No. 16 UCLA (4-2-1, 1-0-0) vs. No. 5 Michigan State (5-0-2, 1-0-0)
Date: Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026 – 1 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets / UCLA students free with Student Access Pass
Theme: Childhood Cancer Awareness
Giveaway: Yellow sunglasses
Postgame: Team autograph session
Broadcast: B1G+ (www.bigtenplus.com)
Talent: Nick Koop, Graham Metzker
Live Stats: ucla.statbroadcast.com
BRUINS FACE THIRD TOP 5 TEAM
No. 16 UCLA (4-2-1, 1-0-0) will face No. 5 Michigan State (5-0-2, 1-0-0) on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 1pm. The Spartans are the third Top 5 team the Bruins will face in the first eight games of the season. They earlier faced No. 3 Duke (1-1 tie) and No. 1 Stanford (3-0 loss).
UCLA IN THE BIG TEN
UCLA enters its third season in the Big Ten and currently holds a 15-3-5 all-time conference record. In year one in 2024, the Bruins finished second in the regular season with a 8-1-2 record and swept through the conference tournament, allowing zero goals in three games and setting a championship record with five goals in the title match against Rutgers. The Bruins went 6-2-3 in conference play in 2025 and finished third in the regular season and tournament.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Michigan State ranks No. 5 in the nation with a 5-0-2 record. The Spartans are coming off a dominating 5-0 victory at USC. Kennedy Bell scored two goals in the contest. The Spartans have three players on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List - Bell, Kayla Briggs, and Emerson Sargeant. The trio lead the team in scoring, with Bell, the 2025 Big Ten Forward of the Year, netting five goals and 13 points. Michigan State last season posted a 15-4-6 record and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals.
THE SERIES WITH MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State leads the all-time series with UCLA, 1-0-1. The teams faced each other twice in 2025, with the teams tying 1-1 in the regular season and the Spartans besting the Bruins in overtime in the Big Ten semifinals, 2-1. Kara Croone scored the tying goal in the regular season matchup. Emerson Sargeant had the tying and winning goals for Michigan State in the tournament game.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA moved up two spots to No. 16 in the IWSOC Coaches poll. The Bruins will be facing their third Top 5 opponent on Sunday when they play No. 5 Michigan State. UCLA played No. 1 Stanford and No. 3 Duke in August. No. 6 Ohio State looms next week.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA opened Big Ten play on Sept. 10 with a 2-1 victory over Purdue. The Bruins snapped the Boilermakers’ five-game shutout streak while handing them their first loss of the year. For the second-consecutive game, UCLA received goals from Grace Shank in the 18th minute and Kara Croone in the 49th minute. Croone’s game-winner was her second in a row and a quick answer-back after the Boilermakers tied the game in the 44th minute. Purdue entered the game having allowed just two goals all season but conceded two in the first 49 minutes of the game.
BALANCED SCORING
Seven different players have scored goals for the Bruins this season, led by three-goal scorer Kara Croone and two-goal scorers Oruha Hayashi, Grace Shank and Molly Hale. Also getting in the goal column are Cate Sarinopoulos, Leena Powell and Payten Cooper. Shank leads the team with three assists.
GOALKEEPER DEPTH
For the first time since the 2015 season, three different goalkeepers have started a game for the Bruins. Mariangela Medina started in the season opener before departing with the Mexico Under-20 National Team for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Daphne Nakfoor resumed her starting role for the next four games, and Lynette Bryant got her first UCLA start against Pepperdine on Senior Day, earning a shutout. Bryant also started in the Bruins’ win over Purdue. Nakfoor also has a shutout, blanking San Diego on Aug. 20.
IRON WOMEN
Six Bruins have already logged over 500 minutes of play after just seven games. Junior defender Paloma Daubert has played every minute of every game, 630 minutes in total. Sophomore midfielder Grace Shank is second in minutes played with 576. Also over 500 are senior forward Olivia Woodson (560), junior defender Asa Yamazaki (556), senior midfielder Oruha Hayashi (533) and freshman defender Thea Perry (506),
CHALLENGING SCHEDULE
UCLA had a tough non-conference schedule, and the start of its conference schedule isn’t much easier, as the Bruins’ opening weekend was against two teams who entered the week unbeaten in Purdue and No. 5 Michigan State. Six of the Bruins’ seven opponents so far were unbeaten going into the matchup, and those six teams currently have a combined record of 26-7-9 (BYU 4-2-1, Duke 5-0-1, San Diego 3-2-2, Stanford 6-0-1, Santa Clara 2-2-3, Purdue 6-1-1).
BOYOKO EARNS FIRST VICTORY
The Wolfen Family UCLA Women’s Head Soccer Coach Gof Boyoko earned his first victory as a head coach on Aug. 20, 2026, a 2-0 shutout win over San Diego. The Bruins’ former associate head coach stepped into the head coach position on Dec. 12, 2025. Boyoko was on the UCLA coaching staff the previous four years and helped guide the Bruins to a 67-13-9 (.803) overall record and a 33-5-6 (.818) conference record, with NCAA Tournament appearances in each year. The Bruins won the NCAA Championship in Boyoko’s first season and captured conference titles in 2023 and 2024. Boyoko has coached 27 Bruins who went on to professional playing careers both domestically and internationally, along with multiple national and youth national team players.
BRUINS IN THE UNDER-20 WORLD CUP
Goalkeeper Mariangela Medina and defender Abby Gemma were selected to their respective country’s FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup squads. Gemma was a traveling alternate for the U.S. team, missing the Bruins’ last three games. Medina will be with Mexico for the duration of the team’s run in the tournament, which takes place in Poland Sept. 5-27. The junior from Monterrey is making her second career FIFA Under-20 World Cup appearance. She played in the 2024 tournament and made one appearance in the Round of 16 match against the U.S., entering the game in overtime and making a save on a penalty kick just two minutes into her time on the pitch.
POWELL, SHANK, WOODSON NAMED TO WATCH LIST
Bruins Leena Powell, Grace Shank and Olivia Woodson were selected to the Big Ten Players to Watch List. Powell, a sophomore forward from Culver City, Calif., started 16 of 19 games played a year ago and totaled one assist. She is a member of the U.S. Under-19 National Team, along with Shank, who played in all 21 games in 2025 and made 14 starts while totaling one goal and one assist. Shank, a sophomore midfielder from McLean, Va., was selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. Woodson, a forward from Chesterfield, Va., scored 18 career goals at Auburn University and was an all-region honoree in 2024.
PRESEASON TOP 100 PLAYERS
Top Drawer Soccer has ranked five Bruins in its Preseason Players to Watch List. Leena Powell leads all Bruins at No. 38, followed closely behind by No. 41 Ava Priest. Abby Gemma ranks No. 59, Grace Shank No. 64, and Daphne Nakfoor No. 91. Additionally, midfielder Mia Corona was named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Preseason Freshman Team.
BRUIN DEBUTS
Twelve new players made their official UCLA debuts during non-conference play. First-time starters against BYU were transfers Olivia Woodson, Asa Yamazaki and Cate Sarinopoulos. Coming in as reserves were transfers Marli Galdamez, Ava Priest and Abby Gemma and freshmen Anna Wilson and Thea Perry. Woodson logged the most minutes with 85 and had a shot on goal, and Yamazaki totaled 80 minutes. Priest recorded an assist on UCLA’s goal. Additionally, junior Sammy Sanchez earned her first career start. Against Duke in game two, freshman Molly Hale made her collegiate debut and played 50 minutes with one shot on goal. Freshmen Fiona McGeough and Bela Araújo debuted against San Diego in game three, and Perry earned her first start and played the full 90. Sophomore Laila Edris made her first appearance of the year against San Diego after missing the preseason while playing for Egypt at the Women’s African Cup of Nations. Senior goalkeeper Lynette Bryant made her UCLA debut on Sept. 4 against Pepperdine, earning the shutout. Junior Avery Robinson made her season debut on Sept. 10 against Purude.
IMPACT TRANSFERS
UCLA welcomed seven transfers to the squad in 2026, including three who have experience playing in the College Cup in Cate Sarinopoulos and Marli Galdamez (TCU 2025) and Lynette Bryant (BYU 2023). Also arriving in Westwood this season were 2024 all-region selections Olivia Woodson from Auburn and Ava Priest from Colorado, U.S. Under-20 National Team player Abby Gemma from Florida, and two-time Junior College All-American Asa Yamazaki (Arizona Western). Top Drawer Soccer ranked UCLA’s transfer class No. 2 overall in 2026.
WELCOME FRESHMEN
The Bruins brought in a strong freshman class, highlighted by five youth national team players from four different countries - U.S. Under-17 midfielder Mia Corona, U.S. Under-16 defender Thea Perry, Mexico Under-20 National Team forward Anaiya Miyazato, Canada Under-17 National Team defender Molly Hale, and Brazil Under-17 National Team defender Bela Araújo. Also joining UCLA in 2026 are defender Anna Wilson and midfielder Fiona McGeough.
ALUMNI UPDATE
Ashley Sanchez (2017-19) recorded a hat trick on Sept. 6 to increase her league-leading goals total to 18, a new NWSL record for goals scored by an American player. She has also tied league records with five multi-goal games and six game-winning goals. With seven games still to play, Sanchez, the August NWSL PLayer of the Month, is just two goals away from tying the overall NWSL single-season goals scored record of 20.
Issy Bellinghausen (2017-18) became UCLA’s first-ever U.S. Women’s Beach Soccer national team player. She is currently in the team’s September training camp in Georgia.
NEXT WEEK
UCLA finishes its current homestand with a Thursday, Sept. 17 match against Ohio State. The start time has been moved to 6pm PT.