UCLA
Washington
Women's Soccer Travels to Washington
October 20, 2021 | Women's Soccer
Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021 โ 7 p.m. PT
Seattle, Wash. (Husky Soccer Stadium)
MEDIA INFORMATION
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Ann Schatz
Live Stats: gohuskies.com
No. 8 UCLA (12-0-2, 4-0-2) at Washington State (10-2-2, 4-1-1)
Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021 โ 5 p.m. PT
Pullman, Wash. (Lower Soccer Field)
MEDIA INFORMATION
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Greg Heister
Live Stats: wsucougars.com
UCLA TRAVELS TO WASHINGTON
Eighth-ranked UCLA (12-0-2, 4-0-2 in the Pac-12) will travel to Washington for its final regular season road trip of the season. The Bruins will play at Washington (4-6-3, 2-2-2) on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7pm before wrapping up the weekend in Pullman, Wash. for a Sunday, Oct. 24 game at 5pm at Washington State (10-2-2, 4-1-1). Both matches will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network and on the Pac-12 Now app.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA moved up one spot to third in the Top Drawer Soccer national rankings but fell one spot to eighth in the United Soccer Coaches poll. The Bruins have been ranked in the Top 10 of the coaches poll in 18 consecutive weeks.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA exploded with three first half goals and rolled to a 4-1 victory at No. 24 Oregon State on Oct. 15. Olivia Athens gave UCLA an early lead with a ninth-minute goal, and the Bruins got two goals in a three-minute span from Brianne Riley and Reilyn Turner to take a 3-0 lead after just 30 minutes. Freshman defender Lilly Reale added her first collegiate goal in the second half to put UCLA ahead 4-0. Although Oregon State ended the shutout bid in the 89th minute, the Bruins handed the Beavers their first home loss of the season and kept UCLA unbeaten on the year.
UNBEATEN STREAK IMPROVES TO 21
UCLA's 4-1 win at Oregon State kept the Bruins unbeaten this season with a 12-0-2 record. The Bruins now hold a 21-match unbeaten streak, with their last loss coming at the hands of Arizona State on Mar. 26, 2021.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Washington enters the week with a 4-6-3 record and is coming off a 4-1 road victory at Arizona. All-American Summer Yates leads the Huskies with four goals, including two game-winning goals. The Huskies advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen a year ago.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Washington State is 10-2-2 overall and 4-1-1 in Pac-12 play, standing five points behind conference leader USC and one point behind second-place UCLA in the league standings. The Cougars will host USC on Thursday. Elyse Bennett ranks second in the Pac-12 with nine goals and fourth with 21 points. Goalkeeper Nadia Cooper leads the Pac-12 with a 0.34 goals against average and is the national leader in save percentage (0.914).
MCMAHON MAKING GOALS HAPPEN
Freshman Quincy McMahon has been quite the catalyst during conference play. The defender/midfielder from Carmel, Ind. has recorded an assist in each of the Bruins' last four games, including two in the 4-3 overtime win at Arizona State. The Gatorade State Player of the Year in Indiana ranks second on the team and third in the Pac-12 with seven assists. Five of her assists have come in conference games, and she is tied for the Pac-12 lead in assists in conference play. McMahon also ranks third on the Bruin squad in scoring with nine points.
BRZYKCY BUSINESS
Senior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy is having another fantastic season. The 2020 All-American has allowed just seven goals in 1,232 minutes and has seven solo shutouts (and one shared) to improve her career solo shutout total to 18, sixth on UCLA's career shutout list. She is also seventh on the UCLA career victories list with 33. Brzykcy ranks second in the Pac-12 and 15th in the nation in shutouts (seven) and is 13th nationally and second in the Pac-12 goals against average (0.511). She is also 10th in the nation in save percentage (0.870). Brzykcy has earned Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week honors twice this season, and in the Bruins' 1-0 win over defending NCAA champion Santa Clara, she tied her career-high with nine saves on 18 shots. She also set up the game-winning goal in that game with a long service that found its way to Madelyn Desiano, who connected with Reilyn Turner for the goal.
BACK LINE BALLERS
UCLA's back line of Madelyn Desiano, Kylie Kerr, Lilly Reale and Brianne Riley entered this season with a total of 18 career starts (all by Riley) and 56 games played, but the inexperience has hardly shown. The back line has contributed to eight shutouts in 14 games and a team goals against average of 0.54 (16th-best in the nation, second in the conference). They have allowed single-digit shots in 10 of 14 games and four or less in six games.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Bruins boast one of the most formidable 1-2 punches in the country in forwards Mia Fishel (nine goals) and Reilyn Turner (eight goals). They have totaled 17 goals this season, with Fishel scoring six in her last eight games and Turner scoring seven in her last 11, including a hat trick in the Bruins' 3-0 win at LMU on Sept. 5. The dynamic duo have scored 55% (17 of 31) of UCLA's total goals this year.
ASSIST QUEENS
Redshirt junior defender Madelyn Desiano continues to lead the Pac-12 in assists (eight) and assists per game (0.62). She is nationally-ranked 25th and 21st, respectively, in those categories. The two-time Pac-12 Defender of the Week had a two-assist game in the season opener and recorded an assist in each of the first six games of the year. Desiano has started in 11 games this season, her first career starts after playing in 11 games last season and sitting out all of 2018 and 2019 while recovering from season-ending knee surgeries. Desiano's assist lead is narrowing, however, with Quincy McMahon ranking right behind her with seven assists.
QUICK STRIKE BRUINS
UCLA has scored in the first 10 minutes of the game six times this season, including four times within the sixth minute. The Bruins have scored 22 of their 31 goals in the first half. UCLA has been consistent on the defensive end, allowing four goals in each half.
BRUINS RECORD SHUTOUT STREAK OF NEARLY 800 MINUTES
UCLA held an eight-game shutout streak from Aug. 22-Sept. 24. The streak was snapped after 793 minutes on Sept. 30 at Arizona when the Wildcats scored a 52nd minute goal.The streak was UCLA's longest since the 2014 team had a school record-tying 10 in a row from Oct. 13-Nov. 23. Goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy had her shutout streak snapped at 849 minutes, just 120 minutes shy of Katelyn Rowland's school record of 969 consecutive shutout minutes set in 2014.
NATIONAL TEAM CALL-UPS
Bruin senior Maricarmen Reyes is back on the road with the Mexican National Team as they play Argentina in a friendly this week. This is Reyes' second call-up during the season. She missed three games in mid-September for Mexico's friendly against Colombia. Reyes scored her first international goal in that match, the game-winner in a 2-0 victory for Mexico. A little over a week later, she returned to score the game-winning goal for UCLA at Arizona. Senior goalkeeper Idalia Serrano also enjoyed a September call-up with El Salvador's national team and started in a 6-0 training game victory over Santa Tecla FC on Sept. 20.
SUPER SENIORS
A quartet of fifth-year players - graduate students Olivia Athens and Marley Canales and fifth-year seniors Lauren Brzykcy and Kennedy Faulknor - are bringing veteran leadership to the Bruins in 2021. Athens is enrolled in UCLA's Master of Legal Studies program, and Canales is enrolled in UCLA's Graduate School of Education, pursuing a master's degree in transformative coaching and leadership. Brzykcy and Faulknor are wrapping up their sociology degrees. The fifth-years have played a combined 259 games for UCLA. Canales and Brzykcy have started all 14 of UCLA's games this season, and Athens has started in 13. All four super seniors started for UCLA in its last game at Oregon State. Each of the three field players have scored a goal this year, with Athens leading the way among the group with three goals. Faulknor and Canales each have two. Canales is UCLA's scoring leader in conference play with seven points (2 goals, 3 assists).
WHAT'S NEW, BRU?
UCLA's No. 6-ranked recruiting class has been strong contributors to the team this season, with defenders Lilly Reale and Jayden Perry and midfielder Quincy McMahon starting in multiple games. Reale has started in 13 of 14 games, McMahon has six starts and ranks second on the team and third in the Pac-12 with seven assists, and Perry and Wright each have two starts. Also seeing action this year have been Clara Härdling (four games played) and My Haugland Sørsdahl (three games played). Wright made her season debut at San Diego on Sept. 16 and set up the game-winning goal against the Toreros in her collegiate debut. Emma Egiizi played in the season opener and scored a goal in the exhibition against Pepperdine but is sidelined with a knee injury. Reale and McMahon are ranked in the Top 20 of Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason Top 100 Freshman list, with Reale sitting at No. 3 and McMahon No. 20.
LEADERS OF THE PAC
As they have for most of the season, defender Madelyn Desiano is the Pac-12 leader in assists (8) and assists per game (0.62), and forward Mia Fishel is the Pac-12 co-leader with four game-winning goals. The Bruins lead the Pac-12 and are third nationally in W-L-T percentage (0.929).
BRUINS TO WATCH FOR HERMANN TROPHY
All-Americans Lauren Brzykcy and Mia Fishel were named to the Hermann Trophy Women's Watch List for 2021 and have certainly lived up to the billing, with Bryzkcy ranking in the Top 15 nationally in shutouts (seven), goals against average (0.511) and save percentage (0.870) and Fishel ranking 15th in the nation in game-winning goals (four) and second in the Pac-12 in goals (nine) and fifth in points (19). Fishel was a second-team All-American in 2020 after tying for the team lead in assists (six) and ranking second on the squad in goals (six) and points (18). She also led the Pac-12 with four game-winning goals. Brzykcy, a third-team All-American, totaled seven shutouts and a 0.73 goals against average while playing every minute of every game. She was named the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year and earned first-team Scholar All-America honors.
