Bruins Prepare for Battle Test Over the Weekend
UCLA Women’s Soccer prepares for a weekend versus fellow Pac-12 powerhouses with a matchup versus Cal Berkeley opening up the weekend on Thursday night. The Bruins have broken back into the Top 10 rankings after remaining at No. 11 for the three prior weeks.
College Soccer News: No. 10 UCLA women’s soccer gears up for a busy weekend as the Bruins prepare to host No. 14 University of California Berkeley on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT and No. 1 Stanford on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT. UCLA sits atop the Pac-12 standings with four other squads that are 3-0-0 in conference play.
The Bruins have won six straight matches since losing to North Carolina on September 9th, outscoring its opponents 14-4 during that streak. UCLA’s only two losses this campaign have come against teams ranked in the Top 10 – No. 6 University of Florida and No. 8 University of North Carolina.
The Bruins return to the Top 10 in the NSCAA poll after spending three-straight weeks at No. 11. UCLA are ranked No. 7 in the Soccer America and Top Drawer Soccer poll.
Midfielder Jessie Fleming leads the Pac-12 in points per game (1.88) and goals per game (0.88) and is currently tied for third in goals (7), along with forward Darian Jenkins. Anika Rodriguez is tied for the conference lead in assists (6) and assists per game (0.55). Bruin goalkeeper Teagan Micah is tied for second in shutouts (6) and shutouts per game (0.55).
In nine of 11 games this season, either Jenkins or Fleming (or both) have tallied at least one goal for the Bruins. The duo has recorded 14 goals between them, although a total of nine Bruin players have also added to the scoresheet.
Cal Berkeley are on a five-game winning streak en route to a 10-2-0 overall record. The Bears have gone 8-0-0 at home and 2-2-0 on the road. Arielle Ship, last season’s Pac-12 Player of the Year, leads the conference in points with 19 (7 goals, 5 assists). Ifeoma Onumonu has recorded six goals this campaign, while goalkeeper Emily Boyd holds a 0.41 goals against average and has tallied a conference-high eight shutouts.
Stanford will be coming off a matchup versus USC when they travel to Drake Stadium on Sunday, Three players are tied for the team lead in scoring with 12 points each – Jordan DiBiasi (6 goals, 0 assists), Megan Turner (5 goals, 2 assists) and Andi Sullivan (4 goals, 4 assists). Kyra Carusa is tied for the Pac-12 lead with six assists on the season.
Showing great resiliency throughout the match, No. 11 UCLA are coming off a 3-2 victory at Oregon on Sunday. Claire Winter scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute on a header off a MacKenzie Cerda corner kick.
Photo Credit: UCLA Athletics
