UCLA
Virginia
No. 1 UCLA Heads to Virginia for Top-10 Matchup
September 06, 2017 | Women's Soccer
No. 1 UCLA (6-0-0) at No. 8 Virginia (4-1-0)
Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 โ 7:00 p.m. (ET) / 4:00 p.m. (PT)
Charlottesville, Va. (Klöckner Stadium)
Broadcast: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: virginiasports.com
NO. 1 BRUINS vs. NO. 8 CAVALIERS
Top-ranked UCLA (6-0-0) concludes its road trip with a Top 10 matchup against eighth-ranked Virginia (4-1-0) on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. The match will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra via Watch ESPN.
BRUINS ATOP NATIONAL RANKINGS
UCLA is the consensus No. 1 team in the nation after starting its season 6-0. The Bruins are in their second week as the top-ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches national rankings and their first on top of the Soccer America and Top Drawer Soccer rankings. This is the first time UCLA has been ranked No. 1 since spending the entire regular season in 2014 ranked first.
HOME SWEET HOME FOR CROMWELL
Annandale, Va. native Amanda Cromwell returns to her home state to guide top-ranked UCLA against her alma mater Virginia. Cromwell, who is in her fifth year as head coach of the Bruins, will face Virginia for the fourth time since arriving at UCLA. Her first-ever coaching matchup against Virginia came at the 2013 NCAA semifi nals. The Bruins downed the Cavaliers on penalty kicks and went on to the win the program's first-ever NCAA Championship. Virginia won the next two matchups in Los Angeles in 2014 and 2015. Cromwell, who was a 2010 inductee into the Virginia-DC Soccer Hall of Fame, was a two-time All-American, 1991 Hermann Trophy fi nalist and four-time All-ACC selection. During her senior season in 1991, she captained Virginia to its fi rst-ever trip to the NCAA Final Four.
MACE SCORING AT TORRID PACE
Junior forward Hailie Mace continued her torrid scoring pace last weekend, scoring the game-winning goal in the Bruins' 1-0 win at BYU. Mace leads UCLA in scoring with 12 points in six games. She recorded a first half hat trick, the 26th hat trick in UCLA women's soccer history, in the 4-2 win over Santa Clara on Aug. 24. Mace ranks ninth in the nation in points (12), 12th in goals (5), 13th in game-winning goals (2) and 25th in goals per game (0.83).
FLEMING THIRD IN THE NATION IN ASSISTS
When she's not scoring goals, she's setting up goals. Sophomore midfielder Jessie Fleming ranks third in the nation in assists with five. Three of her five assists were on game-winning goals, including both last weekend at BYU and Weber State. She also scored the game-winning goal in the Bruins' season-opening win against San Diego State. The Canadian National Team star was the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week on opening weekend after recording two goals and three assists in the first two games.
SCORING MACHINE
Junior forward Julia Hernandez is off to a hot start this season with five goals. She has scored in four of the Bruins' six contests and ranks 12th nationally (tied with Hailie Mace) in goals scored. More impressively is Hernandez's goals per minutes played. She has scored five in just 200 minutes, which averages to a goal every 40 minutes that she is on the pitch.
MICAH HITS CENTURY MARK
Sophomore goalkeeper Teagan Micah has surpassed the century mark for career saves and now has 106 in her career after posting a season-best six saves in the Bruins' shutout win at BYU. Micah has recorded a shutout in her last two games and has 11 in her brief Bruin career, ranking ninth all-time at UCLA.
SETTING CAREER HIGHS
A number of Bruins have already set career-highs this season through the first six matches. Junior Hailie Mace did not score a goal coming into this season and already has five and has tied her career-high with two assists. Sophomore Julia Hernandez netted just one goal in her first season in Westwood in 2016 but now is tied for the team lead with five. Also, senior Gabrielle Matulich has set a career-best in points with five, surpassing her three points from last season.
FRESH FACES
UCLA's freshman class has already made a big impact, with seven freshmen earning starting positions in at least one game so far this season. Karina Rodriguez and Delanie Sheehan have started in five games. Ashley Sanchez has four starts, Viviana Villacorta three, Olivia Athens two, and Marley Canales and Kennedy Faulknor one each. Sheehan ranks third on the team in goals scored with three and is fourth in points with seven. She also ranks 13th in the nation with two game-winning goals. Sanchez and Athens are tied for second on the team in assists with three each. Villacorta has two assists on the year. Rodriguez is tied for the team lead among field players with 458 minutes played. Additionally, Marley Canales has played in all six games, and Faulknor made her UCLA debut in a starting role at Weber State.
SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
Virginia fell in the national rankings this week from No. 3 to No. 8 after suffering its first loss of the season to Wisconsin at home, 1-0, and are 4-1 overall to begin the year. The Cavaliers are ranked fourth in the nation in corner kicks, 23rd in goals-against average and 34th in shutout percentage with three shutouts this season. UVA is led by Taryn Torres who leads the team with two goals and Taylor Ziemer who is tied for a team-high four points. Laura Ivory's three shutouts this season ranks her 20th in the NCAA. UCLA leads the overall series with UVA, 4-3-2 but have not defeated the Cavaliers since 2009.
LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP
UCLA made a two-match road trip through the state of Utah last week and earned a pair of shutout victories at BYU, 1-0, and Weber State, 2-0. The shutouts were the first for Teagan Micah this season and she now holds a 0.83 goals-against average. Hailie Mace scored the match's lone goal against BYU in the 16th minute after finishing to the top left corner off a pass from Jessie Fleming, while Micah recorded a season-high six saves. Against Weber State, the Bruins used two second-half goals to earn the win as Gabrielle Matulich netted her first goal of the season in the 49th minute while Julia Hernandez scored in the final minute for the two-goal advantage and her fifth of the season. UCLA outshot Weber State 15-2 for its sixth win of the year.
MAC HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST
Sophomore midfielder Jessie Fleming has been selected to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for 2017. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female players of the year. Fleming, a member of the full Canadian Women's National Team since 2013, was one of just two freshmen to receive All-America honors last season, being selected to the NSCAA All-America third team after leading UCLA in goals (11) and points (27). In her first game as a Bruin, less than 10 days after winning a bronze medal at the Olympic Games with Team Canada, she scored two goals, and she went on to score a goal in each of her first four games. Fleming was selected the Top Drawer Soccer Freshman of the Year.
NATIONAL TEAMS
UCLA has a plethora of national team players on its 2017 squad, including four who have earned call-ups to the full national team - Fleming (Canada), Teagan Micah (Australia) and freshmen Ashley Sanchez (U.S.) and Kennedy Faulknor (Canada). Three played with the U.S. Under-23 National Team in July - Sanchez, Zoey Goralski and Hailie Mace. Karina Rodriguez and Viviana Villacorta have played with the Under-20s this year, and Kaiya McCullough and Delanie Sheehan have played with the Under-19s in 2017. Eleven more Bruins have played with various U.S. Youth National Teams in their career - Olivia Athens (U-18), Lauren Brzykcy (U-17), Marley Canales (2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup), Chloe Castaneda (U-17), MacKenzie Cerda (U-18), Sunny Dunphy (U-19), Chloe Hemingway (U-18), Gabrielle Matulich (U-20), Jacey Pederson (U-19), Anika Rodriguez (U-17), and Claire Winter (U-15). In addition, Siri Ervik played with the Norwegian U-19 National Team, and Julia Hernandez played with the Spanish U-17 National Team.
