UCLA
Iowa
New Era Begins Thursday for Women's Soccer
August 17, 2022 | Women's Soccer
Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022 โ 7 p.m. PT
Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: Pac-12 Networks
Talent: Christian Miles
Internet Radio: uclabruins.com
Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
Price at gate: $15 at gate/$10 youth (3-16); UCLA students free with BruinCard; All tickets are digital
Parking: purchase in advance on Park Mobile app
UCLA BEGINS 30TH SEASON
No. 13 UCLA will begin its 30th season on Thursday, Aug. 18, opening against Iowa at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The match will be broadcast live at 7pm PT on Pac-12 Networks.
NEW ERA BEGINS
The Bruins start a new era under first-year head coach Margueritte Aozasa, who was hired in December 2021 as the sixth coach in program history. Aozasa came to UCLA after spending the past seven seasons (2015-21) as an assistant coach at Stanford. She coached the Cardinal to great success, helping guide Stanford to NCAA Championships in 2017 and 2019 and Pac-12 titles from 2015-19. The 2018 team also reached the College Cup. Stanford's record during Aozasa's time on the Farm was 125-19-8, with the Cardinal posting a +318 goal differential (412 goals for, 94 goals against). Aozasa was a four-year starter under Jerry Smith at Santa Clara University from 2008-11, playing at midfield and center back and serving as team captain from 2010-11.
UCLA IN SEASON OPENERS
UCLA is 22-6-1 all-time in season openers and has won 11 of the last 12. The Bruins won last season's opener against UC Irvine, 3-1, after scoring three goals (Maricarmen Reyes, Reilyn Turner, Mia Fishel) in the first 19 minutes of the game.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA won its exhibition contest against Fresno State on Aug. 13, 5-1. Graduate transfer Ally Cook scored two goals to lead the Bruins, who also received goals from Maricarmen Reyes, Reilyn Turner and Ally Lemos. Twenty-four Bruins saw action in the game.
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES
Iowa finished fourth in the Big Ten in 2021 with a 5-4-1 record in conference play and a 12-6-2 record overall. The Hawkeyes return six starters and several other contributors from last season's Big Ten Tournament semifinalists, including all-conference honorees Sara Wheaton and Hailey Rydberg.
THE SERIES WITH IOWA
The only previous meeting between UCLA and Iowa came in the second round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament at Campbell University, a come-from-behind 2-1 win by the Bruins. The Hawkeyes led for nearly 80 minutes of the game after leading scorer Meike Ingles scored in the sixth minute and thwarted attempt after attempt by the Bruins, who finished the game with 23 shots. But UCLA's persistence paid off in the final five minutes, as Reilyn Turner came through with the game-tying goal at 84:47 and then the game-winner with 30 seconds remaining on the clock.
PRESEASON RANKINGS
UCLA enters the season ranked No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 6 in the Top Drawer Soccer preseason poll. Additionally, the two-time defending Pac-12 champion Bruins were picked to finish second in the preseason Pac-12 Coaches poll. The Bruins will play three preseason Top 10 teams during non-conference play - 2020 NCAA champion and preseason No. 5 Santa Clara on Aug. 28, second-ranked Duke on Sept. 1, and 21-time NCAA champion and 10th-ranked North Carolina on Sept. 4.
BRUINS TO WATCH
Three Bruins have been tabbed for the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Watch Lists - goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy, defender Lilly Reale and forward Reilyn Turner. All three earned All-Pacific Region and All-Pac-12 honors a year ago. Brzykcy in 2020 was an All-American and the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year. Last season, she led the Pac-12 and ranked 10th nationally with a 0.55 goals against average. starting in 19 games and ranking second amongst UCLA field players in minutes played with 1,683. She contributed to nine shutouts and scored one goal and one assist. Reale earned first-team All-Pacific Region and All-Pac-12 honors and was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Freshman Best XI first team and to College Soccer News' All-Freshman first team. Turner is UCLA's top returning scorer from 2021 with 10 goals and 21 points. As a freshman, she led the Pac-12 in scoring with 11 goals and 27 points. She is a two-time all-region and all-conference selection and earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year acclaim in 2020.
GLAD FOR GRADS
Four Bruins - Lauren Brzykcy, Ally Cook, Madelyn Desiano and Maricarmen Reyes - have extended their collegiate careers while earning a Master's degree in Transformative Coaching and Leadership at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. Brzykcy is in her sixth season with the Bruins, having joined the Bruins in 2017. She redshirted that season and received an extra year of eligibility due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Desiano arrived in Spring 2018 and had to sit both 2018 and 2019 due to knee injuries. Reyes' first season was 2018, and although she has played in each of the last three years, she has missed time each season due to injuries or National Team obligations. Cook is in her first year at UCLA, having transferred after three years at Oregon (2019-21).
REPRESENTING THEIR COUNTRIES
Four current Bruin team members will miss some games early in the season as they compete at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica. Sophomore Lilly Reale and freshman Neeku Purcell are playing with Team USA, while freshmen America Frias and Bridgette Marin-Valencia are playing with Mexico. The tournament runs from Aug. 10-28, with group play ending on Aug. 17 and the elimination rounds starting on Aug. 20.
WHO'S BACK?
UCLA returns three of its Top 5 leading point scorers from last season in Reilyn Turner (10g, 1a, 21pts), Maricarmen Reyes (4g, 2a, 10pts) and Madelyn Desiano (0g, 9a, 9pts). Turner led the Bruins in scoring as a freshman in 2020 with 11 goals, five assists and 27 points. Goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy, who played all but 90 minutes of the season, returns for her sixth year. Brzykcy earned All-America honors in 2020 and is a two-time All-Pacific Region and All-Pac-12 honoree. Eight players who started at least 10 games last season return - Brzykcy, Turner and Kylie Kerr (20); Lilly Reale (19), Brianne Riley (18); Madelyn Desiano and Quincy McMahon (12) and Reyes (10).
WHAT'S NEW, BRU?
The Bruins return 23 players from last season's roster and will look to replace starters Mia Fishel, Olivia Athens and Marley Canales. To do so, UCLA brought in the nation's top-ranked freshman class, including seven Top 25-ranked players in Kathryn Kelly (No. 7), Neeku Purcell (No. 8), Ellie Walbruch (No. 16), Sofia Cook (No. 19), Peyton Marcisz (No. 20), America Frias (No. 22) and Ally Lemos (No. 24). Also new to the squad are transfers Ally Cook (Oregon) and Maya Evans (California). Cook was a three-year starting forward for the Ducks and earned second-team All-Pacific Region and third-team All-Pac-12 honors last season after leading the team with eight goals and 20 points. Evans comes to UCLA after two seasons in Berkeley. As a freshman in 2020, she started in 11 of 13 games and led the team with 975 minutes played, earning Pac-12 All-Freshman honors.
BACK-TO-BACK PAC
The Bruins enter 2022 as the back-to-back Pac-12 champions after winning the 2021 title with an 8-0-3 league record and the 2020 crown with a 9-1-1 record in league play. The 2021 conference title was UCLA's 13th overall, and the back-to-back titles were the Bruins' first since 2013 and 2014.
PRO BRUINS
A total of 18 former UCLA women's soccer players are playing in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2022. The Bruins are represented on eight teams, including four on NJ/NY Gotham FC (Caprice Dydasco, Delanie Sheehan, Taylor Smith, McCall Zerboni), three on Orlando (Darian Jenkins, Megan Montefusco and Viviana Villacorta), and OL Reign (Olivia Athens, Marley Canales and Lauren Barnes), two on Kansas City (Sam Mewis and Hailie Mace) and Washington (Karina Rodriguez and Ashley Sanchez), and one each on Angel City FC (Sydney Leroux), San Diego (Abby Dahlkemper), Chicago (Sarah Woldmoe) and North Carolina (Katelyn Rowland).
UCLA has several alumnae playing abroad as well, with Lucy Parker (West Ham United) and Jessie Fleming (Chelsea FC) playing in the Barclays FA Women's Super League in England; Teagan Micah playing for FC Rosengard in Sweden; Rachel Lowe (Sydney FC) playing in the W-League in Australia; and Mia Fishel and Anika Rodriguez playing with Tigres in Mexico. Siri Ervik plays for Kolbotn in her home country of Norway, and Chanté Sandiford plays for Stjarnan in Iceland.
ACADEMIC HONORS
For the 11th consecutive year, the UCLA women's soccer team has won a United Soccer Coaches College Team Academic Award, recognizing exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2021-22 academic year. The Bruins posted a team GPA of 3.35, their third consecutive over 3.25 and their highest since the 2016-17 squad also accumulated a 3.35 team GPA. A program-record 14 players were named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll in 2021.
FOLLOW THE BRUINS
Follow UCLA Women's Soccer at @UCLAWSoccer on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok and /UCLAWSoccer on Facebook. The Bruins lead all collegiate soccer teams, men or women, in Instagram followers with 91.7k.
