Trio of Bruins Earn Player of Distinction Award

UCLA's Marley Canales, Karina Rodriguez and Delanie Sheehan were awarded College Player of Distinction Awards by the United Soccer Coaches.

The award was established this spring for member head coaches to submit deserving players based on one or more of the following criteria

• Player has achieved quality performance on the field
• Represented the highest ideals of team leadership
• Exhibited quality character attributes including sportsmanship and respect for teammates, opponents, officials and the game in general
• Made other significant contributions to the benefit of the program and the community

The Bruin trio each earned All-America honors this season, with Sheehan being named to the first team, Fishel to the second team and Brzykcy to the third team.

Canales, a senior midfielder and team captain, returned from an ACL injury that cut short her 2019 season to earn second-team All-Pac-12 honors. She led the Bruins in 2020-21 with six assists and also added a career-high four goals. Her 14 points on the year ranked third on the team in scoring. Canales started all 17 games for the Bruins.

Rodriguez, a senior defender, played in 14 games for the Bruins, missing three early in the season while playing with the Mexican National Team. The first-team All-Pac-12 defender recorded one goal – the game-winning goal on Senior Day against Washington – and contributed to five shutouts. She earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors Mar. 15 after shutout wins at Colorado and Utah.

Sheehan, who was also a first-team All-American, a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy and a Senior CLASS Award finalist, finished her Bruin career as a Pac-12 champion and the 2020-21 Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year. She started and played in 16 games this season and recorded four goals, five assists and 13 points. In four seasons at UCLA, she totaled 15 goals and 18 assists in 86 games played.