UCLA
Utah
No. 3 Women's Soccer Hosts Utah, Colorado
October 06, 2021 | Women's Soccer
Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021 โ 7 p.m. PT
Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
MEDIA INFORMATION
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Anne Marie Anderson
Audio Broadcast: ucla.leanplayer.com
Audio Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
TICKET INFORMATION
Digital Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
Price: $10 adults/$5 youth (3-16); UCLA students free with BruinCard
Parking: purchase in advance on Park Mobile app
No. 3 UCLA (10-0-1, 2-0-1) vs. Colorado (6-4-1, 1-1-1)
Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021 โ 12 p.m. PT
Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
MEDIA INFORMATION
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Jim Watson
Audio Broadcast: ucla.leanplayer.com
Audio Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
Price: $10 adults/$5 youth (3-16); UCLA students free with BruinCard; Military and First Responders free with valid photo ID
Parking: purchase in advance on Park Mobile app
UCLA RETURNS HOME FOR TWO
Third-ranked UCLA (10-0-1, 2-0-1 in the Pac-12) will host a pair of conference game this week at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, welcoming Utah (5-5-2, 0-2-1) on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7pm on Pride Night and Colorado (6-4-1, 1-1-1) on Sunday, Oct. 10 at Noon for our Military Appreciation Match. Both games will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network and on the Pac-12 Now app.
LAST WEEK
UCLA dominated on set pieces, scoring twice on corner kicks in a 2-1 victory at Arizona late Thursday evening. Junior forward Mia Fishel scored her team-leading eighth goal in the 20th minute, heading in a perfectly-placed corner kick by Marley Canales to give UCLA an early 1-0 lead, and senior midfielder Maricarmen Reyes scored the game-winner in the 72nd minute off another corner kick. Against Arizona State on Sunday, the Bruins scored the game's first goal in the sixth minute only to see the Sun Devils score three consecutive goals in the 10th, 12th and 24th minutes. However, UCLA tied it up with a pair of goals less than a minute apart from Canales on a corner kick and Dasia Torbert on a rebound, and Olivia Athens ended the game with a game-winner in the 96th minute.
FISHEL EARNS SECOND PAC-12 AWARD
Junior forward Mia Fishel received her second Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honor after a two-goal performance in a road sweep over the Arizona schools. Fishel scored the first goal in both victories in Arizona. Against the Wildcats on Thursday, she put UCLA on the board first in the 20th minute on a header off a corner kick. She scored in the sixth minute against Arizona State on Sunday, her sixth goal in UCLA's last six games. The Bruins went on to win in overtime, 4-3. Fishel leads the Bruins and ranks second in the Pac-12 with nine goals and 18 points. She has amassed 29 career goals to rank 12th all-time in school history.
SHUTOUT STREAK ENDS AT 793 MINUTES
UCLA's eight-game, 793-minute shutout streak came to an end 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. UCLA, however, did increase its unbeaten streak to 18 consecutive games in the win at Arizona State on Oct. 3. The Bruins' last loss came at the hands of the Sun Devils on Mar. 26, 2021.
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 11 games and a team goals against average of 0.443 (seventh-best in the nation). They have allowed single-digit shots in seven of 11 games.
BRZYKCY BUSINESS
Senior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy is off to another fantastic start to the season. The 2020 All-American has allowed just four goals in 830 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 31. Brzykcy leads the Pac-12 and ranks third in the nation in shutouts (seven) and is first in the Pac-12 and seventh nationally in goals against average (0.389). She is also sixth in the nation and first in the conference in save percentage (0.902). She has earned Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Weekhonors twice in the last four weeks, 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.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Bruins boast perhaps the most formidable 1-2 punch in the country in forwards Mia Fishel (nine goals) and Reilyn Turner (seven goals). They have totaled 16 goals this season, with Fishel scoring six in the last six games and Turner scoring six in the last eight, including a hat trick in the Bruins' 3-0 win at LMU on Sept. 5. The dynamic duo have scored 67% (16 of 24) of the Bruins' total goals this year.
ASSIST QUEEN
Redshirt junior defender Madelyn Desiano continues to lead the Pac-12 in assists (seven) and assists per game (0.70). She is nationally ranked 12th and eighth, respectively, in those categories.The two-time Pac-12 Defender of the Week has started in eight 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.
NATIONAL TEAM CALL-UPS
Bruin seniors Maricarmen Reyes and Idalia Serrano have returned from short stints with their respective national teams. Reyes scored the game-winning goal in Mexico's 2-0 victory over Colombia on Sept. 21, her first international goal and a little over a week later scored the game-winning goal at Arizona. Serrano was training with El Salvador's national team and started in a 6-0 training game against Santa Tecla FC on Sept. 20.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA remained at third in both the United Soccer Coaches poll and the Top Drawer Soccer national rankings. The Bruins have been ranked in the Top 5 of the coaches poll in 15 consecutive weeks.
SUPER SENIORS
A trio of fifth-year players - graduate students Olivia Athens and Marley Canales and fifth-year senior Kennedy Faulknor - are bringing veteran leadership to the Bruins in 2021. Athens is enrolled in UCLA's Master of Legal Studies program, Canales is enrolled in UCLA's Graduate School of Education, pursuing a master's degree in transformative coaching and leadership, and Faulknor is wrapping up her sociology degree. The trio have played a combined 204 games. Canales has started all 11 of UCLA's games this season, and Athens has started in 10 games.
RETURNING PRODUCTION
UCLA returns its top four leading scorers in Reilyn Turner (11g, 5a, 27pts), Mia Fishel (6g, 6a, 18pts), Marley Canales (4g, 6a, 14pts) and Sunshine Fontes (5g, 3a, 13pts). The foursome combined to score 72% of UCLA's goals in 2020 (26 of 36). Overall, UCLA returns 83% of its goal production and 81% of its points production. Goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy, who played every minute of every game in 2020, is also back after her All-American season. Eight players who started at least 11 of UCLA's 17 games last season are back - 17-game starters Brzykcy, Canales and Brianne Riley; 16-game starters Fishel and Olivia Athens; 15-game starter Turner; 14-game starter Michaela Rosenbaum; and 11-game starter Kaila Novak.
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 10 of 11 games, McMahon has five starts and ranks second on the team with four assists, Perry has two starts, and Lexi Wright has one. 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.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Utah enters Thursday's game with a 5-5-2 record and is coming off a 1-1 draw with Washington. The Utes are led by sophomore Taliana Kaufusi, who has scored four goals in 12 games. Kaufusi's father Jason is UCLA Football's outside linebackers coach. Colorado plays USC on Thursday before playing the Bruins Sunday. The Buffs split at Washington last week, beating the Huskies before losing to the Cougars. Ten different players have scored goals for Colorado this season, led by Shanade Hopcroft, who has four goals and five assists.
