UCLA
Santa Clara
UCLA Heads North to Face Santa Clara Thursday
September 04, 2019 | Women's Soccer
No. 2 UCLA (4-0) at Santa Clara (1-3)
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019 โ 7:30 p.m. (PT)
Location: Santa Clara, Calif. (Stevens Stadium)
Broadcast: WCC Network
Live Stats: santaclarabroncos.com
Tickets: $11 adults
BRUINS TRAVEL NORTH TO FACE SANTA CLARA
No. 2 UCLA (4-0) will play outside Southern California for the first time this season, traveling north to face Santa Clara (1-3) on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at Stevens Stadium. This will be the Bruins' first visit to Santa Clara in 11 years. The match will be streamed live on WCCSports.com.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
Santa Clara began the season ranked No. 13 in the preseason polls but suffered close losses to No. 12 Texas A&M (3-2), Wake Forest (2-1) and No. 10 Duke (3-2 in overtime). Freshman Izzy D'Aquila leads the Broncos in scoring, posting five goals and 11 points in just four games. Senior Kelcie Hedge and junior Alex Loera were selected to the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Hedge was a semifinalist and a first-team All-American a year ago, while Loera earned first-team all-region honors. The Broncos are coached by Jerry Smith in his 33rd season.
THE SERIES WITH SANTA CLARA
The series between the two teams is tied, 5-5-2, but UCLA has won the last two matchups, most recently in 2017 behind a first half hat trick by Hailie Mace. Anika Rodriguez also scored in that match, and Ashley Sanchez recorded two assists. Santa Clara's Kelsey Turnbow had a goal and assist.
SOCAL SWEEPS FLORIDA SCHOOLS
Southern California flexed on Florida over the weekend, as UCLA and USC combined for a four-game sweep over defending NCAA champion Florida State and Florida. The Bruins set the tone in Thursday's Battle at the Banc opener at Banc of California Stadium, using a pair of first-half goals by Jessie Fleming to take down the top-ranked Seminoles. USC followed suit with a 3-1 win over Florida. On Sunday at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, USC beat Florida State 3-2 in overtime, and the Bruins shut out the Gators, 2-0. The wins pushed both programs up in the national rankings, with UCLA moving up to No. 2 and USC up to No. 4.
SHEEHAN, MICAH EARN PAC-12 HONORS
Junior Delanie Sheehan and senior Teagan Micah were selected by the Pac-12 Conference as the Defensive Player of the Week and Goalkeeper of the Week, respectively. Sheehan earned her second career Defensive Player of the Week honor after helping the Bruins take down No. 1 Florida State on Thursday and Florida via shutout on Sunday. Sheehan also scored her first goal of the season against the Gators and helped limit Florida State to just five shots and Florida to six in the weekend sweep. Micah repeated as the Goalkeeper of the Week after picking up the victories in the Bruins' 2-1 win over the Seminoles and their 2-0 victory over Florida. The shutout was Micah's 29th of her career, and she became just the fourth Bruin ever to earn 50 career victories. Micah had two saves in the Florida State win and three against Florida, moving her up to third on UCLA's all-time saves chart with 206. This is her Pac-12-record eighth career Goalkeeper of the Week award.
FLEMING FLOURISHES
Seven MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List candidates were in action on Thursday when UCLA faced off against Florida State, and it was UCLA senior and 2017 finalist Jessie Fleming who made the biggest statement, scoring two goals in the Bruins' 2-1 win over the defending national champions. Fleming's two goals came in the first 35 minutes of the game and were her first of the young season. The two-time World Cup player has totaled 24 goals and 19 assists in her career, and the multi-goal game was the fifth of her career, moving her into UCLA's Top 10 in that category.
MORE MILESTONES FOR MICAH
It's been quite a 2019 for senior goalkeeper Teagan Micah. After spending the summer with the Australian Women's National Team at the World Cup, Micah returned for her final season in Westwood and has hit three major milestones in the first two weeks of play. She earned her 200th career save in the season opening shutout win over Iowa State, recorded her 50th career win in the shutout victory over Florida and then earned her Pac-12 record eighth Goalkeeper of the Week award. Micah, who has three shutouts in four games and a 0.25 goals against average, has moved into third on UCLA's all-time saves chart with 206, and she ranks fourth in career shutouts (29) and wins (50).
SANCHEZ STREAK SNAPPED AT 16
Although Ashley Sanchez's school-record point scoring streak ended at 16 games on Sunday, her impact on the game was still noticeable, if not technically on the stat sheet. She had a hand in the Bruins' second goal agaist the Gators, playing a long ball to Kali Trevithick for a breakaway. Trevithick's shot was blocked, but the rebound went to Delanie Sheehan, who one-timed it past the goalkeeper for the goal. Sanchez's streak went from Sept. 30, 2018 to Aug. 29, 2019 and saw her total nine goals and 16 assists (35 points). With just over two seasons under her belt, Sanchez already ranks tied for fifth on UCLA's career list with 30 assists and is just eight away from Iris Mora's school record of 38. Sanchez's next assist will tie her for fourth place with Lauren Cheney.
MAINSTAYS
UCLA has kept its Starting XI consistent so far this season, with Teagan Micah, Karina Rodriguez, Lucy Parker, Kaiya McCullough, Delanie Sheehan, Marley Canales, Viviana Villacorta, Ashley Sanchez, Jessie Fleming, Kali Trevithick and Mia Fishel earning the starts in all four matches. Last season, the Bruins employed 16 different starting lineups, with McCullough and Rodriguez the only two Bruins to start every game. McCullough has made 56 consecutive starts, the only game she has not started coming on Oct. 23, 2016 due to illness. Rodriguez has started in 32 consecutive games and is one of four Bruins to play in all 360 minutes this season, along with Micah, Parker and Fleming. Parker started every game at LSU in 2017 and 2018 and has a streak of 46 consecutive starts.
FRESHMEN IMPRESS
Two Bruin freshmen have cracked the starting lineup this season - forwards Mia Fishel and Kali Trevithick. Fishel is tied for the team lead in goals (two) and points (five) and leads all Bruin players in shots (15) and shots on goal (nine). She scored the game-winning goal in the Bruins' 1-0 win at Long Beach State. Trevithick, who has eight shots in four games, picked up her first assist in the Bruins' 2-0 win over Florida. Trevithick was a standout in the two exhibition games, recording two goals and two assists. Additionally, Rachel Lowe scored a goal in UCLA's season opener against Iowa State.
UCLA DEBUTS
Six Bruins made their official UCLA debuts last weekend - junior transfer Lucy Parker, redshirt freshman Shana Flynn, and freshmen Mia Fishel, Kali Trevithick, Rachel Lowe and Brianne Riley. Parker, Fishel and Trevithick started both games. Lowe and Riley have played in two games, and Flynn saw her first action against Iowa State.
BRUINS WIN TWO ON OPENING WEEKEND
UCLA earned a pair of shutouts on opening weekend, downing Iowa State 3-0 in the home opener Aug. 23 and then winning at Long Beach State 1-0 on Aug. 25. Ashley Sanchez had a hand in three of the four goals, scoring one and assisting on another in the win over Iowa State and assisting on the game-winner at Long Beach State. The other three goals scored by the Bruins were recorded by freshmen - one in each game by Mia Fishel and one against Iowa State by Rachel Lowe. Senior goalkeeper Teagan Micah picked up the shutout in each game.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA moved up two spots in the United Soccer Coaches poll to No. 2 and are No. 1 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll.ย
THREE ON MAC HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST
Three members of the Bruin team have been selected to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for 2019, including 2017 finalist Jessie Fleming, 2018 semifinalist Ashley Sanchez and LSU transfer and 2018 third-team All-American Lucy Parker. The MAC Hermann Trophy, presented by World Wide Technology, is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female players of the year. This year's winners will be announced Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
BRUINS EARN PRESEASON HONORS
A national-best seven Bruins were selected by Top Drawer Soccer on its preseason Top 100 upperclassman list. Senior midfielder Jessie Fleming tops the list, followed by junior forward Ashley Sanchez, who ranks third. Fleming and Sanchez each made the TDS Preseason Best XI first-team, while junior defender Karina Rodriguez, who ranks as the No. 29 player, made the third team. UCLA's entire backline made the Top 100 list - No. 29 Rodriguez, No. 54 Lucy Parker, No. 61 Kaiya McCullough and No. 78 Delanie Sheehan. Also receiving recognition in the Top 100 was No. 36 Viviana Villacorta.
WORLD CUP BRUINS
Seniors Jessie Fleming and Teagan Micah were two of six Bruins who played in the 2019 Women's World Cup in France this summer. Fleming started all four of Canada's games, logging 360 minutes, the most of any collegiate player. She scored her first World Cup goal in a 2-0 win over New Zealand and was named the FIFA Player of the Match. Micah was a reserve goalkeeper for the Australian team, which fell in penalties in the Round of 16. Other Bruins playing in the World Cup were Americans Abby Dahlkemper, Sam Mewis and Mal Pugh, and New Zealand's Rosie White.
BRUINS VS. THE WORLD
While Jessie Fleming and Teagan Micah were representing their respective countries at the World Cup, 20 of their Bruin teammates were representing the U.S. at the World University Games in Italy. The U.S. finished the tournament with a 2-2 record, dropping close 2-1 decisions against Italy and Japan to start but closing strong with a 4-0 win over South Africa and a 3-1 victory over Mexico. The Bruins had three goals from Ashley Sanchez and two each from Mia Fishel and Olivia Athens. Lauren Brzykcy recorded 10 saves vs. Japan and had a shutout against South Africa.
UCLA 100
UCLA will celebrate its first 100 years with a year-long university-wide Centennial Celebration. UCLA Athletics has several Centennial Celebration plans and giveaways in store for designated home events, including a set of 13 Centennial Pins highlighting each sport, as well as a souvenir mosaic poster that features personal photos submitted by UCLA fans. UCLA women's soccer's Centennial game will take place on Sept. 27.
CROMWELL CLIMBING COACHING CHARTS
UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell is making a quick rise up the coaching charts in winning percentage and victories. With a 325-121-40 record at the start of the 2019 season, she ranked No. 15 in winning percentage (.710) and No. 18 in victories (325) among all active Division I coaches. All-time, she is at No. 16 in winning percentage and No. 21 in victories.
ELLIS TO BE INDUCTED INTO UCLA ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME
Former UCLA head coach Jill Ellis will be inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame on Nov. 1. Ellis, the winningest coach in UCLA women's soccer history, posted a 229-45-14 record over 12 years (1999-2010) and led UCLA to eight College Cup appearances, including seven in a row from 2003-09. She won seven Pac-10 titles during her tenure and coached 13 Bruins to 24 NSCAA All-America honors. She left UCLA to join the U.S. Women's National Teams in 2011 and went on to become the head coach in 2014. Ellis led the U.S. to back-to-back FIFA Women's World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, becoming only the second coach in men's or women's World Cup history to accomplish this feat.
2018 IN REVIEW
UCLA advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinal round for the fourth time in six years but were stopped short of a second-straight College Cup appearance after a penalty kick shootout at North Carolina. The Bruins went 17-3-2 on the year, finishing the season on a 13-match unbeaten streak. UCLA led the nation in scoring with 61 goals, 62 assists and 184 points. UCLA's accomplishments in 2018 all the more impressive considering top players Jessie Fleming and Hailie Mace missed half of the season while on National Team duty. Sophomore forward Ashley Sanchez had a record-breaking season, setting or tying five school records, including single-season assists (15), single-game assists (4), consecutive games with a goal or assist (13). Sanchez earned first-team All-America honors and was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy.
LOOKING AHEAD
UCLA will host No. 16 Wisconsin on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 6pm before traveling to Hawai'i to face Pepperdine and the host Rainbow Wahine.
