UCLA
Minnesota (Second Round)
Women's Soccer Hosts Minnesota in NCAA Second Round
November 14, 2018 | Women's Soccer
No. 2 Seed UCLA (15-3-1) vs. Minnesota (12-8-2)
Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 16, 2018 โ 7:30 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
Live Stream: pac-12.com/live/ucla-3
Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: ncaa.com
Tickets: $12 adults/$10 youth (uclabruins.com/tickets)
UCLA, MINNESOTA MEET IN NCAA SECOND ROUND
Second-seeded and fourth-ranked UCLA (15-3-1) will host Big Ten Tournament champion Minnesota (12-8-2) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, Nov. 16 at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The match will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be live streamed on pac-12.com. The winner will face the winner of the Santa Clara-NC State match on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 6pm. Santa Clara and NC State play at 5pm prior to the UCLA-Minnesota match on Friday.
UCLA'S NCAA HISTORY
The Bruins are making their 22nd overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA has a 62-18-4 all-time NCAA Tournament record and has advanced to the Round of 16 or beyond in five of the last six seasons, including a finals berth in 2017 and a championship victory in 2013.
UCLA AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD
UCLA posted a 4-3 record against members of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field this season. The Bruins have wins over No. 4 seed USC (3-2 in 2OT) , Penn State (1-0), Arizona (2-1) and Long Beach State (1-0). UCLA's only losses this year have come against NCAA Tournament teams - No. 1 seeds Florida State (3-1) and Stanford (3-2) and Washington State (1-0).
BRUINS SEEDED FOR SIXTH-STRAIGHT YEAR
With a No. 2 seed for the second consecutive year, UCLA has been seeded in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last six years and for the 16th time in the last 17 years. The Bruins were also a No. 2 seed in 2013 when they won their first NCAA Championship.
CENTURY CLUB
UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell earned her 100th win at UCLA with a first round victory over San Jose State. Cromwell, who hit the 300 career win milestone in 2017, now has a 100-23-12 record in six season as the Bruins' head coach and is 323-121-39 in 22 years of coaching. She led UCLA to its first-ever NCAA Championship in her first year in Westwood, in 2013. Cromwell is one of just two UCLA women's soccer coaches ever to reach 100 career victories, joining current U.S. Women's National Team head coach Jill Ellis, who won 229 games over 12 years.
ON A ROLL
UCLA has won 10 consecutive games, outscoring opponents by a 34-6 margin. Key to this streak has been the play of forward Ashley Sanchez, who has recorded a goal or assist in each of those 10 games, totaling eight goals and seven assists during the streak. But it hasn't been just Sanchez who have provided offensive input, as 15 different players have scored a goal, and seven different players have scored the game-winning goal in the eight-game streak. The Bruins regained the services of national team members Hailie Mace and Jessie Fleming for the last five games and have scored 21 goals since their return. UCLA's win streak is the longest active winnning streak in the nation.
BRUINS WIN BATTLE FOR LA FOR THIRD-STRAIGHT YEAR
UCLA won the crosstown showdown against USC for the third consecutive year, defeating the Trojans, 3-2 in double overtime in front of 8,555 fans, the third-largest regular season crowd in NCAA women's soccer history. The Bruins came from behind twice before sealing the victory on a 105th-minute golden goal by Olivia Athens. Jessie Fleming chipped a ball into the box for Athens, who headed it over the goalkeeper for the game-winner.
NCAA RECORD ACHIEVED
UCLA and USC paired up to etch their names into the NCAA record book, tying the NCAA record for fastest consecutive goals by opposing teams. USC forward Penelope Hocking broke a 1-1 tie with a goal at 86:26. Just six seconds later, UCLA returned the favor on a 30-yard strike from Hailie Mace to tie the game. The record was first set on Sept. 17, 2001 by Illinois and Marquette and then matched on Nov. 1, 2001 by UConn and Yale.
NINE BRUINS HONORED BY PAC-12
Seven UCLA women's soccer players were selected to the All-Pac-12 team, led by first-team All-Pac-12 honorees Jessie Fleming and Ashley Sanchez. Hailie Mace and Viviana Villacorta were named to the second team, and Anika Rodriguez, Karina Rodriguez and Delanie Sheehan earned third team acclaim. Additionally, Lauren Brzykcy and Maricarmen Reyes were named to the All-Freshman Team.
MULTIPLE WEAPONS
Fifteen different Bruin players have scored goals this season, led by Ashley Sanchez, who has 10; Hailie Mace, who has five; and Anika Rodriguez, Delanie Sheehan and Viviana Villacorta, who have four each. Jessie Fleming, Olivia Athens, Chloe Castaneda, Julia Hernandez and Maricarmen Reyes each have three. Other Bruin goal scorers are Karina Rodriguez and Kennedy Faulknor with two and Marley Canales, Sunny Dunphy and Dani Satterwhite with one each.
NATIONAL TEAM BRUINS BACK
After missing nearly a month of the season while helping their respective countries qualify to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup at the CONCACAF Women's Championship, first-team All-Americans Hailie Mace (U.S.) and Jessie Fleming (Canada) have returned to the Bruins. The duo returned to the pitch on Oct. 21 against Oregon State, playing together for the first time since Sept. 13 and for only the third time all year. UCLA is 7-0 in games in which the two have played together this year. Fleming was selected to the Best XI of the CONCACAF Tournament, starting in four games for the silver medalists. Against Panama in the semifinals, she scored a goal and was selected the Player of the Match in the 7-0 victory. Mace earned her first career USWNT start in a 5-0 win over Panama in group play, playing all 90 minutes.
MAINSTAYS
Thanks to national team assignments, injuries and illness, only two players have started every game this season - defenders Kaiya McCullough and Karina Rodriguez. Delanie Sheehan started the first 16 games of the year but had to sit out the Colorado game due to illness. In addition to McCullough and Rodriguez, six other Bruins have played in all 19 games - Chloe Castaneda, Kennedy Faulknor, Olivia Athens, Julia Hernandez, Sunny Dunphy and Viviana Villacorta. Rodriguez leads the team with 1701 minutes played out of 1745, followed by McCullough with 1590. Viviana Villacorta ranks third with 1478 minutes, Ashley Sanchez has 1417, and Sheehan has 1373.
UCLA has utilized 16 different starting lineups in 19 games this year, with only two repeating lineups. Lauren Brzykcy, Delanie Sheehan, Karina Rodriguez, Kaiya McCullough, Sunny Dunphy, Viviana Villacorta, Olivia Athens, Maricarmen Reyes, Ashley Sanchez, Chloe Castaneda and Anika Rodriguez started in three-straight at Stanford, at Cal and vs. ASU. And the Bruins' starting lineup in the NCAA first round (Teagan Micah, Hailie Mace, Karina Rodriguez, Kaiya McCullough, Delanie Sheehan, Viviana Villacorta, Marley Canales, Olivia Athens, Jessie Fleming, Chloe Castaneda and Ashley Sanchez) also started at Utah.
NOTABLES
UCLA's six goals against Oregon State on Oct. 21 were the most it has scored in a game since dropping seven on Harvard in the 2014 NCAA Second Round โฆ The 11 goals scored in UCLA's games against Oregon State and Utah were the most in a two-game span since scoring 12 in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 2014 (5-0 vs. San Diego, 7-0 vs. Harvard) โฆ UCLA has scored a goal in the first eight minutes of the game five times this season. The quickest goal scored by the Bruins this season was by Maricarmen Reyes at 1:15 against Arizona State โฆ Sunny Dunphy has played in 61 consecutive games โฆ Kaiya McCullough has made 50 consecutive starts โฆ Marley Canales returned to the pitch at Cal after missing five games due to injury and has started the last seven games โฆ Anika Rodriguez, who has decided to return in 2019 for her fifth year, injured her knee in the Arizona State contest and is out indefinitely โฆ Teagan Micah has moved up to fourth on UCLA's career saves list with 191, and her 44 career wins puts her within one of No. 4 overall at UCLA.
ABOUT THE GOPHERS
Minnesota earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big Ten Tournament in penalty kicks over Penn State. This is Minnesota's 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2016.The Gophers are now 10-9-1 all-time in tournament play after their 2-0 win over Auburn in the first round, their first-ever NCAA road victory. Minnesota enters Friday's game with a 12-8-2 record and is led by Big Ten Forward of the Year April Bocklin, who has 13 goals and seven points this season. This will be the first-ever meeting between UCLA and Minnesota.
THIRD ROUND MATCHUPS
If the Bruins win on Friday, they will face either No. 3 seed Santa Clara or NC State in the third round on Sunday at 6pm. UCLA is 5-5-2 all-time against Santa Clara, with victories in the last two matchups, including last season's 4-2 victory at home. Hailie Mace scored a hat trick in the first half of that game. UCLA and NC State have never met.
BRUINS BREEZE IN FIRST ROUND
UCLA scored four goals in the first half and cruised to a 5-0 victory over San Jose State in the NCAA first round. The Bruins' stars shined, with Ashley Sanchez scoring two goals, Jessie Fleming recording one goal and two assists, and Hailie Mace adding two assists. Viviana Villacorta and Marley Canales also scored for UCLA, who outshot San Jose State, 24-2.
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. Additionally, junior Sunny Dunphy and senior Julia Hernandez were selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team for the second consecutive year. Dunphy holds a 3.78 GPA in Physiological Science, while Hernandez has a 3.81 GPA in Applied Mathematics.
MACE FINALIST FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Senior forward/defender Hailie Mace is one of 10 finalists 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 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 ranks second on the team in scoring with 16 points (5g, 6a) despite having missed nine games while on national team duty. Vote at seniorclassaward.com/vote.
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.
INSTA-LEADERS
UCLA women's soccer leads all collegiate soccer teams, men or women, in Instagram followers, boasting 42.2k followers. The Bruins are also in the Top 5 in NCAA women's soccer in Twitter followers with 15.6k. Follow UCLA Women's Soccer at @UCLAWSoccer on both Instagram and Twitter and /UCLAWSoccer on Facebook.
