UCLA Begins NCAA Title Defense Friday Night vs. San Diego

#1 UCLA vs. San Diego
NCAA First Round
Marshall Field at Drake Stadium
Friday, Nov. 14 - 7pm PT
Tickets - $10 adults, $8 youth/students
Live Stream - pac-12.com/videos/ucla (John Ramey)
Live Stats - uclabruins.com
Twitter - @UCLAWSoccer | #NCAASoccer | #onegoal112

UCLA Opens NCAA Tournament vs. USD
The No. 1 overal seed UCLA women’s soccer team (18-0-2) will begin its title defense on Friday, Nov. 14 vs. San Diego (10-7-2) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The match will take place at Marshall Field at Drake Stadium and will be streamed live on uclabruins.com. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for youth/students.

UCLA in NCAA Tournament Play
The defending NCAA champion Bruins are making their 18th consecutive and 19th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA has a 52-15-4 all-time NCAA Tournament record. Last season, the Bruins were seeded No. 2 and rolled past three No. 1 seeds en route to the title.

UCLA’s seeding history and results in its 18 previous NCAA Tournament appearances are below:

1995 - First Round (L to Washington, 2-1)
1997 - Quarterfinals (L at Notre Dame, 8-0)
1998 - Second Round (L to BYU, 2-0)
1999 - Rd. of 16 (L at Santa Clara, 7-0)
2000 - #6 seed, Final (L to North Carolina, 2-1)
2001 - #3 seed, Quarterfinals (L to Florida, 1-0 2OT)
2002 - #7 seed, Rd. of 16 (T Texas A&M 0-0, lost 3-1 in PKs)
2003 - #4 seed, Semifinals (L to North Carolina, 3-0)
2004 - #14 seed, Final (L to Notre Dame, 1-1 PKs)
2005 - #1 seed Final (L to Portland, 4-0)
2006 - #2 seed, Semifinals (L to North Carolina, 2-0)
2007 - #1 seed, Semifinals (L to USC, 2-1)
2008 - #1 seed, Semifinals (L to North Carolina, 1-0)
2009 - #1 seed, Semifinals (L to Stanford, 2-1)
2010 - Rd. of 16 (L at Stanford, 3-0)
2011 - #2 seed, Second Round (T San Diego, 1-1, lost 3-4 in PKs)
2012 - #3 seed, Quarterfinals (L at Stanford, 2-1)
2013 - #2 seed, NCAA Champions (W vs. Florida State, 1-0, ot)

UCLA Against the NCAA Field
UCLA posted an 10-0-2 record against members of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field this season, outscoring those 12 opponents by a combined margin of 27-2. The Bruins have wins over San Diego (2-0), Pepperdine (2-0), Texas (1-0), Arizona (6-0), Washington State (1-0), Colorado (1-0), California (3-0), Washington (6-0) and Stanford (2-1) and ties against North Carolina (0-0) and Arizona State (1-1).

Back-To-Back Pac-12 Champions
With a final conference record of 10-0-1, UCLA claimed its 11th Pac-12 title, becoming the eighth consecutive team to go through conference play unbeaten. The Bruins had previously won the conference title in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2013. UCLA clinched the outright Pac-12 title after defeating crosstown rival USC on the road, 2-0, behind a pair of Kylie McCarthy goals.

New Shutout Streak
The Bruins started the season with a six-game shutout streak and head into the playoffs on a seven-game shutout streak. The two shutout streaks give goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in UCLA’s record book for single-season consecutive shutouts. UCLA has outscored its opponents 26-0 during this seven-game shutout streak.

Rowland Aims for New NCAA Shutout Record
Senior goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland tied the NCAA record last week with her 52nd career shutout and has her sights set on a new record with her next shutout. Rowland is tied with Wisconsin’s Heather Taggart, who initially set the record in 1988-91.

Rowland has broken several of her own school records this season, including single-season shutouts (16), single-season consecutive shutouts (7) and single-season consecutive shutout minutes (667).

Defending Drake
UCLA has defended Drake Stadium with a vengeance the last two seasons, going unbeaten in its last 25 games, the 18th-longest home unbeaten streak in NCAA history. The Bruins are 10-0-1 at home this season and have outscored their opponents, 27-3, at home.

In the Rankings
UCLA has spent all season (13 weeks) ranked No. 1 across all major polls (NSCAA, Soccer America and Top Drawer Soccer).

National Leaders
Not only does UCLA hold the No. 1 national ranking, but the Bruins are also ranked No. 1 in the nation in several statistical categories - goals against average (0.196), shutout percentage (0.800), winning percentage (0.950) and save percentage (0.913). Goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland continues to lead the nation in goals against average with a 0.196 mark. She also ranks second in save percentage (0.913). Sam Mewis ranks in the Top 25 in many offensive categories, ranking ninth in total points (39), 12th in points per game (1.95) and game winning goals (6), 17th total assists (11), 22nd in assists per game (0.55) and 23rd in total goals (14).

A Look at the Toreros
San Diego enters NCAA Tournament play on a three-game winning streak. The Toreros are 4-2-1 against ranked teams this season, with one of the losses coming to the Bruins in August. Jacqueline Altschuld leads four San Diego players in double-figure scoring with 13 points (5g, 3a). Nikki Pappalardo has 10 assists.

UCLA is 17-1-5 all-time against San Diego and won this year’s earlier matchup on Aug. 31, 2-0, in Los Angeles. Sam Mewis adnd Kodi Lavrusky scored second-half goals, and the Bruin defense did not allow a shot on goal in the shutout win. The Toreros’ lone win in the series came in 1993, 1-0 in San Diego. The teams have met in the NCAA Tournament five times (all at UCLA), with the Bruins advancing four times and the Toreros once, in 2011 on penalty kicks.

Numbers and Streaks
UCLA is unbeaten in its last 41 games, its last loss coming Sept. 6, 2013 against North Carolina, 1-0, in Durham, N.C. … The 41-game unbeaten streak is a new school record, breaking the record of 25 set between 2011 and 2012, and the sixth-best streak in NCAA history … UCLA has a 25-game unbeaten streak at home, the 18th-longest home unbeaten streak in NCAA history. The Bruins’ last home loss came Oct. 28, 2012 against Stanford (2-1) … The Bruins had a seven-game, 772-minute shutout streak end on Sept. 12 against Wake Forest and has a new current streak of seven games and 667 minutes … UCLA has shut out 21 of its last 26 opponents … UCLA has outscored its last seven opponents, 26-0, and has scored 28 unanswered goals since allowing a 53rd minute goal to Stanford on Oct. 9 … Sam Mewis has a goal or assist in 15 of 20 games this season but had a seven-game streak snapped at WSU … Sarah Killion has a goal or assist in 11 of 20 games this season … The Bruins have scored 10 goals in the first 15 minutes of play this year, including six in the first 10 minutes … Twenty-three of 32 players on the roster have national team experience.

Mewis, Killion Climbing Career Charts
Senior midfielders Sam Mewis and Sarah Killion are rapidly climbing up the UCLA career lists for assists and points. Mewis has 29 goals, 30 assists (tied for third), 10 game-winning goals (10th) and 88 points (tied for sixth). Killion is tied with Mewis and Christina DiMartino for third on the career assist list with 30. The next assist by either Mewis or Killion will move them into a tie for second. Mewis’ 11 assists this season are tied for fifth on the single-season list, and Killion’s 10 are tied for eighth. Both Bruins have a share of the school record for single-game assists with three (also matched by Caprice Dydasco at Washington on Nov. 2).

Stifling Defense
Not only has UCLA shut out 16 of 20 opponents this year, but the team has allowed just 46 shots on goal all season. The Bruins have held three of their opponents to one shot or less and to just 105 shots all season (5.25 average). Twenty-nine of their last 32 opponents have been held to single-digit shot totals.

Bruins Dominate Pac-12 Year-End Awards
UCLA won four of the five Pac-12 year-end awards, winning Player of the Year (Sam Mewis), Defensive Player of the Year (Abby Dahlkemper), Goalkeeper of the Year (Katelyn Rowland) and Coach of the Year (Amanda Cromwell). Four Bruins were selected to the All-Pac-12 first team (Mewis, Dahlkemper, Rowland and Sarah Killion), two others earned second-team honors (Ally Courtnall and Taylor Smith), and another was an honorable mention selection (Megan Oyster). Additionally, Zoey Goralski was named to the All-Freshman team.

White Wins Golden Ball at World Cup Qualifying
Senior Rosie White won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player at the OFC Women’s Nations Cup as New Zealand won the tournament and earned a spot in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. White scored three goals in the tournament as the Football Ferns went 3-0. After missing three games for the Bruins during the tournament, she rejoined the squad at Washington and recorded an assist and helped contribute to the own goal in the second half.

Killion Named Finalist for Senior CLASS Award
Senior Sarah Killion is a finalist for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award. The award honors student-athletes for their accomplishments both on and off the field.

Killion, a midfielder from Fort Wayne, Ind., is one of UCLA’s top student-athletes, majoring in Psychology and holding a GPA of 3.7. She is also set to graduate early in Fall 2014. Killion is a first-team NSCAA Scholar All-American and Scholar All-West Region honoree, a two-time Capital One Academic All-District second-team recipient and a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection. This season, she ranks second on the UCLA team in scoring with 24 points off seven goals and 10 assists. She currently ranks 26th in the nation in assists and is on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. In 2013, she led the Pac-12 in assists with 12, the third-highest total in UCLA history. She currently ranks third on the school’s career list with 30. Killion earned a call-up to the full U.S. Women’s National Team for the Algarve Cup in March and is also a regular with the U.S. Under-23 National Team.

Senior Strong
UCLA’s senior class is the heart of the Bruin team, nine strong and keepers of a 74-5-11 career record. The class came in as the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation in 2011 and has more than lived up to its billing, leading the Bruins to the 2013 NCAA and Pac-12 Championships.

All nine are major contributors to the team, contributing 65% of the team’s goal production (35 goals). In the last five games, Kylie McCarthy has scored five goals with one assist, and Sam Mewis has scored four goals with four assists. All nine seniors have started the last four games, and seven of them (Ally Courtnall, Abby Dahlkemper, Caprice Dydasco, Sarah Killion, Mewis, Megan Oyster and Katelyn Rowland) have started all 20 games. Three (Dahlkemper, Killion and Rowland) are on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and are returning All-Americans. Dahlkemper is the reigning Honda Award winner. Four (Defensive MVP Courtnall, Killion, Oyster and Rowland) were named to the 2013 College Cup All-Tournament team. Two (Killion and Mewis) were called up to the full U.S. Women’s National Team this winter for the Algarve Cup, four (Dahlkemper, Dydasco, Killion, Mewis) played with the U.S. Under-23 team this summer, Rowland started for the U.S. Under-20s at the FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup, and Rosie White is a regular with the New Zealand Women’s National Team, having played at the 2011 World Cup and 2012 Olympic Games for the Football Ferns.