UCLA's Title Defense Begins Thursday Night

Thursday, August 17

Los Angeles, CA

7:00 PM

UCLA

Georgia

UCLA opens the 2023 season Thursday

Photo by: Don Liebig, UCLA Photography

UCLA's Title Defense Begins Thursday Night

August 16, 2023 | Women's Soccer

Game Notes (PDF)Tickets

No. 1 UCLA (22-2-1 in 2022) vs. Georgia (13-6-3 in 2022)
Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023 – 7 p.m. PT
Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)

MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: Pac-12 Networks
Talent: Christian Miles, Tracey Bailey
Internet Radio: uclabruins.com
Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com

No. 1 UCLA (22-2-1 in 2022) vs. Portland (12-5-4 in 2022)
Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023 – 2 p.m. PT
Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)

MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: Pac-12 Networks
Talent: Jim Watson
Internet Radio: uclabruins.com
Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com

TITLE DEFENSE BEGINS THURSDAY
The defending NCAA champion and preseason No. 1 Bruins will kick off the 2023 season on Thursday, Aug. 17 with a 7pm match against Georgia at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks. UCLA closes out the week with a Sunday afternoon game against Portland at 2pm. Both of UCLA's opponents this week advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Coincidentally, both Georgia and Portland played UCLA's College Cup opponents in the second round, with Georgia falling to North Carolina and Portland losing to Alabama.

UCLA IN SEASON OPENERS
UCLA is 23-6-1 all-time in season openers and has won seven in a row and 12 of the last 13. The Bruins won last season's opener against Iowa, 1-0, on a Maricarmen Reyes goal in the 60th minute.

LAST TIME OUT
UCLA won its exhibition contest at Fresno State on Aug. 12, 4-0. Graduate student Sunshine Fontes scored two goals, one in each half, to lead the Bruins, who also received goals from sophomores Ally Lemos and America Frias. UCLA outshot Fresno State, 19-5, and recorded 13 shots on goal to Fresno State's two. Neeku Purcell, Faith Nguyen and Kelly McManus combined for the shutout.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Georgia finished the 2022 season with a 13-6-3 overall record. The Bulldogs earned a NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2014, advancing to the second round, where they lost to eventual runner-up North Carolina, 3-1.Senior defender Madison Haugen is Georgia's top returning scorer, having totaled 15 points on four goals and a team-leading seven assists. Sophomore Jordan Brown returns the most experience at the goalkeeper position, recording a 0.61 goals against average with five shutouts in eight games a year ago. Georgia played Furman in an exhibition on Aug. 8 and came away with a 1-1 tie on a 55th-minute equalizer by Tori Penn.

FAMILIAR FACES
Three Bulldogs are certainly no stranger to UCLA. Midfielder Dasia Torbert played in 21 games for UCLA from 2020-21 before transfering to her hometown school a year ago. Head coach Keidane McAlpine coached at crosstown rival USC from 2014-21, and two Bulldog players are grad transfers from USC - 2022 Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year Croix Bethune and forward Hannah White.

THE SERIES WITH GEORGIA
The only previous meeting between UCLA and Georgia came in 2000, a 6-1 Bruin victory in Gainesville, Fla. that was powered by a Katherine Bjazevich hat trick and a two-goal game by Tracey Milburn, who is the color commentator for Thursday's Pac-12 Network broadcast.

SCOUTING THE PILOTS
Portland began the 2022 season on a 13-game unbeaten streak and finished the year with a 12-5-4 record, advancing to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2013. The Pilots won their first round game, 3-0, over Arizona State before falling to Alabama, 2-1, in second round action. Portland, who opens the season on Thursday at CSUN, returns each of its top three scorers from last season - Cally Togiai (16 points), Kayla Adams (13 points) and Nedya Sawan (12 points) - and goalkeeper Bre Norris, who recorded a 0.825 goals against average in 20 games. Head coach Michelle French was an assistant coach at UCLA in 2002.

THE SERIES WITH PORTLAND
UCLA is 8-1 all-time against Portland and won the last meeting between the teams in 2009, a 2-1 home win in the NCAA quarterfinals. Kylie Wright and Lauren Cheney scored for the Bruins in the comeback victory. Portland's lone win against the Bruins came in the 2005 NCAA Championship match, 4-0. Christine Sinclair scored two goals, and Megan Rapinoe had one goal and an assist in the victory.

PRESEASON RANKINGS
UCLA enters the season ranked No. 1 in every preseason national poll and are also picked to finish first in the preseason Pac-12 Coaches poll. The Bruins will face three teams in 2023 who are ranked in the Top 25 in No. 11 Stanford (Oct. 29 at home), No. 13 BYU (Aug. 31 on the road) and No. 22 USC (Nov. 3 at home), along with two others receiving votes (UC Irvine on Aug. 27 and Georgia on Aug. 17).

BRUINS TO WATCH
A total of four Bruins have been tabbed for the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Watch Lists - defender Lilly Reale, midfielders Sunshine Fontes and Ally Lemos, and forward Reilyn Turner. All four earned All-Pacific Region and All-Pac-12 honors a year ago. Reale was a second-team All-American and the winner of the Honda Sport Award. The Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and the College Cup's Most Outstanding Defensive Player led the UCLA defense to a 0.55 goals against average, UCLA lowest in eight years, and to a Pac-12-best 14 shutouts. Fontes led UCLA in scoring a year ago with 11 goals and 30 points. She also ranked second on the team in assists with eight, one behind Pac-12 leader Lemos, who was selected to the Top Drawer Soccer Freshman Best XI first team. Lemos, the only field player on the Bruins to start in all 25 games, was an all-tournament selection at the College Cup. Turner, the College Cup's Most Outstanding Offensive Player, tied for the team lead in goals scored with 11 last year and has posted 10 or more goals every season. She led the NCAA in 2022 with seven game-winning goals and ranks No. 9 all-time at UCLA with 13 career game-winners.

WELCOME BACK
UCLA returns eight starters from the 2022 NCAA Championship game, including leading scorer Sunshine Fontes (30 points), College Cup Most Outstanding Offensive Player Reilyn Turner (25 points) and Defensive Player Lilly Reale (contributed to 13 shutouts), College Cup All-Tournament selections Ally Lemos (11 points) and Lexi Wright (22 points), and first-team All-Pac-12 honoree Quincy McMahon. Sophomore Neeku Purcell returns the most experience at the goalkeeper position. She played in eight games a year ago and posted a 0.51 goals against average with five shared shutouts.

WHAT'S NEW, BRU?
The Bruins welcome eight newcomers to the defending national championship squad. Joining the Bruins in 2023 are transfers Ayo Oke and Emily Pringle, early enrolee freshmen Taylor Cheatham and Milla Shafie and new freshmen Kirsten Crane, Maya Leoni, Sophie Reale and Val Vargas. Oke comes to UCLA from the University of California, where she was an All-Pac-12 and all-region honoree in 2022 and tied for the Pac-12 lead with nine assists. Graduate student Pringle was a two-year team captain at the University of Pennsylvania and an All-Ivy League defender in 2021. Cheatham and Shafie have been with the Bruins since January and saw action during the Bruins' spring schedule. Vargas, a starter on Mexico's Under-20 National Team, leads the new freshmen, along with Gatorade Massachusetts State Player of the Year Sophie Reale, the younger sister of UCLA starting defender Lilly Reale.

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 and Neeku Purcell. 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.

ACADEMIC HONORS
For the 12th 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 2022-23 academic year. The Bruins posted a team GPA of 3.27, their fourth consecutive year over 3.25. A program-record 18 players were named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll in 2022.