No. 3 Bruins Travel to Arizona
No. 3 UCLA (8-0-1, 0-0-1) at Arizona (3-5-0, 0-1-0)
Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021 – 8 p.m. PT
Tucson, Ariz. (Murphey Field at Mulcahy Soccer Stadium)
MEDIA INFORMATION
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Brian Webber
Live Stats: arizonawildcats.com
No. 3 UCLA (8-0-1, 0-0-1) at Arizona State (8-1-1, 0-0-1)
Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021 – 3 p.m. PT
Tempe, Ariz. (Sun Devil Soccer Stadium)
MEDIA INFORMATION
TV Broadcast: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Daron Sutton
Live Stats: thesundevils.com
UCLA TRAVELS TO ARIZONA
Third-ranked UCLA (8-0-1, 0-0-1 in the Pac-12) will travel to Arizona for a pair of Pac-12 games against Arizona (3-5-0, 0-1-0) on Thursday, Sept. 30 at 8pm PT and at Arizona State (8-1-1, 0-0-1) on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 3pm PT. Both games will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network and on the Pac-12 Now app.
LAST TIME OUT
In a battle of two unbeaten squads, both UCLA and Oregon remained unbeaten, playing to a scoreless draw in front of 2,085 fans at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The Bruins outshot the Ducks by a 14-8 clip but were unable to break through with a goal thanks in large part to Leah Freeman's six saves. UCLA goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy finished with four saves while recording her seventh solo shutout of the year.
BACK LINE BALLERS
UCLA's back line of Madelyn Desiano, Kylie Kerr, Lilly Reale and Brianne Riley entered this season with a total of 18 career starts (all by Riley) and 56 games played, but the inexperience has hardly shown. The back line has contributed to eight shutouts in a row and a team goals against average of 0.11 (second-best in the nation). They have allowed single-digit shots in seven of nine games.
BRZYKCY SERVING UP BAGELS
Senior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy is off to another fantastic start to the season. The 2020 All-American has not allowed a goal in 740 minutes and has seven solo shutouts (and one shared) to improve her career solo shutout total to 18, sixth on UCLA's career shutout list. She is also seventh on the UCLA career victories list with 29. Brzykcy is one of just two athletes in NCAA Division I who holds a 0.00 goals against average, and she also leads the nation in shutouts (seven) and save percentage (1.00). Brzykcy has earned Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week honors twice in the last three weeks, and in the Bruins' 1-0 win over defending NCAA champion Santa Clara, she tied her career-high with nine saves on 18 shots. She also set up the game-winning goal in that game with a long service that found its way to Madelyn Desiano, who connected with Reilyn Turner for the goal.
SHUTOUT STREAK
UCLA has recorded eight consecutive shutouts, the program's longest streak since the 2014 team had a school record-tying 10 in a row from Oct. 13-Nov. 23. Goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy has a shutout streak of 797 minutes dating back to last season and is 172 shutout minutes away from tying Katelyn Rowland's school record of 969 consecutive shutout minutes set in 2014.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Bruins boast perhaps the most formidable 1-2 punch in the country in forwards Mia Fishel and Reilyn Turner. Each has scored seven goals this season, with Fishel scoring four in the last four games and Turner scoring six in the last six, including a hat trick in the Bruins' 3-0 win at LMU on Sept. 5. The dynamic duo have scored all but one of UCLA's last 13 goals and 78% (14 of 18) of the Bruins' total goals this year.
ASSIST QUEEN
Redshirt junior defender Madelyn Desiano has recorded an assist in all but two games she has played in this season and ranks first in the conference in assists (7) and assists per game (0.88). The two-time Pac-12 Defender of the Week has started in six games this season, her first career starts after playing in 11 games last season and sitting out all of 2018 and 2019 while recovering from season-ending knee surgeries.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Arizona holds a 3-5-0 overall and 0-1-0 conference record. Goalkeeper Hope Hisey leads the Pac-12 in saves with 51, and Jill Aguilar leads the team in scoring with four goals and nine points. The Bruins have one common opponent with Arizona, with both teams winning over CSUN.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
Arizona State enters the week with an 8-1-1 overall and 0-0-1 Pac-12 record and will host USC on Thursday. Forward Nicole Douglas leads the Pac-12 in scoring with 11 goals and 26 points and is tied for the Pac-12 lead with four game-winning goals. Douglas scored two goals in the Sun Devils' 2-2 draw with Washington in their last game to record her eighth multi-goal game in her career. Olivia Nguyen has added five goals. Arizona State averages 2.70 goals scored per game.
NATIONAL TEAM CALL-UPS
Bruin seniors Maricarmen Reyes and Idalia Serrano have returned from short stints with their respective national teams. Reyes scored the game-winning goal in Mexico's 2-0 victory over Colombia on Sept. 21, her first international goal. Serrano was training with El Salvador's national team and started in a 6-0 training game against Santa Tecla FC on Sept. 20.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA remained at third in both the United Soccer Coaches poll and the Top Drawer Soccer national rankings. The Bruins have been ranked in the Top 5 of the coaches poll in 14 consecutive weeks.
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 198 games. Canales has started all nine of UCLA's games this season, and Athens has started in eight games.
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 in 2020, 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?
UCLA's No. 6-ranked recruiting class has been strong contributors to the team this season, with defenders Lilly Reale and Jayden Perry and midfielder Quincy McMahon starting in multiple games. Reale has started in eight of nine games, McMahon has five starts, and Perry has two. Also seeing action this year have been Clara Härdling (four games played), My Haugland Sørsdahl (three games played) and Lexi Wright (three games played). Wright made her season debut at San Diego on Sept. 16 and set up the game-winning goals against the Toreros in her collegiate debut. Emma Egiizi played in the season opener and scored a goal in the exhibition against Pepperdine but is sidelined with a knee injury.
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 and have certainly lived up to the billing, with Bryzkcy leading the nation in goals against average (0.00), shutouts (seven) and save percentage (1.00) and Fishel ranking second in the nation in game-winning goals (four) and second in the Pac-12 in goals (seven) and fourth in points (14). Fishel was a second-team All-American in 2020 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.