No. 18 UCLA (2-2-1) vs. Pepperdine (2-1-2)
Date: Friday, Sept. 4, 2026 – 7 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets // UCLA students free with Student Access Pass // UCLA Faculty & Staff can show proof of employment at the box office for $11 discounted tickets
Theme: Senior Night
Giveaway: Senior Posters
Broadcast: B1G+ (www.bigtenplus.com)
Talent: Nick Koop, Zach King
Live Stats: ucla.statbroadcast.com
BRUINS HOST WAVES ON SENIOR NIGHT FRIDAY
No. 18 UCLA (2-2-1) returns home on Friday, Sept. 4 at 7pm for the first of four consecutive home games. The Bruins will host Pepperdine (2-1-2) at Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Senior Night. Senior posters will be given away to fans in attendance.
SENIOR SALUTE
UCLA will honor its five seniors - Lynette Bryant, Marli Galdamez, Oruha Hayashi, Ava Priest and Olivia Woodson - in pre-game festivities (approximately 6:35pm) on Friday. Hayashi is the longest-tenured Bruin among the seniors, having played with the squad in 2025 and 2026 after transferring from Iowa Western, where she was the NJCAA Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Hayashi has totaled 25 career games and 20 starts with the Bruins, totaling three goals and five assists. She is currently tied for the team lead in scoring this season with two goals and four points. Galdamez joined UCLA from TCU in January and played with the team during the spring. This season, she has played in all five games, making two starts. She helped TCU advance to the College Cup a year ago, playing 21 games and recording three assists. Bryant, Priest and Woodson transferred to UCLA at the start of this season, Bryant coming from BYU, Priest from Colorado and Woodson from Auburn. Bryant started in goal for BYU at the 2023 College Cup and recorded nine shutouts in two seasons of play. Priest was a three-year starter at Colorado who earned All-Region honors in 2024 and Pac-12 All-Freshman acclaim in 2023. She has totaled 10 goals and 19 assists in her career. Woodson scored 18 goals in three seasons at Auburn and earned All-Region acclaim in 2024.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine enters the week with a 2-1-2 record after losing for the first time this season on Sunday at Baylor, 3-1. The Waves are led by 2025 All-Region forward Julia Quinonez, who has totaled 15 goals in the last two seasons, including four this year. All-Region defender Peyton Leonard, who scored the winning goal against the Bruins in 2024, also returns. Pepperdine, the two-time defending WCC Champions, went 11-7-2 a year ago and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in four of the last five years, with a trip to the Round of 16 as recently as 2021.
THE SERIES WITH PEPPERDINE
UCLA leads the all-time series with Pepperdine, 23-4-4. The home team has won the matchup in each of the last three years, with UCLA taking the 2025 contest in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by a 3-1 score. Payten Cooper scored the game’s final goal with under one minute to play.
WELCOME BACK TO WALLY
UCLA alumna and 2022 NCAA champion Madelyn Desiano returns to Wallis Annenberg Stadium as a member of the Pepperdine coaching staff. Desiano is in her first season of coaching after four years playing soccer professionally. Drafted by the Houston Dash in the 2023 NWSL Draft, Desiano went on to play in Denmark for Odense Boldklub before returning stateside to play for Spokane Zephyr FC. As a Bruin, Desiano was a starter on the 2022 NCAA championship squad and won a pair of Pac-12 Championships in 2020 and 2021. She graduated from UCLA in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a master’s in Transformative Coaching and Leadership.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA fell one spot to No. 18 in the IWSOC Coaches poll. The Bruins have already played the Top 2 teams in the nation in No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Duke, as well as No. 14 BYU, and have No. 4 Michigan State, No. 8 Ohio State, and No. 11 Washington upcoming.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA scored three goals in the second half to overcome a 2-0 deficit and hand Santa Clara its first loss of the season, 3-2, on Aug. 30. Mistakes cost the Bruins two goals in the first half, but they made a big turnaround in the second half. The Bruins dominated possession after halftime and chipped away at the lead. Leena Powell put the Bruins on the board at 62:18 with a long-distance right-footed rocket over the reach of Santa Clara goalkeeper Ally Harrison. Cate Sarinopoulos and Asa Yamazaki were credited with the assists. Yamazaki set up UCLA’s second goal 12 minutes later at 74:16, sending a ball into the box to Olivia Woodson, who sent a cross to the back post to Hale. Heavily defended, Hale nonetheless headed it past Harrison to tie the game. Hale was not done, however. Less than two minutes later, the freshman pounced on a loose ball outside the box, dribbled it in and then fired far post for her second goal, giving UCLA the lead it would not relinquish. UCLA outshot Santa Clara 11-4 in the game and 9-2 in the second half.
HALE HONORED AS BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF WEEK
Midfielder Molly Hale has earned UCLA’s first weekly conference award of the season, being named the Big Ten Women’s Soccer Freshman of the Week after a two-goal game in the comeback win at Santa Clara. Hale’s first two goals of her collegiate career were monumental for the Bruins, who had entered the second half down 2-0 to the unbeaten Broncos. After a 63rd-minute goal by Leena Powell cut the Bruins’ deficit in half with her first collegiate goal, Hale scored twice in the span of 95 seconds to flip the script. She scored her first goal on a header at 74:16 to tie the game and then hit a banger to the far post at 75:51 for the game-winner. Hale is now tied for the team lead in goals scored with two, and she holds a shots on goal percentage of 1.000, with all four of her shots on frame. The Ottawa, Ontario native is the first UCLA true freshman to record a brace since Reilyn Turner did it on April 30, 2021.
CHALLENGING SCHEDULE
UCLA’s non-conference schedule has been a tough one. Each opponent the Bruins have faced so far were unbeaten going into the matchup, and those five teams have a combined record of 16-3-6 entering the week (BYU 3-1-0, Duke 5-0-1, San Diego 1-1-2, Stanford 5-0-0 and Santa Clara 2-1-3). Stanford and Duke have been ranked No. 1 and 2 in each of the last three weeks.
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 have been selected to their respective country’s FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup squads. Medina will play for Mexico, while Gemma is a traveling alternate for the U.S. team. Medina 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. The 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will take place in Poland from Sept. 5-27. The U.S. has won this tournament three times, most recently in 2012.
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
Eleven new players made their official UCLA debuts in the first two weeks of the season. 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.
IMPACT TRANSFERS
UCLA welcomes 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). Bryant will be facing her former team straight away in the season opener on Aug. 12. Also arriving in Westwood this season are 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 bring 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.
FRASER RETURNS
Defender Nicki Fraser, the 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, returns in 2026 after sitting out the 2025 season with injuries. In the season opener against BYU, she started and played 60 minutes, and in the Duke contest, she logged 64 minutes and drew a penalty kick in the 1-1 tie while helping to hold the Blue Devils to just two shots in the game. For her efforts, she was named the UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week presented by Champion of Westwood. Fraser started in 20 games her freshman season and helped UCLA’s defense record the lowest team goals against average in the nation (0.41) and the most shutouts (16). In addition to being named the conference’s Freshman of the Year, she also received third-team All-Big Ten honors and All-Freshman acclaim. A U.S. Youth National Team member, Fraser played in the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and the 2023 Pan American Games.
LOOKING AHEAD
UCLA opens Big Ten play on Thursday, Sept. 10 against Purdue. The match will take place at Wallis Annenberg Stadium at 7pm.