No. 21 UCLA (4-3-1, 1-1-0) vs. No. 5 Ohio State (6-0-1, 2-0-0)
Date: Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026 – 6 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets; UCLA students free with Student Access Pass
Theme: Hispanic Heritage Match
Giveaway: Hispanic candy
Broadcast: B1G+ (www.bigtenplus.com)
Talent: Nick Koop, Graham Metzker
Live Stats: ucla.statbroadcast.com

BRUINS FACE ANOTHER TOP 5 TEAM   
No. 21 UCLA (4-3-1, 1-1-0 in the Big Ten) will face No. 5 Ohio State (6-0-1, 2-0-0) on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 6pm. The Buckeyes are the fourth Top 5 team the Bruins will face in the first nine games of the season. They earlier faced No. 3 Duke (1-1 tie), No. 1 Stanford (3-0 loss) and No. 5 Michigan State (1-0 loss). 
    
UCLA IN THE BIG TEN  
UCLA enters its third season in the Big Ten and currently holds a 15-4-5 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 BUCKEYES
Ohio State ranks No. 5 in the nation with a 6-0-1 record. The Buckeyes are coming off a pair of shutouts against Penn State (1-0) and Indiana (3-0) to open up conference play. Leading scorer Amanda Schlueters recorded a brace in the Indiana victory, her fifth and sixth goals of the season. She has totaled 33 goals, 26 assists and 92 points in her career. Ohio State last season posted an 11-5-6 record and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals.  

THE SERIES WITH OHIO STATE
UCLA leads the all-time series with Ohio State, 2-0. The teams first met in 2004 in the NCAA Quarterfinals, which the Bruins won in Columbus, 1-0. They met again 20 years later in Los Angeles, with the Bruins winning the Big Ten matchup 1-0 on a Jayden Perry penalty kick. 

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA drops five spots to No. 21 in the IWSOC Coaches poll. The Bruins will be facing their fourth Top 5 opponent on Thursday when they play No. 5 Ohio State. UCLA played then-No. 1 Stanford and No. 3 Duke in August and No. 5 Michigan State last week. Michigan State is now the top-ranked team in the nation.   

LAST TIME OUT 
No. 16 UCLA was unable to withstand a seventh-minute goal by No. 5 Michigan State, falling 1-0 to the Spartans on Sept. 13. The Spartans scored the only goal of the game in the seventh minute, with Kayla Briggs scoring in the box after a cross from Renee Watson. The Bruins totaled just two shots in the game, by Oruha Hayashi and Grace Shank in the first 15 minutes, and were unable to get off any other shots after that, getting outshot 13-2. UCLA’s defense put together a strong defensive effort in the final 83 minutes to keep it a one-goal game against a potent Michigan State attack. The Bruins fended off 15 corner kicks and 10 second-half shots. Bruin goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor recorded seven saves in 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. Daphne Nakfoor has started the most games with five, including the most recent matchup against Michigan State in which she made seven saves. She has one shutout this season, blanking San Diego on Aug. 20, and posted a season-high eight saves at Stanford. 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. Lynette Bryant got her first UCLA start against Pepperdine on Senior Day, earning a shutout. Bryant also started in the Bruins’ win over Purdue, making four saves.   

IRON WOMEN 
Five Bruins have already logged over 600 minutes of play after just eight games. Junior defender Paloma Daubert has played every minute of every game, 720 minutes in total. Sophomore midfielder Grace Shank is second in minutes played with 655. Also over 600 are junior defender Asa Yamazaki (646), senior forward Olivia Woodson (626) and senior midfielder Oruha Hayashi (623). This group of players are the only Bruins to start every game this season. Freshman defender Thea Perry, who has started six games, is just shy of 600 minutes played with 596.    

CHALLENGING SCHEDULE 
UCLA has endured a tough schedule so far, matching up against four Top 10 teams. Seven of UCLA’s eight opponents so far entered the game unbeaten going into the matchup, and that total will move to eight when the Bruins play unbeaten Ohio State on Thursday. These eight teams currently have a combined record of 40-8-13 (BYU 4-2-1, Duke 6-0-1, San Diego 3-2-2, Stanford 6-1-1, Santa Clara 3-2-3, Purdue 7-1-1, Michigan State 5-0-2, Ohio State 6-0-1).      

MEDINA RETURNS FROM UNDER-20 WORLD CUP 
Goalkeeper Mariangela Medina is back after a stint with Mexico’s Under-20 National Team at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland. Medina missed UCLA’s last six games while on national team duty. Defender Abby Gemma also missed three games while training with the U.S. team at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup as an alternate.  

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 Purdue.    

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) scored her 19th goal of the season on Sept. 12, closing to within one goal of the NWSL single-season goals scored record of 20 with six games to play. A week ago, she recorded a hat trick, her first goal setting 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.  

BRUINS ON TV 
Three of UCLA’s matches will be broadcast on Big Ten Network this season. All remaining home and conference games will air on Big Ten Plus. The Bruins’ first televised match will be on Sept. 24 at Rutgers at 5pm PT. Also airing on Big Ten Network will be UCLA’s home finale against Washington on Oct. 16 at 8pm PT and the regular season finale at USC on Oct. 30 at 7pm PT. 

NEXT WEEK
UCLA will leave the state for the first time this season with a road trip to Rutgers (Sept. 24) and Maryland (Sept. 27). The East-Coast trip will be an opportunity to play close to home for Abby Gemma (Flemington, N.J.), Fiona McGeough (New York, N.Y.), Grace Shank (McLean, Va.) and Olivia Woodson (Richmond, Va.).