UCLA Hosts Long Beach State in Sunday Doubleheader

No. 4 UCLA (2-0) vs. Long Beach State (2-0)
Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021 – 6 p.m. PT
Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)

MEDIA INFORMATION
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Christian Miles, Tammy Blackburn
Online Radio Broadcast: ucla.leanplayer.com
Radio Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
Price: $10 adults/$5 youth (3-16), UCLA students free with BruinCard; All tickets are digital.
Admission includes UCLA Men's Soccer game at 3pm
Parking: purchase in advance on Park Mobile app

UCLA HOSTS LONG BEACH STATE SUNDAY
No. 4 UCLA will host Long Beach State on Sunday, Aug. 29 at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The match will be broadcast live at 6pm PT on Pac-12 Networks and is the second match in a doubleheader with the UCLA men's soccer team, who will play San Francisco at 3pm.

FLASHBACK TO GRAND OPENING
Long Beach State returns to UCLA for the first time since participating in the Wallis Annenberg Stadium Grand Opening on Aug. 17, 2018. The teams battled in a scoreless affair until the final seconds, when Hailie Mace scored with two ticks on the clock to give the Bruins a 1-0 victory.

LAST WEEK
UCLA opened the season with a pair of wins against Big West opponents. UCLA beat UC Irvine in the season opener, 3-1, on first-half goals by Maricarmen Reyes, Reilyn Turner and Mia Fishel and came back three days later to beat Cal State Fullerton on the road, 3-0. Reyes, Fishel and Quincy McMahon scored for the Bruins, and Lauren Brzykcy picked up the shutout.

DESIANO WINS DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK
Redshirt junior Madelyn Desiano earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording three assists over two games and helping the Bruins shut out Cal State Fullerton. Desiano, who missed two full seasons while recovering from a pair of ACL surgeries, earned starts in both games - her first collegiate starts - and picked up her first career points.

FISHEL NAMED UCLA STUDENT-ATHLETE OF WEEK
Junior Mia Fishel was honored as the UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week following her two-goal performance during the week. Fishel led the Bruins with nine shots and six shots on goal during the weekend and is tied for the team lead in scoring with two goals and four points. The All-American from San Diego announced last week that 2021 would be her final season at UCLA as she pursues professional opportunities.

REYES A CATALYST
Senior midfielder Maricarmen Reyes has been an early catalyst for the Bruins in their first two games, scoring the opening goal of the game in both contests. In the season opener, she scored just two and a half minutes after kickoff on a volley, and she had the game-winner in the 11th minute against Cal State Fullerton. Reyes is tied with Mia Fishel for the team lead in scoring with two goals and four points.

BIG DRAW BRUINS
The Bruins played in front of a Cal State Fullerton record crowd of 7,832 on Sunday, the sixth-largest regular season crowd in NCAA women's soccer history. The Bruins have played in six of the Top 7 most-attended regular season games in NCAA history, including each of the Top 3.

NCAA Women's Soccer Regular Season Single-Game Attendance Records
1) 11,925 - Nov. 3, 2017, USC at UCLA (Drake Stadium)
2) 10,128 - Nov. 7, 2014, UCLA at USC (Los Angeles Coliseum)
3) 8,555 - Nov. 2, 2018, UCLA vs. USC (StubHub Center)
4) 8,527 - Oct. 22, 2010, UCLA at USC (Los Angeles Coliseum)
5) 8,508 - Nov. 4, 2016, UCLA vs. USC (StubHub Center)
6) 8,204 - Aug. 25, 2006, North Carolina at Texas A&M (College Station, TX)
7) 7,832 - Aug. 22, 2021, UCLA at Cal State Fullerton (Titan Stadium)

SCOUTING THE BEACH
Long Beach State has started the season 2-0, with a season-opening 2-0 win over CSUN and a 2-1 upset win over No. 8 Pepperdine. The Beach went 4-12-1 in 2019 and went 5-0 in the 2020 spring season after their fall season was canceled by the Big West Conference due to Covid-19. Long Beach State's win over Pepperdine Thursday was their first win over a ranked opponent since Aug. 24, 2017, when they defeated No. 22 Northwestern, 2-0. Lena Silano is the Beach's leading scorer with four points (1g, 2a). Goalkeeper Morgan Houston-Shepherd holds a 0.50 goals against average with one shutout.

SUPER SENIORS
A trio of fifth-year players - graduate students Olivia Athens and Marley Canales and fifth-year senior Kennedy Faulknor - are bringing veteran leadership to the Bruins in 2021. Athens is enrolled in UCLA's Master of Legal Studies program, Canales is enrolled in UCLA's Graduate School of Education, pursuing a master's degree in transformative coaching and leadership, and Faulknor is wrapping up her sociology degree. The trio have played a combined 185 games for the Bruins.

RETURNING PRODUCTION
UCLA returns its top four leading scorers in Reilyn Turner (11g, 5a, 27pts), Mia Fishel (6g, 6a, 18pts), Marley Canales (4g, 6a, 14pts) and Sunshine Fontes (5g, 3a, 13pts). The foursome combined to score 72% of UCLA's goals in 2020 (26 of 36). Overall, UCLA returns 83% of its goal production and 81% of its points production. Goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy, who played every minute of every game, is also back after her All-American season. Eight players who started at least 11 of UCLA's 17 games last season are back - 17-game starters Brzykcy, Canales and Brianne Riley; 16-game starters Fishel and Olivia Athens; 15-game starter Turner; 14-game starter Michaela Rosenbaum; and 11-game starter Kaila Novak.

WHAT'S NEW, BRU?
While returning 29 players from last season's roster, the Bruins will look to replace starters Delanie Sheehan, Lucy Parker, Karina Rodriguez and Jacey Pederson. To do so, UCLA brought in the nation's No. 6-ranked recruiting class, led by a trio of U.S. Youth National Team players in defender Lilly Reale, midfielder Emma Egizii and defender Quincy McMahon and a pair of youth internationals in defenders Clara Härdling and My Haugland Sørsdahl. Also joining the squad this season are goalkeeper Faith Nguyen, defender Jayden Perry and forward Lexi Wright. Reale has started at the center back position in both games, and McMahon has scored one goal in two games played.

DEFENDING THE PAC
The Bruins enter 2021 as the reigning Pac-12 champions after winning the 2020 crown with a 9-1-1 record in league play. The conference title was UCLA's 12th overall and first since 2014. UCLA returns four all-conference players in Goalkeeper of the Year Lauren Brzykcy, Freshman of the Year Reilyn Turner, first-team honoree Mia Fishel and second-team selection Marley Canales, along with All-Freshman team members Sunshine Fontes and Kaila Novak. Additionally, head coach Amanda Cromwell received her second Pac-12 Coach of the Year award.

BRUINS TO WATCH FOR HERMANN TROPHY
All-Americans Lauren Brzykcy and Mia Fishel were named to the Hermann Trophy Women's Watch List for 2021. Fishel was a second-team All-American after tying for the team lead in assists (six) and ranking second on the squad in goals (six) and points (18). She also led the Pac-12 with four game-winning goals. Brzykcy, a third-team All-American, totaled seven shutouts and a 0.73 goals against average while playing every minute of every game. She was named the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year and earned first-team Scholar All-America honors.

REPRESENTING THEIR COUNTRIES
Three current Bruins have earned recent call-ups with their respective country's national team. Maricarmen Reyes has been called up twice for Mexico, most recently in July for a pair of games in Japan. Idalia Serrano received her first call-up this summer for a training camp in El Salvador. Mia Fishel spent time last October at U.S. Women's National Team camp in Colorado.