor, Olivia Athens, Julia Hernandez, Sunny Dunphy and Villacorta.
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' most recent game at the stadium 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.
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 35.8k followers. The Bruins are also in the Top 5 in NCAA women's soccer in Twitter followers with 15.2k. Follow the Bruins at @uclawsoccer.
