Friday, November 3
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
vs
USC
Reilyn Turner
Photo by: Jesus Ramirez
UCLA Hosts USC in Pac-12 Finale
November 02, 2023 | Women's Soccer
No. 2 UCLA (15-1-1, 9-0-1) vs. No. 22 USC (10-3-3, 6-1-3)
Date: Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 โ 7 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
TV: Pac-12 Network
Talent: Christian Miles, Tracey Baileyย
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
UCLA HOSTS USC FRIDAY IN PAC-12 FINALE ย ย
The Pac-12 champion UCLA Bruins (15-1-1, 9-0-1 in the Pac-12, ranked No. 2 in the nation) hosts No. 22 USC (10-3-3, 6-1-3) on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7pm in both teams' last-ever Pac-12 Conference game before moving to the Big Ten Conference in 2024-25. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
PAC-12 CHAMPIONS ย ย
UCLA clinched its 14th Pac-12 title on Sunday with a 1-1 tie against Stanford. Seniors Jen Alvarado, Janae DeFazio, Megan Edelman, Sunshine Fontes, Jordyn Gather, Kelly McManus, Michaela Rosenbaum, My Haugland Sørsdahl, Reilyn Turner and MacKenzee Vance have been part of three Pac-12 championship squads, as UCLA has won three of the last four titles. ย
LAST TIME OUT ย ย
UCLA started its weekend slate with a 2-0 victory over California on Oct. 26. The Bruins received a pair of first-half goals by Ayo Oke and Michaela Rosenbaum and went on to record their 11th shutout of the season. UCLA outshot Cal by a 17-7 margin and had seven shots on goal to the Bears' one. In a battle between the Pac-12's top two teams on Oct. 29, UCLA and Stanford played to a 1-1 tie. Sophomore midfielder Sofia Cook opened the scoring in the 68th minute with her first goal of the season, but Stanford tied it up just 80 seconds later on a goal following a free kick from just outside the box. The Bruin defense held strong to preserve the tie, which was all UCLA needed to secure the Pac-12 title. ย ย ย
AYO AY-OK ย ย
Junior defender Ayo Oke became the latest Bruin to earn Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors, UCLA's sixth selection in the last seven weeks. Oke scored or assisted on every Bruin goal last weekend and helped UCLA record its 11th shutout of the year. She turned in an eye-opening performance against her former team California on Thursday, scoring the game-winning goal on a 30-yard bomb and adding an assist on the Bruins' second goal while helping the Bruins limit California to just one shot on goal in the shutout victory. The goal was her first as a Bruin. She also contributed an assist on UCLA's lone goal in the 1-1 tie against Stanford. ย ย ย
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE ย ย
UCLA has dominated the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week award this season, winning six times in the last seven weeks. Quincy McMahon won a record four times this year, including an unprecedented three times in a row Sept. 18, Sept. 25 and Oct. 2. A different Bruin has won the award in each of the last two weeks, with Lilly Reale taking the honor on Oct. 23 and Ayo Oke this week. UCLA's defense has recorded 11 shutouts, held opponents to single digit shots in 16 of 17 games and an average of 4.9 shots per game. The Bruins hold a team goals against average of 0.53. ย ย ย ย
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME ย ย
UCLA enters Friday's game on a 22-game home unbeaten streak. The Bruins' last home loss came on Nov. 12, 2021, meaning Margueritte Aozasa has never lost a home game as Bruin head coach. During the streak, UCLA is 20-0-2 with 15 shutouts, including six in the last seven games. This season, the Bruins have outscored their opponents at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, 27-2. They have also outshot opponents at home by a 206-35 count. ย ย ย
TURNER NEARING THE CENTURY MARKย
Senior forward Reilyn Turner is one point away from reaching 100 career points. Only five other players in UCLA history have accomplished this feat - Lauren Cheney (173), Traci Arkenberg (169), Danesha Adams (140), Sydney Leroux (126) and Iris Mora (104). Turner has moved fifth place on UCLA's career goals list with 42 and into a tie for fifth place in career game-winning goals with 16. Turner also ranks third at UCLA with three career hat tricks, behind only Arkenberg and Leroux. This season, Turner leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and 26 points and is ranked second in assists with six. She has been deadly in conference games, leading all Pac-12 players with seven goals and 17 points in conference play. The senior from Aliso Viejo, Calif. has secured a fourth consecutive 20-point season. ย ย
CORNER CONNECTIONย
It would be hard to find a more iconic duo late in a game than Ally Lemos and Reilyn Turner. With time running out in a scoreless contest Oct. 22 at Arizona State, Lemos sent a corner kick into the box, and Turner headed it home for the game-winner in the 89th minute. It was far from the first time they had connected on a corner; Lemos' last three assists have been corner kicks that Turner has headed into goal, most famously in the NCAA Championship with 16 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Seven of Lemos' 11 career assists have come on corner kicks, including her last four. ย ย ย ย
ALLY KEEPS COOKIN'ย
With eight goals in 2023, graduate forward Ally Cook has equaled her single-season best total for goals scored, set in 2021 at Oregon. Cook, who came to UCLA in 2022 as a graduate transfer in the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, has totaled 13 goals as a Bruin, adding to her total of 17 as a Duck. Her 30 career goals rank her second on the current UCLA squad behind only Reilyn Turner (42). Cook ranks second on the team and fourth in the conference with eight goals. She is also second on the team and ninth in the Pac-12 with 17 points. Her five goals in conference play rank third overall in the Pac-12. ย ย ย ย
THE WRIGHT STUFFย
Junior forward Lexi Wright has put together another strong season, ranking third on the team in goals (five) and points (13). In Pac-12 play, she ranks fourth in the conference with 11 points, seventh with four goals and ninth with three assists. Last season, she ranked third on the team in all scoring categories, totaling 22 points on eight goals and six assists, and she was named to the College Cup All-Tournament team after leading the Bruin comeback in the NCAA Championship game.ย
SIX RANKED IN TOP 50 ย ย
UCLA leads the nation with six players in the Top 50 and four players in the Top 25 of Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason Top 100. Defender Lilly Reale tops the Bruins with a No. 10 ranking, followed closesly by forward Ally Cook, who is No. 12. Forward Reilyn Turner (No. 17), defender Quincy McMahon (No. 22), midfielder Ally Lemos (No. 39) and defender Ayo Oke (No. 44) also made the Top 50. Additionally, freshman forward Val Vargas was ranked No. 47 on the midseason freshman list. ย ย ย ย ย
NO SHOT AGAINST BRUIN DEFENSE ย ย
UCLA has held opponents to single-digit shots in 16 of the team's 17 games. The Bruins' lockdown defense, which has a team goals against average of 0.53, starts goalkeeper Neeku Purcell, center backs Lilly Reale and Jayden Perry and outside backs Quincy McMahon and Ayo Oke. The Bruins have totaled 11 shutouts this season and allowed just two goals in the month of October. ย ย ย
PK POWER ย ย
UCLA has taken a program record and nation-leading 10 penalty kicks this season and hit its first nine before missing on its 10th on Oct. 22. Jayden Perry leads the team with three penalty kick goals, followed by Reilyn Turner and Sunshine Fontes, who each have two. Emma Egizii and America Frias have made one each. ย ย
ROLLING IN THE DEEP ย ย
UCLA's strength lies in its depth. The Bruins have 16 players who have scored goals this season, led by Reilyn Turner's 10 goals and Ally Cook's eight goals. No game displayed UCLA's depth more than the Oregon State contest on Oct. 5 when six different Bruin players scored a goal and all 22 players on the active roster reached double-digits in minutes played. ย ย ย ย
NATIONAL LEADERS
In games through Oct. 31, UCLA ranks in the Top 10 in the nation in shots per game (1st - 21.47), W-L-T percentage (4th - 0.912), goal differential (5th - 39), shutout percentage (7th - 0.647) and scoring offense (8th - 2.82). ย ย ย
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA remains ranked No. 2 in both the ย United Soccer Coaches poll and the Top Drawer Soccer poll. The Bruins have been ranked in the Top 5 of the United Soccer Coaches poll for 23 consecutive polls and in the Top 10 in 45 straight polls. ย ย ย
ABOUT THE TROJANS
No. 22 USC enters Friday's match with a 10-3-3 overall record and 6-1-3 conference record. The Trojans are 1-1-3 in their last five games and beat Cal in their last contest, 2-0. Kayla Colbert leads USC in scoring with 18 points on six goals and six assists and is tied for the team lead in goals scored with freshman Maribel Flores. Goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson holds a 0.62 goals against average with a record of 7-1-3. The Trojans are coached by Jane Alukonis, who was an assistant coach at UCLA from 2008-12. ย ย ย
THE SERIES WITH USC
UCLA is 5-1-2 against USC in the last eight matchups, including 3-0-1 at home. The home team has had the advantage in the last five contests. USC won last year, 2-0, and the Bruins won in 2021, 3-1, in a game in which Reilyn Turner had a goal and assist. The teams recorded two 2-2 ties in the 2020 season, and the Bruins won 3-1 at home in 2019. The last visiting team to win a game in the series was UCLA, who came from behind to win a 3-2 overtime thriller at the StubHub Center. Turner has feasted against the Trojans in her career, totaling two goals and two assists in four games played. ย ย ย
FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY
Several Bruins spent the offseason playing for their respective national teams in tournaments around the world. Head coach Margueritte Aozasa coached the U.S. Under-23 team at the Thorns Preseason Tournament in March in Portland, Oregon, and was joined by players Lilly Reale, Quincy McMahon, Sunshine Fontes, Reilyn Turner, Neeku Purcell and Ayo Oke. In May, Ally Lemos and Sofia Cook played for the U.S., and Val Vargas played for Mexico at the 2023 Concacaf Under-20 Championships in the Dominican Republic. With Vargas in the starting lineup, Mexico beat the U.S. in the final, 2-1, to capture the championship. Vargas is one of three Mexican U-20 players on the Bruin squad, along with sophomores Bridgette Marin-Valencia and America Frias, who each played with Mexico at the 2022 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Also playing in that 2022 Under-20 World Cup were Reale, Purcell and Oke. Vargas, Marin-Valencia and Frias missed the Colorado game while at training camp with Mexico's U-20 squad. Freshman Maya Leoni has been out for two different stretches with Colombia's U-17 national team.
UP NEXT
UCLA, who has earned the Pac-12's automatic berth in the NCAA Championships, will begin postseason play on Friday, Nov. 10. The NCAA field will be announced on Monday, Nov. 6 at 1pm PT on ncaa.com. ย
ย
Date: Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 โ 7 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
TV: Pac-12 Network
Talent: Christian Miles, Tracey Baileyย
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
UCLA HOSTS USC FRIDAY IN PAC-12 FINALE ย ย
The Pac-12 champion UCLA Bruins (15-1-1, 9-0-1 in the Pac-12, ranked No. 2 in the nation) hosts No. 22 USC (10-3-3, 6-1-3) on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7pm in both teams' last-ever Pac-12 Conference game before moving to the Big Ten Conference in 2024-25. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
PAC-12 CHAMPIONS ย ย
UCLA clinched its 14th Pac-12 title on Sunday with a 1-1 tie against Stanford. Seniors Jen Alvarado, Janae DeFazio, Megan Edelman, Sunshine Fontes, Jordyn Gather, Kelly McManus, Michaela Rosenbaum, My Haugland Sørsdahl, Reilyn Turner and MacKenzee Vance have been part of three Pac-12 championship squads, as UCLA has won three of the last four titles. ย
LAST TIME OUT ย ย
UCLA started its weekend slate with a 2-0 victory over California on Oct. 26. The Bruins received a pair of first-half goals by Ayo Oke and Michaela Rosenbaum and went on to record their 11th shutout of the season. UCLA outshot Cal by a 17-7 margin and had seven shots on goal to the Bears' one. In a battle between the Pac-12's top two teams on Oct. 29, UCLA and Stanford played to a 1-1 tie. Sophomore midfielder Sofia Cook opened the scoring in the 68th minute with her first goal of the season, but Stanford tied it up just 80 seconds later on a goal following a free kick from just outside the box. The Bruin defense held strong to preserve the tie, which was all UCLA needed to secure the Pac-12 title. ย ย ย
AYO AY-OK ย ย
Junior defender Ayo Oke became the latest Bruin to earn Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors, UCLA's sixth selection in the last seven weeks. Oke scored or assisted on every Bruin goal last weekend and helped UCLA record its 11th shutout of the year. She turned in an eye-opening performance against her former team California on Thursday, scoring the game-winning goal on a 30-yard bomb and adding an assist on the Bruins' second goal while helping the Bruins limit California to just one shot on goal in the shutout victory. The goal was her first as a Bruin. She also contributed an assist on UCLA's lone goal in the 1-1 tie against Stanford. ย ย ย
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE ย ย
UCLA has dominated the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week award this season, winning six times in the last seven weeks. Quincy McMahon won a record four times this year, including an unprecedented three times in a row Sept. 18, Sept. 25 and Oct. 2. A different Bruin has won the award in each of the last two weeks, with Lilly Reale taking the honor on Oct. 23 and Ayo Oke this week. UCLA's defense has recorded 11 shutouts, held opponents to single digit shots in 16 of 17 games and an average of 4.9 shots per game. The Bruins hold a team goals against average of 0.53. ย ย ย ย
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME ย ย
UCLA enters Friday's game on a 22-game home unbeaten streak. The Bruins' last home loss came on Nov. 12, 2021, meaning Margueritte Aozasa has never lost a home game as Bruin head coach. During the streak, UCLA is 20-0-2 with 15 shutouts, including six in the last seven games. This season, the Bruins have outscored their opponents at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, 27-2. They have also outshot opponents at home by a 206-35 count. ย ย ย
TURNER NEARING THE CENTURY MARKย
Senior forward Reilyn Turner is one point away from reaching 100 career points. Only five other players in UCLA history have accomplished this feat - Lauren Cheney (173), Traci Arkenberg (169), Danesha Adams (140), Sydney Leroux (126) and Iris Mora (104). Turner has moved fifth place on UCLA's career goals list with 42 and into a tie for fifth place in career game-winning goals with 16. Turner also ranks third at UCLA with three career hat tricks, behind only Arkenberg and Leroux. This season, Turner leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and 26 points and is ranked second in assists with six. She has been deadly in conference games, leading all Pac-12 players with seven goals and 17 points in conference play. The senior from Aliso Viejo, Calif. has secured a fourth consecutive 20-point season. ย ย
CORNER CONNECTIONย
It would be hard to find a more iconic duo late in a game than Ally Lemos and Reilyn Turner. With time running out in a scoreless contest Oct. 22 at Arizona State, Lemos sent a corner kick into the box, and Turner headed it home for the game-winner in the 89th minute. It was far from the first time they had connected on a corner; Lemos' last three assists have been corner kicks that Turner has headed into goal, most famously in the NCAA Championship with 16 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Seven of Lemos' 11 career assists have come on corner kicks, including her last four. ย ย ย ย
ALLY KEEPS COOKIN'ย
With eight goals in 2023, graduate forward Ally Cook has equaled her single-season best total for goals scored, set in 2021 at Oregon. Cook, who came to UCLA in 2022 as a graduate transfer in the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, has totaled 13 goals as a Bruin, adding to her total of 17 as a Duck. Her 30 career goals rank her second on the current UCLA squad behind only Reilyn Turner (42). Cook ranks second on the team and fourth in the conference with eight goals. She is also second on the team and ninth in the Pac-12 with 17 points. Her five goals in conference play rank third overall in the Pac-12. ย ย ย ย
THE WRIGHT STUFFย
Junior forward Lexi Wright has put together another strong season, ranking third on the team in goals (five) and points (13). In Pac-12 play, she ranks fourth in the conference with 11 points, seventh with four goals and ninth with three assists. Last season, she ranked third on the team in all scoring categories, totaling 22 points on eight goals and six assists, and she was named to the College Cup All-Tournament team after leading the Bruin comeback in the NCAA Championship game.ย
SIX RANKED IN TOP 50 ย ย
UCLA leads the nation with six players in the Top 50 and four players in the Top 25 of Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason Top 100. Defender Lilly Reale tops the Bruins with a No. 10 ranking, followed closesly by forward Ally Cook, who is No. 12. Forward Reilyn Turner (No. 17), defender Quincy McMahon (No. 22), midfielder Ally Lemos (No. 39) and defender Ayo Oke (No. 44) also made the Top 50. Additionally, freshman forward Val Vargas was ranked No. 47 on the midseason freshman list. ย ย ย ย ย
NO SHOT AGAINST BRUIN DEFENSE ย ย
UCLA has held opponents to single-digit shots in 16 of the team's 17 games. The Bruins' lockdown defense, which has a team goals against average of 0.53, starts goalkeeper Neeku Purcell, center backs Lilly Reale and Jayden Perry and outside backs Quincy McMahon and Ayo Oke. The Bruins have totaled 11 shutouts this season and allowed just two goals in the month of October. ย ย ย
PK POWER ย ย
UCLA has taken a program record and nation-leading 10 penalty kicks this season and hit its first nine before missing on its 10th on Oct. 22. Jayden Perry leads the team with three penalty kick goals, followed by Reilyn Turner and Sunshine Fontes, who each have two. Emma Egizii and America Frias have made one each. ย ย
ROLLING IN THE DEEP ย ย
UCLA's strength lies in its depth. The Bruins have 16 players who have scored goals this season, led by Reilyn Turner's 10 goals and Ally Cook's eight goals. No game displayed UCLA's depth more than the Oregon State contest on Oct. 5 when six different Bruin players scored a goal and all 22 players on the active roster reached double-digits in minutes played. ย ย ย ย
NATIONAL LEADERS
In games through Oct. 31, UCLA ranks in the Top 10 in the nation in shots per game (1st - 21.47), W-L-T percentage (4th - 0.912), goal differential (5th - 39), shutout percentage (7th - 0.647) and scoring offense (8th - 2.82). ย ย ย
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA remains ranked No. 2 in both the ย United Soccer Coaches poll and the Top Drawer Soccer poll. The Bruins have been ranked in the Top 5 of the United Soccer Coaches poll for 23 consecutive polls and in the Top 10 in 45 straight polls. ย ย ย
ABOUT THE TROJANS
No. 22 USC enters Friday's match with a 10-3-3 overall record and 6-1-3 conference record. The Trojans are 1-1-3 in their last five games and beat Cal in their last contest, 2-0. Kayla Colbert leads USC in scoring with 18 points on six goals and six assists and is tied for the team lead in goals scored with freshman Maribel Flores. Goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson holds a 0.62 goals against average with a record of 7-1-3. The Trojans are coached by Jane Alukonis, who was an assistant coach at UCLA from 2008-12. ย ย ย
THE SERIES WITH USC
UCLA is 5-1-2 against USC in the last eight matchups, including 3-0-1 at home. The home team has had the advantage in the last five contests. USC won last year, 2-0, and the Bruins won in 2021, 3-1, in a game in which Reilyn Turner had a goal and assist. The teams recorded two 2-2 ties in the 2020 season, and the Bruins won 3-1 at home in 2019. The last visiting team to win a game in the series was UCLA, who came from behind to win a 3-2 overtime thriller at the StubHub Center. Turner has feasted against the Trojans in her career, totaling two goals and two assists in four games played. ย ย ย
FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY
Several Bruins spent the offseason playing for their respective national teams in tournaments around the world. Head coach Margueritte Aozasa coached the U.S. Under-23 team at the Thorns Preseason Tournament in March in Portland, Oregon, and was joined by players Lilly Reale, Quincy McMahon, Sunshine Fontes, Reilyn Turner, Neeku Purcell and Ayo Oke. In May, Ally Lemos and Sofia Cook played for the U.S., and Val Vargas played for Mexico at the 2023 Concacaf Under-20 Championships in the Dominican Republic. With Vargas in the starting lineup, Mexico beat the U.S. in the final, 2-1, to capture the championship. Vargas is one of three Mexican U-20 players on the Bruin squad, along with sophomores Bridgette Marin-Valencia and America Frias, who each played with Mexico at the 2022 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Also playing in that 2022 Under-20 World Cup were Reale, Purcell and Oke. Vargas, Marin-Valencia and Frias missed the Colorado game while at training camp with Mexico's U-20 squad. Freshman Maya Leoni has been out for two different stretches with Colombia's U-17 national team.
UP NEXT
UCLA, who has earned the Pac-12's automatic berth in the NCAA Championships, will begin postseason play on Friday, Nov. 10. The NCAA field will be announced on Monday, Nov. 6 at 1pm PT on ncaa.com. ย
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