UCLA Hosts UC Irvine in NCAA First Round Friday
No. 2 seed UCLA (16-0-3) vs. UC Irvine (15-5-0)
Friday, Nov. 12, 2021 – 6 p.m. PT
Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
MEDIA INFORMATION
Live Stream: Pac-12 Insider; pac-12.com/live/ucla-2
Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets (Adults $12, Youth $10, UCLA Students $8)
Parking: purchase in advance on Park Mobile app
UCLA BEGINS POSTSEASON PLAY FRIDAY VS. UC IRVINE
No. 2 seed UCLA (16-0-3) will begin postseason play on Friday, Nov. 12 at 6pm PT against Big West champion UC Irvine (15-5-0) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The match will be live streamed on pac-12.com/live/ucla-2. Tickets are on sale now at uclabruins.com/tickets. The winner of the UCLA-UC Irvine match will advance to the second round to face the winner of Wisconsin (8-5-6) vs. Butler (15-4-1). In the other half of the quadrant are defending NCAA champion Santa Clara (11-5-2), Stanford (13-5-1), Central Connecticut State (13-5-0) and No. 3 seed Georgetown (13-1-6).
UCLA'S NCAA HISTORY
The Bruins, who are making their 25th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, have a 69-19-6 all-time NCAA Tournament record. UCLA has advanced to the Round of 16 or beyond in eight of the last nine seasons, including a semifinal appearance in 2019, a finals berth in 2017, and a championship victory in 2013.
UCLA AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD
UCLA posted a 4-0-1 record against members of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field this season. The Bruins have wins over No. 3 seed USC (3-1), Santa Clara (1-0), Stanford (1-0) and UC Irvine (3-1) and a tie against Washington State (1-1).
NCAA EXPERIENCED
The Bruins have 19 players who have seen NCAA action, including six who have played in at least seven tournament games - Olivia Athens (11 GP, 10 GS), Maricarmen Reyes (10 GP), Marley Canales (7 GP, 6 GS), Mia Fishel (7 GP, 7 GS), Kennedy Faulknor (7 GP, 1 GS), and Kali Trevithick (7 GP).
PAC-12 CHAMPS
UCLA won its second consecutive Pac-12 Women's Soccer Championship on Nov. 5 after beating USC 3-1 in the regular season finale. The Bruins needed a win to overtake the first-place Trojans and jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 23 minutes on goals by Reilyn Turner in the 18th minute and Olivia Athens in the 22nd minute. USC cut the lead in half on a penalty kick in the 78th minute, but Marley Canales' goal directly on the corner kick in the 83rd minute squashed the Trojans' comeback hopes. The Bruins finished 8-0-3 in conference play to win their 13th Pac-12 Conference title and first back-to-back championship seasons since 2013 and 2014. It is the fourth Pac-12 championship for head coach Amanda Cromwell, who previously won in 2013, 2014 and 2020.
UNBEATEN STREAK IMPROVES TO 26
The Bruins head into the postseason unbeaten with a 16-0-3 record. UCLA's unbeaten streak now stands at 26 matches, with the Bruins' last loss coming at the hands of Arizona State on Mar. 26, 2021. The school record is 44 consecutive games without a loss, from Sept. 8, 2013 to Nov. 23, 2014. UCLA is the lone unbeaten team in NCAA Division I.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA remained at third in the United Soccer Coaches poll and moved up one spot to second in the Top Drawer Soccer national rankings. The Bruins have been ranked in the Top 10 of the coaches poll in 21 consecutive weeks.
CROMWELL SEEKING 150TH WIN AT UCLA
With a win on Friday, UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell will earn her 150th win in nine seasons at UCLA. She currently holds a 149-29-20 (.841) mark with the Bruins and an overall record of 372-127-47 (.724) in 25 years of coaching collegiately at UMBC, Central Florida and UCLA. In her nine years in Westwood, Cromwell has had seven seasons with 15 wins or more, including two 20-win seasons. Her Bruin teams have recorded just three or fewer losses in six out of nine seasons.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Bruins boast one of the most formidable 1-2 punches in the country in forwards Mia Fishel (12 goals) and Reilyn Turner (10 goals). They have totaled 22 goals this season, with Fishel scoring nine in her last 13 games and Turner scoring nine in her last 16, including a hat trick in the Bruins' 3-0 win at LMU on Sept. 5. The dynamic duo have scored 55% (22 of 40) of UCLA's total goals this year. Over the last two seasons, Fishel and Turner have combined for 39 goals.
BRZYKCY BUSINESS
Senior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy is having another fantastic season. The 2020 All-American has allowed just 10 goals in 1,715 minutes and has nine solo shutouts (and one shared) to improve her career solo shutout total to 20, sixth on UCLA's career shutout list. She is also sixth on the UCLA career victories list with 36. Brzykcy ranks first in the Pac-12 in shutouts (11th nationally), goals against average (0.52, ninth nationally) and save percentage (0.870, seventh nationally). Brzykcy has earned Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week honors three times this season, 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.
BACK LINE BALLERS
UCLA's back line of Madelyn Desiano/Quincy McMahon, 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 10 shutouts in 19 games and a team goals against average of 0.548 (10th-best in the nation, first in the conference). They have allowed single-digit shots in 11 games and four or less in six games and have also contributed offensively. Desiano ranks third in the Pac-12 in assists with nine, McMahon is fourth in the conference with seven assists and also has one goal, Kerr has one assist, Reale has one goal and one assist, and Riley has recorded one goal with three assists.
ASSIST QUEENS
Redshirt junior defender Madelyn Desiano has been among the Pac-12 assist leaders all season, currently ranking third with nine assists and fourth with a 0.53 assists per game average. The two-time Pac-12 Defender of the Week had a two-assist game in the season opener and recorded an assist in each of the first six games of the year. Desiano has started in 12 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. Freshman Quincy McMahon ranks just below Desiano at fourth in the Pac-12 with seven assists, including five in league play. McMahon has played in every game and has made 11 starts.
NATIONAL TEAM CALL-UPS
Bruin senior Maricarmen Reyes has enjoyed two separate stints with the Mexican National team this season, and each time she has come back to Los Angeles from Mexico, she has scored a goal for the Bruins. On Oct. 22, she started in Mexico's 6-1 victory over Argentina, and six days later, she returned to score a late game-winning goal in UCLA's 1-0 win over Stanford. On Sept. 21, she scored her first international goal, the game-winner for Mexico against Colombia. In her second game back with the Bruins upon her return, she scored the game-winner for the Bruins at Arizona. Senior goalkeeper Idalia Serrano, who originally joined the Bruin squad after a tryout in 2018, also enjoyed a September call-up with El Salvador's national team and started in a 6-0 training game victory over Santa Tecla FC on Sept. 20.
SUPER SENIORS
A quartet of fifth-year players - graduate students Olivia Athens and Marley Canales and fifth-year seniors Lauren Brzykcy and Kennedy Faulknor - have brought veteran leadership and exemplary play to the Bruins in 2021. Athens is enrolled in UCLA's Master of Legal Studies program, and Canales is enrolled in UCLA's Graduate School of Education, pursuing a master's degree in transformative coaching and leadership. Brzykcy and Faulknor are wrapping up their sociology degrees. The fifth-years have played a combined 279 games for UCLA and have all started the last six games. Canales and Brzykcy have started all 19 of UCLA's games this season, and Athens has started in 18. Each of the three field players have scored a goal this year, with Athens leading the way with four goals, and Faulknor and Canales each scoring three.
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 18 of 19 games, McMahon has 11 starts and ranks second on the team and fourth in the Pac-12 with seven assists. Perry and Wright each have two starts. Also seeing action this year have been Clara Härdling (four games played) and My Haugland Sørsdahl (three games played). Wright made her season debut at San Diego on Sept. 16 and assisted on the game-winning goal against Stanford. Additionally, Emma Egiizi played in the season opener and scored a goal in the exhibition against Pepperdine but is sidelined with a knee injury. Reale and McMahon are ranked in the Top 20 of Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason Top 100 Freshman list, with Reale sitting at No. 3 and McMahon No. 20.
LEADERS OF THE PAC
Goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy is tied for the Pac-12 lead with nine shutouts and leads the conference with a 0.52 goals against average and 0.870 save percentage. Forward Mia Fishel is the Pac-12 leader with six game-winning goals. As a team, the Bruins are No. 1 in the conference and No. 10 nationally in goals against average (0.548), save percentage (0.866) and W-L-T percentage (0.921).
QUICK-STRIKE BRUINS
UCLA has scored in the first 10 minutes of the game six times this season and has scored 10 goals during the first 15 minutes of play. The Bruins have scored 27 of their 40 goals in the first half and have scored the game's first goal in every game. Bruin opponents have scored in the first half in just two games for a total of four goals.
BRUINS RECORD SHUTOUT STREAK OF NEARLY 800 MINUTES
UCLA held an eight-game shutout streak from Aug. 22-Sept. 24. The streak was snapped after 793 minutes on Sept. 30 at Arizona in the 52nd minute.The streak was UCLA's longest since the 2014 team had a school record-tying 10 in a row from Oct. 13-Nov. 23. Goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy had her shutout streak snapped at 849 minutes, just 120 minutes shy of Katelyn Rowland's school record of 969 consecutive shutout minutes set in 2014.
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 ranking in the Top 20 nationally in goals against average (0.525, ninth) and save percentage (0.870, seventh). Fishel ranks seventh nationally in game-winning goals (six) and third in the Pac-12 in goals (12) and points (29). Fishel was a second-team All-American in 2020 after tying for the team lead with six assists and ranking second on the squad in goals (six) and points (18). She also led the Pac-12 with four game-winning goals. She has moved into UCLA's Top 10 in career goals with 32, ranking ninth all-time. Brzykcy, a third-team All-American, totaled seven shutouts and a 0.73 goals against average while playing every minute of every game last season. She was named the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year and earned first-team Scholar All-America honors. Brzykcy ranks sixth all-time at UCLA in career saves (161), shutouts (20) and wins (37).
SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine earned the Big West's automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament after defeating Cal Poly, 1-0, on a game-winner by senior Alex Jaquez in the tournament final. This will be the Anteaters' third NCAA Tournament and first since 2011. UC Irvine, who is on a six-game winning streak, is led offensively by junior midfielder Scarlett Camberos, the Big West Offensive Player of the Year who has scored 13 goals with seven assists and 33 points. Holding down the defense for the Anteaters are Big West Goalkeeper of the year Glo Hinojosa, who has recorded nine shutouts and a 0.70 goals against average, and Big West co-Defensive Player of the Year Maddy Chavez.