Saturday, November 1
West Lafayette, IN
4:30 PM PT
UCLA
vs
Penn State
Kara Croone
Photo by: Ross Turteltaub
UCLA's Big Ten Tournament Title Defense Begins Saturday
October 29, 2025 | Women's Soccer
No. 20 UCLA (10-4-3, 6-2-3) vs. Penn State (9-6-3, 5-4-2)
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 โ 4:30 p.m. PT
Location: West Lafayette, Ind. (Folk Field)
Broadcast: Big Ten Plus
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com
UCLA BEGINS BIG TEN TOURNAMENT PLAY SATURDAYย
No. 3 seed UCLA (10-4-3) begins its Big Ten Tournament title defense on Saturday, Nov. 1 with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 6 seed Penn State (9-6-3). The match will take place at Folk Field on the campus of Purdue University. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. The winner will advance to the semifinal round on Thursday, Nov. 6 at Energizer Park in St. Louis. ย ย ย ย
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The Top 10 teams in the Big Ten standings qualified to the Big Ten Tournament, which begins with the No. 7-10 seeds facing off in the opening round on Oct. 30 at Purdue. No. 8 Ohio State will open the tournament against No. 9 Illinois at 4:30 p.m. ET. No. 7 Northwestern faces No. 10 USC at 7:30 p.m. The quarterfinal round begins on Nov. 1 with No. 4 Iowa facing No. 5 Wisconsin at ย 4:30 p.m., followed by No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 6 Penn State at 7:30 p.m. On Nov. 2, Washington will face the winner of the Ohio State-Illinois contest at 12:30 p.m., followed by Michigan State vs. the winner of the Northwestern-USC match at 3:30 p.m. The semifinals and final will move next week to St. Louis' Energizer Park. The semifinals take place on Nov. 6 and the final on Nov. 9. ย
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State is 9-6-3 overall and finished sixth in the Big Ten with a 5-4-2 conference record. Aubrey Kulpa leads the Nittany Lions and is tied for second in the Big Ten in scoring with 22 points (8g, 6a). Kaitlyn MacBean ranks eighth in the conference in scoring with 17 points and is tied for fourth with Kulpa in goals scored with eight. Riley Gleason leads the conference in assists with nine. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress has started all 18 games and holds a 1.21 goals against average, with three shutouts. ย
THE SERIES WITH PENN STATE
UCLA leads the overall series, 4-3-1 and went 1-0-1 against Penn State last season, taking victory in the Big Ten quarterfinals, 1-0, and tying 0-0 during the regular season in Los Angeles. Nicki Fraser scored the winning goal for the Bruins in the 36th minute of the quarterfinal game, and the Bruins went on to win the Big Ten Tournament title. ย ย ย
UCLA VS. BIG TEN
The Bruins are now 118-21-11 (.823) all-time against Big Ten teams and 39-6-4 (.837) vs. their new conference mates. UCLA has been extra formidable against Big Ten opponents in the NCAA Tournament, sporting a 12-2 record, the only losses coming to Washington in 1995 and USC in 2007. ย
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA is ranked No. 20 in both the United Soccer Coaches and Top Drawer Soccer polls, dropping two spots in the former and seven in the latter. Seven of UCLA's opponents this year are currently ranked in the coaches poll - No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 13 Iowa, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 16 Washington, No. 17 Georgia, and No. 24 Wisconsin. UCLA is 3-3-1 against those teams, with wins over Georgia, Stanford and Iowa. ย ย
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA wrapped up its regular season with a 0-0 tie against crosstown rival USC on Oct. 26, securing the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with its 12th shutout of the year. The Bruins outshot USC, 19-6, but could not get a shot past Trojan goalkeeper Bella Grust, who tied her season-high with seven saves. UCLA's top-ranked defense held the Trojans to zero shots on goal. Kara Croone led all players with six shots and tied with Leena Powell for most shots on goal with three. ย ย ย
TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
In 17 games, UCLA's defense has recorded 12 shutouts and allowed just five goals, for a team goals against average of 0.29, which ranks first in the nation. UCLA ranks second nationally in save percentage (0.891, just .001 behind national leader Cal State Fullerton) and third in shutout percentage (0.706). The Bruins have allowed just four goals in the run of play this season, as one of the five goals allowed was scored on a penalty kick. No opponent has scored more than one goal in a game this season, and the Bruins' four losses have been by 1-0 scores. UCLA has held opponents to single-digit shots in 11 of 17 games, including single-shot games against No. 6 Tennessee and No. 5 Iowa, a two-shot game against Maryland, and three-shot games at Portland, against Oregon, at Michigan, against Rutgers and at Wisconsin. Two opponents have been held without a shot on goal - Rutgers and USC. Freshman goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor has allowed just five goals and ranks second in the nation with a 0.360 goals against average. She has six solo shutouts and five shared shutouts. Mariangela Medina has one solo and five shared shutouts and has not allowed a goal in 280 minutes played.
This Bruin defense is almost completely new from 2024, with only Paloma Daubert returning from the squad that led the nation with 16 shutuouts and a 0.42 goals against average. The 2024 Bruin defense featured two current NWSL starters in Lilly Reale and Jayden Perry, All-American and NWSL goalkeeper Ryan Campbell, and 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Nicki Fraser, who has been out all season due to an injury. The 2025 Bruin defense has featured senior transfer Jennie Immethun, sophomore Daubert, senior Lily Boyden and freshmen Grace Shank and Laila Edris, along with freshman goalkeeper Nakfoor. Freshman center back Meila Brewer has only played six games this year due to National Team commitments. ย ย ย ย ย ย
BALANCED SCORING ย
Nine different players have scored for the Bruins this season. Bella Winn leads the team with six goals, Emma Egizii has three, and Kara Croone, Payten Cooper and Val Vargas have scored two each. Four others have one goal each - Grace Shank, Oruha Hayashi, Lexi Wright and Lily Boyden. Two more players are on the stat sheet with one assist each - Leena Powell and Julia Molnar. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
GAME WINN-ER ย
Redshirt freshman Bella Winn continues to hit game-winners for the Bruins. Of her six goals this year, four have been game-winners - at Georgia Aug. 14, vs. Stanford Sept. 7, vs. Maryland Sept. 28 and vs. Nebraska Oct. 19. Her latest heroics came Oct. 19 against Nebraska, scoring two goals in less than three minutes to give UCLA a 2-0 halftime lead. Winn ranks second in the Big Ten with four game-winning goals. She also leads the team in goals scored with six and in points with 13. Winn's two-goal game was the first multiple-goal game by a Bruin since Emma Egizii scored two goals in the 2024 season opener on Aug. 15, 2024. The five points scored by Winn were the most by a Bruin since Oct. 8, 2023 when Reilyn Turner recorded six points after a hat trick. ย
FOURS UP FOR NAKFOOR
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor has started 16 of UCLA's 17 games in goal this season and became the first true freshman to start in goal on opening day for UCLA since Teagan Micah in 2016. Nakfoor ranks second nationally with a goals against average of 0.360, allowing just five goals this season, and is 12th in the nation and second in the Big Ten in save percentage (0.857). She has six solo and five shared shutouts. On Sept. 9, Nakfoor earned Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week and Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week honors after recording a pair of shutouts at Portland and against then-top-ranked Stanford. She recorded nine saves on 21 shots against the Cardinal, the most saves by a Bruin goalkeeper since Lauren Brzykcy also had nine against Duke in 2022, and totaled five at Michigan State. Nakfoor became the first goalkeeper this season to record a shutout against Stanford, which had entered the game as the nation's top scoring offense. ย
COMEBACK KIDS
Redshirt seniors Emma Egizii and Lexi Wright and redshirt freshman forwards Bella Winn and Sammy Sanchez all returned to action this year after missing most, if not all, of the 2024 season with injuries.ย
Egizii, who scored two goals in three games in 2024 before getting injured during game four of the season, posted her first goal of the year against Portland on Sept. 4 and accounted for four of UCLA's six goals in a pair of 3-0 wins against Iowa and Nebraska, scoring one goal and totaling three assists en route to Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week honors. She leads the Bruins in assists with five and ranks second in scoring with 11 points and three goals.ย
Wright sustained a season-ending injury early in preseason in 2024 but has come back to play 13 games in her redshirt senior season this year. Her first goal since 2023 came against No. 1 Stanford, her second career goal in two games against top-ranked teams. She also assisted on the game-winner at Michigan.ย
Winn is UCLA's leading scorer, totaling six goals, four game-winning goals and 13 points. She earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors a week ago after contributing to all three of UCLA's goals in the win over Nebraska with two goals and one assist in the 3-0 victory. In 2024, Winn recorded a goal and an assist in the Bruins' first two games of the year but was injured while scoring her goal. ย
Sanchez made her season debut on Oct. 19 against Nebraska, playing 19 minutes and taking one shot on goal. Sanchez played in the first four games of her freshman campaign before suffering a season-ending knee injury on Aug. 25, 2024 against Santa Clara. She had averaged 44 minutes in those four games, with a high of 58 minutes off the bench at Cal Poly. ย ย ย
VAMOS VARGAS ย
Junior Val Vargas has either scored or assisted on the game-winning goal in four of the Bruins' last five victories. She accounted for the Bruins' lone goals in their 1-0 wins over Rutgers Sept. 25 and at Michigan Sept. 21 and assisted on the game-winners vs. Maryland on Sept. 28 and vs. Nebraska on Oct. 19. Vargas' last three goals scored for UCLA have been game-winners, two of them coming against Rutgers, in the 2024 Big Ten Championship game and at home on Sept. 25. She ranks second on the team with three assists and is third in scoring with seven points. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
IMPACT TRANSFERSย
UCLA welcomed two experienced transfers to the squad in 2025 - defender Jennie Immethun and forward Oruha Hayashi. Immethun comes to UCLA from TCU, where she earned second-team All-Big 12 honors in 2024. She started 20 games in 2024 while helping the Big 12 champions record seven shutouts, and in 2023, she started in 10 games. Hayashi joined the Bruins after two years at Iowa Western, where she twice won the United Soccer Coaches Player of the Year for Junior College Division 1. Hayashi, who scored 25 goals in 2024 and 19 in 2023, was selected the 2024-25 Betty Jo Graber NJCAA Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Both have made big impacts on their new team, as Immethun was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Bruins record a shutout in the season opener. She leads UCLA in minutes played and has two goal line saves while leading a Bruin defense that has allowed just five goals all year and holds a nation's best 0.29 goals against average. Hayashi has played in 16 games and has 12 starts. She scored a goal in the Bruins' exhibition win over LMU and netted her first official goal as a Bruin in the 2-0 win over Long Beach State and her first assist on UCLA's final goal in the 2-0 win over Stanford. She added another assist on the game-tying goal at Michigan State and assisted on the game-winner against Iowa. She is tied for second on the team in assists with three. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
FRESH CLASSย
The Bruins brought in a dynamic recruiting class, highlighted by U.S. Youth National Team players Sofia Atehortua, Meila Brewer, Cassidy Doogan, Daphne Nakfoor, Leena Powell and Grace Shank, and Egyptian Youth National Team player Laila Edris. Powell played in the 2025 U-20 Concacaf Championships, and Brewer helped lead the U-17s to the 4 Nations Tournament title this summer. Also joining UCLA in 2025 were freshmen Payten Cooper, Jordyn Dunn, Siena Meyer and Julia Molnar. All 11 freshmen saw action in the Bruins' exhibition against LMU, and all but Dunn has seen action during the regular season. Three freshmen have started in 10 or more games - Nakfoor with 16 and Powell and Shank with 12. Cooper, the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Sept. 2, ranks fourth on the team with two goals and fifth in scoring with five points. Shank, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 21, has three points and netted her first career goal on Oct. 16 vs. Iowa. Fellow freshman Molnar assisted on Shank's goal for her first collegiate point. Powell is the fourth freshman to score a point, as she assisted Cooper on the game-winner against Long Beach State. Nakfoor, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 9, ranks second in the nation with a 0.36 goals against average and has six solo and five shared shutouts. ย ย ย ย ย ย
IMMETHUN NAMED TO MIDSEASON MAC HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LISTย
Senior defender Jennie Immethun has been selected to the 35-member MAC Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List. Immethun transferred to UCLA this season from TCU and has made an immediate impact with the Bruins. She has played in a team-high 1418 minutes this year while leading a Bruin defense that has allowed just five goals all season. UCLA holds a 0.31 goals against average, which ranks first in the nation. She was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Bruins record a shutout in the season opener at Georgia, making a goal line save with 30 seconds left to play to preserve the 1-0 victory. Immethun made another goal line save a few weeks later, knocking away a header that appeared headed for goal in a 2-0 win at Portland.ย
FOUR BRUINS SELECTED TO MIDSEASON TOP 100 LISTSย
Senior Jennie Immethun and freshmen Daphne Nakfoor, Leena Powell and Grace Shank have been selected to Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason Top 100 lists. Immethun ranks 18th on the Top 100 Player list, while Nakfoor ranks 12th, Powell 60th and Shank 82nd on the Top 100 freshman list. Immethun has started every game for the Bruins. Nakfoor has started 16 of 17 games, Powell has started in 12 of 15 games played, and Shank has made 12 starts while playing in every game.ย
BREWER SELECTED TO U-17 WORLD CUP SQUAD ย
Freshman defender Meila Brewer was selected for the U.S. roster for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. The 24-team tournament takes place in Morocco from Oct. 17-Nov. 8. The USA opened the tournament against Ecuador on Oct. 18 with a 3-0 win in which Brewer scored the game-winning goal in the first half, and they won Group C with a 3-0 record. Brewer, who has five caps with the U.S. team, has started six games for the Bruins in 2025, and UCLA recorded four shutouts in those six games. Brewer missed three games earlier in the season (BYU, Long Beach State and Portland) while at national team camp in Spain and has been out since the Washington game on Oct. 4. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
GOOD WORK, LEXIย
Redshirt senior Lexi Wright was selected as a member of the inaugural Allstate NACDA Good Works Team (Fall). The award recognizes male and female student-athletes across all divisions and sports who go above and beyond in their commitment to community service, academic achievement and athletic performance. Wright supports children with cancer through Zoe's Goal-Scoring Against Childhood Cancer, a non-profit organization that raises awareness about pediatric cancer, advocates for research and funding and supports young cancer patients. Wright does regular hospital visits to UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital to visit with patients and has worked with the UCLA campus organization Unified, which plays sports with special needs kids weekly and holds an Inclusive Sports Day. She also volunteers with Football For Her, a non-profit organization that provides a safe space and motivates those who identify as female or non-binary to play, regardless of their economic standing.ย
BRUIN DEBUTS
Eight players made their Bruin debuts in the season opener, including six freshmen. Making starts were senior transfer Jennie Immethun and freshmen Daphne Nakfoor, Grace Shank, Leena Powell and Meila Brewer. Coming in off the bench were junior transfer Oruha Hayashi and freshmen Leila Edris and Payten Cooper. Sofia Atehortua earned her first career minutes against Tennessee, Julia Molnar made her collegiate debut at BYU, Cassidy Doogan played her first game against Long Beach State, and Siena Meyer debuted at Portland. ย ย
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 โ 4:30 p.m. PT
Location: West Lafayette, Ind. (Folk Field)
Broadcast: Big Ten Plus
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com
UCLA BEGINS BIG TEN TOURNAMENT PLAY SATURDAYย
No. 3 seed UCLA (10-4-3) begins its Big Ten Tournament title defense on Saturday, Nov. 1 with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 6 seed Penn State (9-6-3). The match will take place at Folk Field on the campus of Purdue University. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. The winner will advance to the semifinal round on Thursday, Nov. 6 at Energizer Park in St. Louis. ย ย ย ย
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The Top 10 teams in the Big Ten standings qualified to the Big Ten Tournament, which begins with the No. 7-10 seeds facing off in the opening round on Oct. 30 at Purdue. No. 8 Ohio State will open the tournament against No. 9 Illinois at 4:30 p.m. ET. No. 7 Northwestern faces No. 10 USC at 7:30 p.m. The quarterfinal round begins on Nov. 1 with No. 4 Iowa facing No. 5 Wisconsin at ย 4:30 p.m., followed by No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 6 Penn State at 7:30 p.m. On Nov. 2, Washington will face the winner of the Ohio State-Illinois contest at 12:30 p.m., followed by Michigan State vs. the winner of the Northwestern-USC match at 3:30 p.m. The semifinals and final will move next week to St. Louis' Energizer Park. The semifinals take place on Nov. 6 and the final on Nov. 9. ย
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State is 9-6-3 overall and finished sixth in the Big Ten with a 5-4-2 conference record. Aubrey Kulpa leads the Nittany Lions and is tied for second in the Big Ten in scoring with 22 points (8g, 6a). Kaitlyn MacBean ranks eighth in the conference in scoring with 17 points and is tied for fourth with Kulpa in goals scored with eight. Riley Gleason leads the conference in assists with nine. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress has started all 18 games and holds a 1.21 goals against average, with three shutouts. ย
THE SERIES WITH PENN STATE
UCLA leads the overall series, 4-3-1 and went 1-0-1 against Penn State last season, taking victory in the Big Ten quarterfinals, 1-0, and tying 0-0 during the regular season in Los Angeles. Nicki Fraser scored the winning goal for the Bruins in the 36th minute of the quarterfinal game, and the Bruins went on to win the Big Ten Tournament title. ย ย ย
UCLA VS. BIG TEN
The Bruins are now 118-21-11 (.823) all-time against Big Ten teams and 39-6-4 (.837) vs. their new conference mates. UCLA has been extra formidable against Big Ten opponents in the NCAA Tournament, sporting a 12-2 record, the only losses coming to Washington in 1995 and USC in 2007. ย
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA is ranked No. 20 in both the United Soccer Coaches and Top Drawer Soccer polls, dropping two spots in the former and seven in the latter. Seven of UCLA's opponents this year are currently ranked in the coaches poll - No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 13 Iowa, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 16 Washington, No. 17 Georgia, and No. 24 Wisconsin. UCLA is 3-3-1 against those teams, with wins over Georgia, Stanford and Iowa. ย ย
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA wrapped up its regular season with a 0-0 tie against crosstown rival USC on Oct. 26, securing the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with its 12th shutout of the year. The Bruins outshot USC, 19-6, but could not get a shot past Trojan goalkeeper Bella Grust, who tied her season-high with seven saves. UCLA's top-ranked defense held the Trojans to zero shots on goal. Kara Croone led all players with six shots and tied with Leena Powell for most shots on goal with three. ย ย ย
TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
In 17 games, UCLA's defense has recorded 12 shutouts and allowed just five goals, for a team goals against average of 0.29, which ranks first in the nation. UCLA ranks second nationally in save percentage (0.891, just .001 behind national leader Cal State Fullerton) and third in shutout percentage (0.706). The Bruins have allowed just four goals in the run of play this season, as one of the five goals allowed was scored on a penalty kick. No opponent has scored more than one goal in a game this season, and the Bruins' four losses have been by 1-0 scores. UCLA has held opponents to single-digit shots in 11 of 17 games, including single-shot games against No. 6 Tennessee and No. 5 Iowa, a two-shot game against Maryland, and three-shot games at Portland, against Oregon, at Michigan, against Rutgers and at Wisconsin. Two opponents have been held without a shot on goal - Rutgers and USC. Freshman goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor has allowed just five goals and ranks second in the nation with a 0.360 goals against average. She has six solo shutouts and five shared shutouts. Mariangela Medina has one solo and five shared shutouts and has not allowed a goal in 280 minutes played.
This Bruin defense is almost completely new from 2024, with only Paloma Daubert returning from the squad that led the nation with 16 shutuouts and a 0.42 goals against average. The 2024 Bruin defense featured two current NWSL starters in Lilly Reale and Jayden Perry, All-American and NWSL goalkeeper Ryan Campbell, and 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Nicki Fraser, who has been out all season due to an injury. The 2025 Bruin defense has featured senior transfer Jennie Immethun, sophomore Daubert, senior Lily Boyden and freshmen Grace Shank and Laila Edris, along with freshman goalkeeper Nakfoor. Freshman center back Meila Brewer has only played six games this year due to National Team commitments. ย ย ย ย ย ย
BALANCED SCORING ย
Nine different players have scored for the Bruins this season. Bella Winn leads the team with six goals, Emma Egizii has three, and Kara Croone, Payten Cooper and Val Vargas have scored two each. Four others have one goal each - Grace Shank, Oruha Hayashi, Lexi Wright and Lily Boyden. Two more players are on the stat sheet with one assist each - Leena Powell and Julia Molnar. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
GAME WINN-ER ย
Redshirt freshman Bella Winn continues to hit game-winners for the Bruins. Of her six goals this year, four have been game-winners - at Georgia Aug. 14, vs. Stanford Sept. 7, vs. Maryland Sept. 28 and vs. Nebraska Oct. 19. Her latest heroics came Oct. 19 against Nebraska, scoring two goals in less than three minutes to give UCLA a 2-0 halftime lead. Winn ranks second in the Big Ten with four game-winning goals. She also leads the team in goals scored with six and in points with 13. Winn's two-goal game was the first multiple-goal game by a Bruin since Emma Egizii scored two goals in the 2024 season opener on Aug. 15, 2024. The five points scored by Winn were the most by a Bruin since Oct. 8, 2023 when Reilyn Turner recorded six points after a hat trick. ย
FOURS UP FOR NAKFOOR
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor has started 16 of UCLA's 17 games in goal this season and became the first true freshman to start in goal on opening day for UCLA since Teagan Micah in 2016. Nakfoor ranks second nationally with a goals against average of 0.360, allowing just five goals this season, and is 12th in the nation and second in the Big Ten in save percentage (0.857). She has six solo and five shared shutouts. On Sept. 9, Nakfoor earned Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week and Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week honors after recording a pair of shutouts at Portland and against then-top-ranked Stanford. She recorded nine saves on 21 shots against the Cardinal, the most saves by a Bruin goalkeeper since Lauren Brzykcy also had nine against Duke in 2022, and totaled five at Michigan State. Nakfoor became the first goalkeeper this season to record a shutout against Stanford, which had entered the game as the nation's top scoring offense. ย
COMEBACK KIDS
Redshirt seniors Emma Egizii and Lexi Wright and redshirt freshman forwards Bella Winn and Sammy Sanchez all returned to action this year after missing most, if not all, of the 2024 season with injuries.ย
Egizii, who scored two goals in three games in 2024 before getting injured during game four of the season, posted her first goal of the year against Portland on Sept. 4 and accounted for four of UCLA's six goals in a pair of 3-0 wins against Iowa and Nebraska, scoring one goal and totaling three assists en route to Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week honors. She leads the Bruins in assists with five and ranks second in scoring with 11 points and three goals.ย
Wright sustained a season-ending injury early in preseason in 2024 but has come back to play 13 games in her redshirt senior season this year. Her first goal since 2023 came against No. 1 Stanford, her second career goal in two games against top-ranked teams. She also assisted on the game-winner at Michigan.ย
Winn is UCLA's leading scorer, totaling six goals, four game-winning goals and 13 points. She earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors a week ago after contributing to all three of UCLA's goals in the win over Nebraska with two goals and one assist in the 3-0 victory. In 2024, Winn recorded a goal and an assist in the Bruins' first two games of the year but was injured while scoring her goal. ย
Sanchez made her season debut on Oct. 19 against Nebraska, playing 19 minutes and taking one shot on goal. Sanchez played in the first four games of her freshman campaign before suffering a season-ending knee injury on Aug. 25, 2024 against Santa Clara. She had averaged 44 minutes in those four games, with a high of 58 minutes off the bench at Cal Poly. ย ย ย
VAMOS VARGAS ย
Junior Val Vargas has either scored or assisted on the game-winning goal in four of the Bruins' last five victories. She accounted for the Bruins' lone goals in their 1-0 wins over Rutgers Sept. 25 and at Michigan Sept. 21 and assisted on the game-winners vs. Maryland on Sept. 28 and vs. Nebraska on Oct. 19. Vargas' last three goals scored for UCLA have been game-winners, two of them coming against Rutgers, in the 2024 Big Ten Championship game and at home on Sept. 25. She ranks second on the team with three assists and is third in scoring with seven points. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
IMPACT TRANSFERSย
UCLA welcomed two experienced transfers to the squad in 2025 - defender Jennie Immethun and forward Oruha Hayashi. Immethun comes to UCLA from TCU, where she earned second-team All-Big 12 honors in 2024. She started 20 games in 2024 while helping the Big 12 champions record seven shutouts, and in 2023, she started in 10 games. Hayashi joined the Bruins after two years at Iowa Western, where she twice won the United Soccer Coaches Player of the Year for Junior College Division 1. Hayashi, who scored 25 goals in 2024 and 19 in 2023, was selected the 2024-25 Betty Jo Graber NJCAA Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Both have made big impacts on their new team, as Immethun was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Bruins record a shutout in the season opener. She leads UCLA in minutes played and has two goal line saves while leading a Bruin defense that has allowed just five goals all year and holds a nation's best 0.29 goals against average. Hayashi has played in 16 games and has 12 starts. She scored a goal in the Bruins' exhibition win over LMU and netted her first official goal as a Bruin in the 2-0 win over Long Beach State and her first assist on UCLA's final goal in the 2-0 win over Stanford. She added another assist on the game-tying goal at Michigan State and assisted on the game-winner against Iowa. She is tied for second on the team in assists with three. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
FRESH CLASSย
The Bruins brought in a dynamic recruiting class, highlighted by U.S. Youth National Team players Sofia Atehortua, Meila Brewer, Cassidy Doogan, Daphne Nakfoor, Leena Powell and Grace Shank, and Egyptian Youth National Team player Laila Edris. Powell played in the 2025 U-20 Concacaf Championships, and Brewer helped lead the U-17s to the 4 Nations Tournament title this summer. Also joining UCLA in 2025 were freshmen Payten Cooper, Jordyn Dunn, Siena Meyer and Julia Molnar. All 11 freshmen saw action in the Bruins' exhibition against LMU, and all but Dunn has seen action during the regular season. Three freshmen have started in 10 or more games - Nakfoor with 16 and Powell and Shank with 12. Cooper, the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Sept. 2, ranks fourth on the team with two goals and fifth in scoring with five points. Shank, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 21, has three points and netted her first career goal on Oct. 16 vs. Iowa. Fellow freshman Molnar assisted on Shank's goal for her first collegiate point. Powell is the fourth freshman to score a point, as she assisted Cooper on the game-winner against Long Beach State. Nakfoor, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 9, ranks second in the nation with a 0.36 goals against average and has six solo and five shared shutouts. ย ย ย ย ย ย
IMMETHUN NAMED TO MIDSEASON MAC HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LISTย
Senior defender Jennie Immethun has been selected to the 35-member MAC Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List. Immethun transferred to UCLA this season from TCU and has made an immediate impact with the Bruins. She has played in a team-high 1418 minutes this year while leading a Bruin defense that has allowed just five goals all season. UCLA holds a 0.31 goals against average, which ranks first in the nation. She was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Bruins record a shutout in the season opener at Georgia, making a goal line save with 30 seconds left to play to preserve the 1-0 victory. Immethun made another goal line save a few weeks later, knocking away a header that appeared headed for goal in a 2-0 win at Portland.ย
FOUR BRUINS SELECTED TO MIDSEASON TOP 100 LISTSย
Senior Jennie Immethun and freshmen Daphne Nakfoor, Leena Powell and Grace Shank have been selected to Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason Top 100 lists. Immethun ranks 18th on the Top 100 Player list, while Nakfoor ranks 12th, Powell 60th and Shank 82nd on the Top 100 freshman list. Immethun has started every game for the Bruins. Nakfoor has started 16 of 17 games, Powell has started in 12 of 15 games played, and Shank has made 12 starts while playing in every game.ย
BREWER SELECTED TO U-17 WORLD CUP SQUAD ย
Freshman defender Meila Brewer was selected for the U.S. roster for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. The 24-team tournament takes place in Morocco from Oct. 17-Nov. 8. The USA opened the tournament against Ecuador on Oct. 18 with a 3-0 win in which Brewer scored the game-winning goal in the first half, and they won Group C with a 3-0 record. Brewer, who has five caps with the U.S. team, has started six games for the Bruins in 2025, and UCLA recorded four shutouts in those six games. Brewer missed three games earlier in the season (BYU, Long Beach State and Portland) while at national team camp in Spain and has been out since the Washington game on Oct. 4. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
GOOD WORK, LEXIย
Redshirt senior Lexi Wright was selected as a member of the inaugural Allstate NACDA Good Works Team (Fall). The award recognizes male and female student-athletes across all divisions and sports who go above and beyond in their commitment to community service, academic achievement and athletic performance. Wright supports children with cancer through Zoe's Goal-Scoring Against Childhood Cancer, a non-profit organization that raises awareness about pediatric cancer, advocates for research and funding and supports young cancer patients. Wright does regular hospital visits to UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital to visit with patients and has worked with the UCLA campus organization Unified, which plays sports with special needs kids weekly and holds an Inclusive Sports Day. She also volunteers with Football For Her, a non-profit organization that provides a safe space and motivates those who identify as female or non-binary to play, regardless of their economic standing.ย
BRUIN DEBUTS
Eight players made their Bruin debuts in the season opener, including six freshmen. Making starts were senior transfer Jennie Immethun and freshmen Daphne Nakfoor, Grace Shank, Leena Powell and Meila Brewer. Coming in off the bench were junior transfer Oruha Hayashi and freshmen Leila Edris and Payten Cooper. Sofia Atehortua earned her first career minutes against Tennessee, Julia Molnar made her collegiate debut at BYU, Cassidy Doogan played her first game against Long Beach State, and Siena Meyer debuted at Portland. ย ย
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's SoccerHighlights - UCLA W. Soccer vs. Nebraska (Oct. 19, 2025)
Sunday, October 19
Highlights - UCLA W. Soccer vs. Iowa (Oct. 16, 2025)
Friday, October 17
Highlights - W. Soccer vs. Maryland (Sept. 28, 2025)
Sunday, September 28
Highlights - W. Soccer vs. Rutgers (Sept. 25, 2025)
Thursday, September 25