Saturday, November 15
6:00 PM PT
UCLA
vs
Pepperdine
Val Vargas
Photo by: Scott Chandler
UCLA Opens NCAA Tournament Play Saturday vs. Pepperdine
November 14, 2025 | Women's Soccer
NCAA First Round
No. 4 seed UCLA (11-5-3) vs. Pepperdine (11-6-2)
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 โ 6 p.m. PT
Location: Wallis Annenberg Stadium
Broadcast: ESPN+
Talent:ย Graham Metzker, Sophie Wimmer
Live Stats: ncaa.com
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
Price: $12-17
UCLA BEGINS NCAA TOURNAMENT RUN SATURDAYย
UCLA (11-5-3) earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will open up tournament play on Saturday, Nov. 15 against Pepperdine (11-6-2) in the NCAA first round. The match will take place at Wallis Annenberg Stadium at 6 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on ESPN+. ย ย ย
UCLA'S NCAA HISTORY
The Bruins, who are making their 29th overall and 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, have a 75-22-8 all-time NCAA Tournament record, with a pair of NCAA titles in 2022 and 2013. UCLA has made four College Cup appearances (2022, 2019, 2017 and 2013) in the last 13 seasons and 12 overall. UCLA is seeded for the 13th consecutive year. ย
UCLA AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD
UCLA posted a 4-5-1 record against members of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field this season. The Bruins have wins over No. 1 seed Stanford (2-0, still the Cardinal's only loss of the year), No. 5 seed Iowa (3-0 and No. 8 seeds Georgia (1-0) and Penn State (2-1). All of UCLA's non-victories this year have come to seeded teams - No 2 seed Michigan State (1-1 tie and 2-1 loss in overtime), No. 3 seed Tennessee (1-0 loss), No. 4 seeds Washington (1-0 loss) and Wisconsin (1-0 loss), and No. 5 seed BYU (1-0 loss). ย ย
NCAA EXPERIENCEย
The Bruins have just 13 players on the squad who have played in a NCAA Tournament game - redshirt seniors Emma Egizii and Lexi Wright; seniors Lily Boyden, America Frias, Jennie Immethun and Bridgette Marin-Valencia; juniors Milla Shafie and Val Vargas, and sophomores Kara Croone, Paloma Daubert, Nicki Fraser, Jordan Geis and Avery Robinson.ย
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine is making its third consecutive and 15th overall NCAA appearance. The Waves posted an 8-2-1 conference record to win the West Coast Conference for the second consecutive season. They are led offensively by a pair of 20-point scorers in Julia Quinonez (26 points) and Tatum Wynalda (20 points). Tabitha LaParl earned West Coast Conference Midfielder of the Year honors to lead four players on the all-conference first team. Head coach Tim Ward is in his 28th season at the helm and holds a career coaching record of 309-151-76. ย ย ย
THE SERIES WITH PEPPERDINE
UCLA is 22-4-4 all-time against Pepperdine and 12-2-1 at home, with Pepperdine's lone road victories coming in 2010 and 1993. The Waves won last year's matchup in Malibu, 1-0, on a Peyton Leonard goal in the 70th minute. ย UCLA won the last meeting in Westwood in 2023 by a 2-0 score. Val Vargas had one of the Bruins' two goals in the contest. The teams have met four times in the NCAA Tournament (2001 and 2003 second round, 2004 first round and 2014 third round). UCLA won all four matchups, three via shutout. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
LAST TIME OUT
No. 3 seed UCLA fell to No. 2 seed Michigan State, 2-1, in overtime in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. Emma Egizii put UCLA ahead in the 11th minute, but Michigan State's Emerson Sargeant scored the tying goal in the 67th minute and the winning goal in the fourth minute of overtime to advance the Spartans to the Championship. The Bruins dominated play in the first half, outshooting the Spartans, 9-3, and holding a 6-1 shots on goal advantage, but Michigan State came out in the second half playing more agressively to seek the equalizer and got it following a takeaway. The Bruins made big defensive plays late in the game to keep it tied, including a diving save by Daphne Nakfoor on a screamer by Kayla Briggs in the 87th minute. But the Spartans ended the game four minutes into overtime when Sargeant intercepted a Nakfoor pass in the box and scored the golden goal.ย
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA is ranked No. 17 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 23 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll. Seven of UCLA's opponents this year finished the regular season ranked in the coaches poll - No. 1 Stanford, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 13 Washington, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 19 Georgia, and No. 21 Iowa. UCLA is 3-4-1 against those teams, with wins over Georgia, Stanford and Iowa. ย ย
NINE BRUINS EARN BIG TEN POSTSEASON AWARDS
UCLA placed six players on the all-conference team and three on the all-freshman team, led by Big Ten Freshman of the Year Bella Winn. The Bruins tied with Washington for the most all-conference selections and led all conference teams with the most all-freshman picks.ย
Winn received multiple honors to go along with her Freshman of the Year award. She was also named to the All-Big Ten second team and was a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman Team. The redshirt freshman from Ridgewood, N.J. leads UCLA in scoring with seven goals, 16 points and four game-winning goals. She is UCLA's second consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Year, following 2024 winner Nicki Fraser. Two Bruin seniors earned first-team All-Big Ten honors โ midfielder Emma Egizii and defender Jennie Immethun. Selected to the third team were sophomore forward Kara Croone, senior midfielder America Frias and sophomore defender Paloma Daubert, all of whom received their first career honors. Winn, Grace Shank and Daphne Nakfoor were selected to the All-Freshman team, and senior Lexi Wright earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.ย
TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
UCLA is tied for the fewest goals allowed this season with just eight in 19 games. The Bruin defense has recorded 12 shutouts and holds a team goals against average of 0.42, which ranks second in the nation, just .02 behind Cal State Fullerton. UCLA ranks No. 7 nationally and No. 1 in the Big Ten in shutout percentage (0.632). Michigan State in the Bruins' last game became the only opponent this year to score multiple goals against the Bruins in a single game. UCLA has still not allowed more than one goal in regulation in any game this season. Four of the Bruins' five losses have been by 1-0 scores. UCLA has held opponents to single-digit shots in 12 of 19 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 eight goals and ranks eighth in the nation and second in the Big Ten with a 0.50 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.
The 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 seven games this year due to National Team commitments. ย ย ย ย ย ย
BALANCED SCORING ย
Ten different players have scored for the Bruins this season. Bella Winn leads the team with seven goals, Emma Egizii has four, and Kara Croone, Payten Cooper and Val Vargas have scored two each. Five others have one goal each - Jordan Geis, 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
Big Ten Freshman of the Year Bella Winn continues to hit game-winners for the Bruins. Of her seven 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. Another was a game-tying goal against Penn State in the Big Ten Quarterfinals. Winn's most recent game-winner came Oct. 19 against Nebraska in a game in which she scored two goals in less than three minutes to give UCLA a 2-0 halftime lead. Winn ranks third in the Big Ten with four game-winning goals. She also leads the team in goals scored with seven and in points with 16. 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
EASY LIKE EGIZII ย
Redshirt senior Emma Egizii is having her finest season as a collegiate player, a year after missing nearly the entire season due to a knee injury. Egizii has started and played in 18 of UCLA's 19 games, totaling career-highs in goals with four, assists with a team-leading six, points with 14 and minutes played with 1,196. She ranks second on the team in goals and assists and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. ย ย ย
BIG GAME GEIS ย
Sophomore Jordan Geis came through once again for the Bruins in the Big Ten Tournament, scoring the game-winner in the 77th minute UCLA's quarterfinal win over Penn State. Geis's last two goals scored have been in the Big Ten Tournament. In last season's championship match against Rutgers, she bombed a 45-yard shot as time was expiring in the first half, giving UCLA a 3-0 halftime lead. Geis has three career goals, and two of those were game-winners in late-game comebacks. Her first collegiate goal came late in the second half and completed a UCLA comeback in the Bruins' first-ever Big Ten Conference game at Oregon on Sept. 14, 2024.ย ย ย
FOURS UP FOR NAKFOOR
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor has started 18 of UCLA's 19 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 eighth nationally with a goals against average of 0.50, allowing just eight goals this season. 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 six and ranks second in scoring with 14 points and four goals. She earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team.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 seven goals, four game-winning goals and 16 points. She was selected the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was the only freshman to earn all-conference honors, receiving second-team acclaim. She earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Oct. 21 after contributing to all three of UCLA's goals in the win over Nebraska, with two goals and one assist. 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 six 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 third on the team with three assists and 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 with 1692 and has two goal line saves while leading a Bruin defense that has allowed just eight goals all year and holds a 0.42 goals against average. Hayashi has played in 18 games and has 13 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 ranks second on the team in assists with five and third in scoring with seven points. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
FRESH CLASSย
The Bruins have a dynamic freshman 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 and played in the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in the fall. 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 this season. Three freshmen have started in 10 or more games - Nakfoor with 18, Powell with 14, and Shank with 13. Cooper, the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Sept. 2, is tied for third on the team with two goals and is sixth in scoring with five points. Shank, a Big Ten All-Freshman selection and 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. 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, a Big Ten All-Freshman selection and the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 9, ranks eighth in the nation with a 0.50 goals against average and has six solo and five shared shutouts. ย ย ย ย
No. 4 seed UCLA (11-5-3) vs. Pepperdine (11-6-2)
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 โ 6 p.m. PT
Location: Wallis Annenberg Stadium
Broadcast: ESPN+
Talent:ย Graham Metzker, Sophie Wimmer
Live Stats: ncaa.com
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
Price: $12-17
UCLA BEGINS NCAA TOURNAMENT RUN SATURDAYย
UCLA (11-5-3) earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will open up tournament play on Saturday, Nov. 15 against Pepperdine (11-6-2) in the NCAA first round. The match will take place at Wallis Annenberg Stadium at 6 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on ESPN+. ย ย ย
UCLA'S NCAA HISTORY
The Bruins, who are making their 29th overall and 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, have a 75-22-8 all-time NCAA Tournament record, with a pair of NCAA titles in 2022 and 2013. UCLA has made four College Cup appearances (2022, 2019, 2017 and 2013) in the last 13 seasons and 12 overall. UCLA is seeded for the 13th consecutive year. ย
UCLA AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD
UCLA posted a 4-5-1 record against members of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field this season. The Bruins have wins over No. 1 seed Stanford (2-0, still the Cardinal's only loss of the year), No. 5 seed Iowa (3-0 and No. 8 seeds Georgia (1-0) and Penn State (2-1). All of UCLA's non-victories this year have come to seeded teams - No 2 seed Michigan State (1-1 tie and 2-1 loss in overtime), No. 3 seed Tennessee (1-0 loss), No. 4 seeds Washington (1-0 loss) and Wisconsin (1-0 loss), and No. 5 seed BYU (1-0 loss). ย ย
NCAA EXPERIENCEย
The Bruins have just 13 players on the squad who have played in a NCAA Tournament game - redshirt seniors Emma Egizii and Lexi Wright; seniors Lily Boyden, America Frias, Jennie Immethun and Bridgette Marin-Valencia; juniors Milla Shafie and Val Vargas, and sophomores Kara Croone, Paloma Daubert, Nicki Fraser, Jordan Geis and Avery Robinson.ย
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine is making its third consecutive and 15th overall NCAA appearance. The Waves posted an 8-2-1 conference record to win the West Coast Conference for the second consecutive season. They are led offensively by a pair of 20-point scorers in Julia Quinonez (26 points) and Tatum Wynalda (20 points). Tabitha LaParl earned West Coast Conference Midfielder of the Year honors to lead four players on the all-conference first team. Head coach Tim Ward is in his 28th season at the helm and holds a career coaching record of 309-151-76. ย ย ย
THE SERIES WITH PEPPERDINE
UCLA is 22-4-4 all-time against Pepperdine and 12-2-1 at home, with Pepperdine's lone road victories coming in 2010 and 1993. The Waves won last year's matchup in Malibu, 1-0, on a Peyton Leonard goal in the 70th minute. ย UCLA won the last meeting in Westwood in 2023 by a 2-0 score. Val Vargas had one of the Bruins' two goals in the contest. The teams have met four times in the NCAA Tournament (2001 and 2003 second round, 2004 first round and 2014 third round). UCLA won all four matchups, three via shutout. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
LAST TIME OUT
No. 3 seed UCLA fell to No. 2 seed Michigan State, 2-1, in overtime in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. Emma Egizii put UCLA ahead in the 11th minute, but Michigan State's Emerson Sargeant scored the tying goal in the 67th minute and the winning goal in the fourth minute of overtime to advance the Spartans to the Championship. The Bruins dominated play in the first half, outshooting the Spartans, 9-3, and holding a 6-1 shots on goal advantage, but Michigan State came out in the second half playing more agressively to seek the equalizer and got it following a takeaway. The Bruins made big defensive plays late in the game to keep it tied, including a diving save by Daphne Nakfoor on a screamer by Kayla Briggs in the 87th minute. But the Spartans ended the game four minutes into overtime when Sargeant intercepted a Nakfoor pass in the box and scored the golden goal.ย
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA is ranked No. 17 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 23 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll. Seven of UCLA's opponents this year finished the regular season ranked in the coaches poll - No. 1 Stanford, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 13 Washington, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 19 Georgia, and No. 21 Iowa. UCLA is 3-4-1 against those teams, with wins over Georgia, Stanford and Iowa. ย ย
NINE BRUINS EARN BIG TEN POSTSEASON AWARDS
UCLA placed six players on the all-conference team and three on the all-freshman team, led by Big Ten Freshman of the Year Bella Winn. The Bruins tied with Washington for the most all-conference selections and led all conference teams with the most all-freshman picks.ย
Winn received multiple honors to go along with her Freshman of the Year award. She was also named to the All-Big Ten second team and was a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman Team. The redshirt freshman from Ridgewood, N.J. leads UCLA in scoring with seven goals, 16 points and four game-winning goals. She is UCLA's second consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Year, following 2024 winner Nicki Fraser. Two Bruin seniors earned first-team All-Big Ten honors โ midfielder Emma Egizii and defender Jennie Immethun. Selected to the third team were sophomore forward Kara Croone, senior midfielder America Frias and sophomore defender Paloma Daubert, all of whom received their first career honors. Winn, Grace Shank and Daphne Nakfoor were selected to the All-Freshman team, and senior Lexi Wright earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.ย
TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
UCLA is tied for the fewest goals allowed this season with just eight in 19 games. The Bruin defense has recorded 12 shutouts and holds a team goals against average of 0.42, which ranks second in the nation, just .02 behind Cal State Fullerton. UCLA ranks No. 7 nationally and No. 1 in the Big Ten in shutout percentage (0.632). Michigan State in the Bruins' last game became the only opponent this year to score multiple goals against the Bruins in a single game. UCLA has still not allowed more than one goal in regulation in any game this season. Four of the Bruins' five losses have been by 1-0 scores. UCLA has held opponents to single-digit shots in 12 of 19 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 eight goals and ranks eighth in the nation and second in the Big Ten with a 0.50 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.
The 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 seven games this year due to National Team commitments. ย ย ย ย ย ย
BALANCED SCORING ย
Ten different players have scored for the Bruins this season. Bella Winn leads the team with seven goals, Emma Egizii has four, and Kara Croone, Payten Cooper and Val Vargas have scored two each. Five others have one goal each - Jordan Geis, 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
Big Ten Freshman of the Year Bella Winn continues to hit game-winners for the Bruins. Of her seven 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. Another was a game-tying goal against Penn State in the Big Ten Quarterfinals. Winn's most recent game-winner came Oct. 19 against Nebraska in a game in which she scored two goals in less than three minutes to give UCLA a 2-0 halftime lead. Winn ranks third in the Big Ten with four game-winning goals. She also leads the team in goals scored with seven and in points with 16. 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
EASY LIKE EGIZII ย
Redshirt senior Emma Egizii is having her finest season as a collegiate player, a year after missing nearly the entire season due to a knee injury. Egizii has started and played in 18 of UCLA's 19 games, totaling career-highs in goals with four, assists with a team-leading six, points with 14 and minutes played with 1,196. She ranks second on the team in goals and assists and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. ย ย ย
BIG GAME GEIS ย
Sophomore Jordan Geis came through once again for the Bruins in the Big Ten Tournament, scoring the game-winner in the 77th minute UCLA's quarterfinal win over Penn State. Geis's last two goals scored have been in the Big Ten Tournament. In last season's championship match against Rutgers, she bombed a 45-yard shot as time was expiring in the first half, giving UCLA a 3-0 halftime lead. Geis has three career goals, and two of those were game-winners in late-game comebacks. Her first collegiate goal came late in the second half and completed a UCLA comeback in the Bruins' first-ever Big Ten Conference game at Oregon on Sept. 14, 2024.ย ย ย
FOURS UP FOR NAKFOOR
UCLA freshman goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor has started 18 of UCLA's 19 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 eighth nationally with a goals against average of 0.50, allowing just eight goals this season. 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 six and ranks second in scoring with 14 points and four goals. She earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team.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 seven goals, four game-winning goals and 16 points. She was selected the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was the only freshman to earn all-conference honors, receiving second-team acclaim. She earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Oct. 21 after contributing to all three of UCLA's goals in the win over Nebraska, with two goals and one assist. 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 six 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 third on the team with three assists and 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 with 1692 and has two goal line saves while leading a Bruin defense that has allowed just eight goals all year and holds a 0.42 goals against average. Hayashi has played in 18 games and has 13 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 ranks second on the team in assists with five and third in scoring with seven points. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
FRESH CLASSย
The Bruins have a dynamic freshman 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 and played in the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in the fall. 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 this season. Three freshmen have started in 10 or more games - Nakfoor with 18, Powell with 14, and Shank with 13. Cooper, the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Sept. 2, is tied for third on the team with two goals and is sixth in scoring with five points. Shank, a Big Ten All-Freshman selection and 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. 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, a Big Ten All-Freshman selection and the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 9, ranks eighth in the nation with a 0.50 goals against average and has six solo and five shared shutouts. ย ย ย ย
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's SoccerHighlights - UCLA W. Soccer vs. Penn State (Nov. 1, 2025)
Saturday, November 01
Highlights - 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