UCLA Women’s Soccer Welcome BYU to North Athletic Field For Exhibition Match
UCLA Women’s Soccer prepare for the 2016/17 campaign as they welcome BYU to North Athletic Field for a friendly match over the weekend. BYU heads into preseason ranked No. 16 in the NSCAA poll, while UCLA is picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 Conference coaches’ poll with the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.
College Soccer News: The UCLA Women’s Soccer Team will kick off the 2016 season with a Saturday, Aug. 13 exhibition match against BYU at the North Athletic Field. Kickoff is at 4pm, and admission is free.
Parking is available for $12 at Lot 4, off Westwood Plaza and Sunset Blvd., underneath the North Athletic Field. Lot 4 also offers short-term pay-per-space parking spots for $3 per hour.
The Bruins return a strong senior class led by team co-captains Annie Alvarado, Darian Jenkins, Gabbi Miranda and Courtney Proctor. UCLA also has the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class with Top Drawer Soccer Top 10 players Mal Pugh (No. 1), Marley Canales (No. 2) and Jessie Fleming (No. 10) and three other Top 100 players in U.S. Youth National Team members Sunny Dunphy, Jacey Pederson and Kaiya McCullough.
UCLA players have seen success in the off-season, with Fleming and Pugh playing for Canada and the United States, respectively, at the Olympic Games. Fleming has an assist in three starts, and Pugh scored a goal in two games played. Miranda, Julia Hernandez, Gabrielle Matulich, Siri Ervik and Chloe Castaneda led the Santa Clarita Blue Heat to the United Women’s Soccer (UWS) Championship in late July. Hernandez was the Championship MVP after scoring two goals in the 2-1 victory, and Castaneda earned UWS West Conference Player of the Year honors. Redshirt freshman Anika Rodriguez led SoCal Blues to the US Youth Soccer National Championship, earning Best Eleven honors.
The Bruins are led by head coach Amanda Cromwell, who has compiled a 51-12-6 record in three seasons in Westwood and a 19-year overall coaching record of 274-110-33. Cromwell has led UCLA to the 2013 NCAA title, the first ever for the Bruins, and to two Pac-12 championships (2013 and 2014).
BYU graduated just three players from last year’s team that went 16-3-2, won the West Coast Conference and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA is receiving votes in the NSCAA preseason poll and was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 Conference coaches’ poll with two first-place votes. BYU starts the season ranked No. 16 in the NSCAA poll.
The Bruins’ season opener is Friday, Aug. 19 at San Diego State at 7 pm, and their regular season home opener is Sunday, Aug. 28 against Florida at 3pm at Marshall Field at Drake Stadium.
Source/Photo Credit: UCLA Athletics
