UCLA Hosts Harvard in NCAA Second Round Friday

NCAA Second Round - Friday, Nov. 21
Game One - #4 Pepperdine vs. Illinois State
5pm PT, Marshall Field at Drake Stadium

Game Two - #1 UCLA vs. Harvard
8pm PT, Marshall Field at Drake Stadium

NCAA Third Round - Sunday, Nov. 22
Pepperdine/Illinois St. vs. UCLA/Harvard 3pm PT, Marshall Field at Drake Stadium

Tickets - $10 adults, $8 youth/students
Live Stream - pac-12.com/videos/ucla (Game 1: Al Epstein, Game 2: Dave Marcus, Game 3: John Ramey)
Live Stats - ncaa.com
Twitter - @UCLAWSoccer | #NCAASoccer | #onegoal112

UCLA Hosts Harvard in 2nd Round
The No. 1 overall seed UCLA women’s soccer team (19-0-2) will continue its title defense on Friday, Nov. 21 with an NCAA second round game vs. Harvard (11-4-2). The match will take place at Marshall Field at Drake Stadium at 8pm, following the 5pm game between No. 4 seed Pepperdine (15-2-4) and Illinois State (16-5-0). Both games will be streamed live on pac-12.com/videos/ucla. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for youth/students.

The winners of the two Friday games will meet in the third round on Sunday at 3pm.

UCLA advanced to the second round by virtue of its 5-0 first round victory over San Diego. The Bruins put the Toreros away early with three goals in the first 12 minutes. Five different players scored the Bruins’ five goals - Abby Dahlkemper, Rosie White, Taylor Smith, Kylie McCarthy and Sam Mewis. Goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland even got in on the action, earning an assist on Smith’s goal before ending the game with her 53rd career shutout, a new NCAA record.

Record-Breaking Rowland
Senior goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland set a new NCAA record last week with her 53rd career shutout, breaking the previous record held by Wisconsin’s Heather Taggart, who had 52 from 1988-91. Rowland broke the record with a three-save shutout against San Diego in the NCAA first round. Also with that shutout, she extended her school records for single-season shutouts (17), single-season consecutive shutouts (8) and single-season consecutive shutout minutes (757).

New Shutout Streak
The Bruins started the season with a six-game shutout streak and are currently on an eight-game shutout streak. The two separate 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 31-0 during this eight-game shutout streak.

Defending Drake
UCLA has defended Drake Stadium with a vengeance the last two seasons, going unbeaten in its last 26 games, the 17th-longest home unbeaten streak in NCAA history. The Bruins are 11-0-1 at home this season and have outscored their opponents, 32-3, at home.

Numbers and Streaks
UCLA is unbeaten in its last 42 games, its last loss coming Sept. 6, 2013 against North Carolina, 1-0, in Durham, N.C. … The 42-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 26-game unbeaten streak at home, the 17th-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 757 minutes … UCLA has shut out 22 of its last 27 opponents … UCLA has outscored its last eight opponents, 31-0, and has scored 33 unanswered goals since allowing a 53rd minute goal to Stanford on Oct. 9 … Sam Mewis has a goal or assist in 16 of 21 games this season … Sarah Killion has a goal or assist in 11 of 21 games this season … The Bruins have scored 13 goals in the first 15 minutes of play this year, including eight 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 30 goals (T-9th), 31 assists (tied for second), 10 game-winning goals (10th) and 91 points (sixth). Killion is tied for fourth on the career assist list with 30. Mewis’ 12 assists this season are tied for third 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).

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 53-15-4 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 Against the NCAA Field
UCLA posted an 10-0-2 record against members of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field in the regular 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).

In the Rankings
UCLA has spent all season (14 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 (0.187), shutout percentage (0.810), winning percentage (0.952) and save percentage (0.918). Goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland continues to lead the nation in goals against average with a 0.187 mark and also ranks first in save percentage (0.918). Sam Mewis ranks in the Top 25 in many offensive categories, ranking eighth in total points (42), ninth in points per game (2.00), 11th in total assists (12), 12th in game-winning goals (6), 21st in assists per game (0.57) and 22nd in total goals (15).

A Look at the Crimson
Playing in its 15th NCAA Tournament, Ivy League champion Harvard (10-4-2) defeated Central Connecticut State, 6-0, in the first round. Margaret Purce and Emily Mosbacher scored two goals apiece to help the Crimson advance to the second round for the first time since 2001. Purce leads three Harvard players in double-figure scoring with 22 points (10g, 2a). Mosbacher has six goals and three assists. This will be the first-ever meeting between UCLA and Harvard. UCLA is 4-0-1 all-time against Ivy League schools (4-0 vs. Princeton, 0-0-1 vs. Brown).

Stifling Defense, High-Octane Offense
Not only has UCLA shut out 17 of 21 opponents this year, but the team has allowed just 49 shots on goal all season. The Bruins have held three of their opponents to one shot or less and to just 108 shots all season (5.14 average). Thiry of their last 33 opponents have been held to single-digit shot totals. The Bruins’ defensive prowess does not hinder their offense in any way. The Bruins rank fifth in the nation in goals (59), fourth in assists (61) and sixth in points (179). Sam Mewis leads the Pac-12 in all scoring categories with 15 goals, 12 assists and 42 points.

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. Fan voting ends on Nov. 24.

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 27th 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 75-5-11 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 players and have contributed 66% of the team’s goal production (39 goals). In the last six games, Kylie McCarthy has scored six goals with one assist, and Sam Mewis has scored five goals with five assists. All nine seniors have started the last five games, and seven (Ally Courtnall, Abby Dahlkemper, Caprice Dydasco, Sarah Killion, Mewis, Megan Oyster and Katelyn Rowland) have started all 21 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. 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.