Thursday, November 6
St. Louis, Mo.
4:00 PM PT
UCLA
vs
Michigan State
Jennie Immethun
Photo by: Ross Turteltaub
UCLA Faces Michigan State in Big Ten Semifinals
November 05, 2025 | Women's Soccer
No. 17 UCLA (11-4-3) vs. No. 9 Michigan State (11-3-5)
Date: Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025 โ 4 p.m. PT
Location: St. Louis, Mo. (Energizer Park)
Broadcast: Big Ten Network
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com
UCLA RETURNS TO BIG TEN SEMIFINALSย
In year two as a member of the Big Ten Conference, No. 3 seed UCLA (11-4-3) returns to St. Louis for the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, just two wins away from repeating as the Big Ten Tournament champion. The Bruins will face No. 2 seed Michigan State (10-3-5) in the second semifinal on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. CT/4 p.m. PT. The winner will advance to the championship on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. CT/11 a.m. PT to face the winner of the first semifinal between No. 1 seed Washington and No. 5 seed Wisconsin. The semifinal and final rounds will take place at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Mo. ย ย ย
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Michigan State finished in second place in the Big Ten with a 7-1-3 conference record and enters the semifinals with an 11-3-5 overall mark. The Spartans shut out Northwestern in the quarterfinals, 1-0, outshooting the Wildcats, 18-1. Kayla Briggs scored the game's only goal in the 73rd minute. Big Ten Forward of the Year Kennedy Bell leads the conference in scoring with 10 goals and 25 points. Briggs ranks second on the team with 17 points and is second in the conference with seven assists. Goalkeeper Noelle Henning has seven shutouts on the year. ย
THE SERIES WITH MICHIGAN STATE
The only previous matchup between the two teams came on Sept. 18 of this year, in East Lansing. The teams finished in a 1-1 tie. Kennedy Bell gave Michigan State the early lead in the 20th minute, but the Bruins came back to tie on a Kara Croone goal in the 59th minute. The two teams played evenly in the match, with UCLA tallying 13 shots and Michigan State 12. Bruin goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor made five saves, while Spartan goalkeeper Noelle Henning made six. ย ย ย ย
QUARTERFINAL RECAP
UCLA overcame a first-half deficit to defeat Penn State, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Nov. 1. Second-half goals by Bella Winn and Jordan Geis gave the Bruins their first come-from-behind victory of the season. ย Penn State grabbed the early lead, scoring in the 26th minute on a goal by Kaitlyn MacBean, but the Bruins were relentless and equalized in the 62nd minute on Winn's team-leading seventh goal of the year. A pass from Emma Egizii to Oruha Hayashi in the box drew the goalkeeper out to the right post, and Hayashi simply crossed to Winn for the goal. Winn nearly scored another in the 77th minute when the Bruins were awarded a penalty kick. Her shot was saved by Penn State goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress, but Geis was unmarked on the rebound and rocketed a shot from the right side past Gress for the go-ahead goal. It was Geis' first goal of the season. UCLA outshot Penn State, 26-8. Bruin goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor made three saves, while Gress had eight for Penn State. ย ย
DEFENDING BIG TEN TOURNEY CHAMPS
UCLA made a statement in its first-ever Big Ten Tournament a year ago, recording three shutouts to sweep through the tournament. The Bruins beat Penn State in the quarterfinals, 1-0, on a Nicki Fraser goal, then beat Washington in the semifinals, 2-0. The final was a blowout, with UCLA scoring three first-half goals and a championship game record five goals in a 5-0 win over Rutgers. Three of the goal-scorers from the championship game are still on the Bruin squad - Val Vargas, who scored the game-winning goal; Jordan Geis, who scored from 45 yards out at the halftime buzzer; and Lily Boyden, who scored her first goal as a Bruin in the second half. ย ย
UCLA VS. BIG TEN
The Bruins are now 120-21-11 (.826) all-time against Big Ten teams and 40-6-4 (.841) 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. In the Big Ten Tournament, UCLA is 4-0 all-time, outscoring its opponents, 10-1. ย
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA is ranked No. 17 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 18 in the Top Drawer Soccer. Seven of UCLA's opponents this year are currently 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 3-3-1 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
In 18 games, UCLA's defense has recorded 12 shutouts and allowed just six goals, for a team goals against average of 0.33, which ranks first in the nation. UCLA ranks No. 4 nationally in save percentage (0.880, just .02 behind national leader Cal State Fullerton) and No. 6 in shutout percentage (0.667). The Bruins have allowed just five goals in the run of play this season, as one of the six 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 12 of 18 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 six goals and ranks third in the nation and first in the Big Ten with a 0.400 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
Ten different players have scored for the Bruins this season. Bella Winn leads the team with seven goals, Emma Egizii has three, 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
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 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 six and ranks second in scoring with 12 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 seven goals, four game-winning goals and 16 points. 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 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 six goals all year and holds a nation's best 0.33 goals against average. Hayashi has played in 17 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 ranks second on the team in assists with four. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
FRESH CLASSย
The Bruins brought in 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. 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 17 and Powell 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, 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, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 9, ranks third in the nation with a 0.40 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 1598 minutes this year while leading a Bruin defense that has allowed just six goals all season. UCLA holds a 0.33 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 17 of 18 games, Powell has started in 13 of 16 games played, and Shank has made 13 starts while playing in every game.ย
BREWER BACK FROM U-17 WORLD CUP ย
Freshman defender Meila Brewer is back with the Bruins after being out since Oct. 4 for national team duty. Brewer started for the U.S. at the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco. The U.S. team won Group C but were eliminated on penalty kicks in the first stage of the knockout rounds. Brewer has started six games for the Bruins in 2025, and UCLA recorded four shutouts in those six games. Brewer also missed three games earlier in the season (BYU, Long Beach State and Portland) while at national team camp in Spain. ย ย ย ย ย ย
Date: Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025 โ 4 p.m. PT
Location: St. Louis, Mo. (Energizer Park)
Broadcast: Big Ten Network
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com
UCLA RETURNS TO BIG TEN SEMIFINALSย
In year two as a member of the Big Ten Conference, No. 3 seed UCLA (11-4-3) returns to St. Louis for the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, just two wins away from repeating as the Big Ten Tournament champion. The Bruins will face No. 2 seed Michigan State (10-3-5) in the second semifinal on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. CT/4 p.m. PT. The winner will advance to the championship on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. CT/11 a.m. PT to face the winner of the first semifinal between No. 1 seed Washington and No. 5 seed Wisconsin. The semifinal and final rounds will take place at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Mo. ย ย ย
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Michigan State finished in second place in the Big Ten with a 7-1-3 conference record and enters the semifinals with an 11-3-5 overall mark. The Spartans shut out Northwestern in the quarterfinals, 1-0, outshooting the Wildcats, 18-1. Kayla Briggs scored the game's only goal in the 73rd minute. Big Ten Forward of the Year Kennedy Bell leads the conference in scoring with 10 goals and 25 points. Briggs ranks second on the team with 17 points and is second in the conference with seven assists. Goalkeeper Noelle Henning has seven shutouts on the year. ย
THE SERIES WITH MICHIGAN STATE
The only previous matchup between the two teams came on Sept. 18 of this year, in East Lansing. The teams finished in a 1-1 tie. Kennedy Bell gave Michigan State the early lead in the 20th minute, but the Bruins came back to tie on a Kara Croone goal in the 59th minute. The two teams played evenly in the match, with UCLA tallying 13 shots and Michigan State 12. Bruin goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor made five saves, while Spartan goalkeeper Noelle Henning made six. ย ย ย ย
QUARTERFINAL RECAP
UCLA overcame a first-half deficit to defeat Penn State, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Nov. 1. Second-half goals by Bella Winn and Jordan Geis gave the Bruins their first come-from-behind victory of the season. ย Penn State grabbed the early lead, scoring in the 26th minute on a goal by Kaitlyn MacBean, but the Bruins were relentless and equalized in the 62nd minute on Winn's team-leading seventh goal of the year. A pass from Emma Egizii to Oruha Hayashi in the box drew the goalkeeper out to the right post, and Hayashi simply crossed to Winn for the goal. Winn nearly scored another in the 77th minute when the Bruins were awarded a penalty kick. Her shot was saved by Penn State goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress, but Geis was unmarked on the rebound and rocketed a shot from the right side past Gress for the go-ahead goal. It was Geis' first goal of the season. UCLA outshot Penn State, 26-8. Bruin goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor made three saves, while Gress had eight for Penn State. ย ย
DEFENDING BIG TEN TOURNEY CHAMPS
UCLA made a statement in its first-ever Big Ten Tournament a year ago, recording three shutouts to sweep through the tournament. The Bruins beat Penn State in the quarterfinals, 1-0, on a Nicki Fraser goal, then beat Washington in the semifinals, 2-0. The final was a blowout, with UCLA scoring three first-half goals and a championship game record five goals in a 5-0 win over Rutgers. Three of the goal-scorers from the championship game are still on the Bruin squad - Val Vargas, who scored the game-winning goal; Jordan Geis, who scored from 45 yards out at the halftime buzzer; and Lily Boyden, who scored her first goal as a Bruin in the second half. ย ย
UCLA VS. BIG TEN
The Bruins are now 120-21-11 (.826) all-time against Big Ten teams and 40-6-4 (.841) 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. In the Big Ten Tournament, UCLA is 4-0 all-time, outscoring its opponents, 10-1. ย
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA is ranked No. 17 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 18 in the Top Drawer Soccer. Seven of UCLA's opponents this year are currently 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 3-3-1 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
In 18 games, UCLA's defense has recorded 12 shutouts and allowed just six goals, for a team goals against average of 0.33, which ranks first in the nation. UCLA ranks No. 4 nationally in save percentage (0.880, just .02 behind national leader Cal State Fullerton) and No. 6 in shutout percentage (0.667). The Bruins have allowed just five goals in the run of play this season, as one of the six 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 12 of 18 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 six goals and ranks third in the nation and first in the Big Ten with a 0.400 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
Ten different players have scored for the Bruins this season. Bella Winn leads the team with seven goals, Emma Egizii has three, 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
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 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 six and ranks second in scoring with 12 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 seven goals, four game-winning goals and 16 points. 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 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 six goals all year and holds a nation's best 0.33 goals against average. Hayashi has played in 17 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 ranks second on the team in assists with four. ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
FRESH CLASSย
The Bruins brought in 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. 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 17 and Powell 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, 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, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 9, ranks third in the nation with a 0.40 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 1598 minutes this year while leading a Bruin defense that has allowed just six goals all season. UCLA holds a 0.33 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 17 of 18 games, Powell has started in 13 of 16 games played, and Shank has made 13 starts while playing in every game.ย
BREWER BACK FROM U-17 WORLD CUP ย
Freshman defender Meila Brewer is back with the Bruins after being out since Oct. 4 for national team duty. Brewer started for the U.S. at the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco. The U.S. team won Group C but were eliminated on penalty kicks in the first stage of the knockout rounds. Brewer has started six games for the Bruins in 2025, and UCLA recorded four shutouts in those six games. Brewer also missed three games earlier in the season (BYU, Long Beach State and Portland) while at national team camp in Spain. ย ย ย ย ย ย
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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