No. 11/5 UCLA (1-0) vs. UC Riverside (0-1)
Date/Time: Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024 – 2 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
Broadcast: B1G+
Talent: Nick Koop, Sophie Wimmer
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
Price: $9-17; UCLA students free with BruinCard
Seating: General Admission
Parking: purchase in advance on Park Mobile app
HOME OPENER SUNDAY
Three days after opening the season with a 3-0 win at Long Beach State, No. 11/5 UCLA (1-0) will play its first-ever home game as a member of the Big Ten Conference, hosting UC Riverside (0-1) on Sunday, Aug. 18 at 2 p.m. at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.
UCLA ON B1G+
Sunday's match will mark UCLA's debut on B1G+, the Big Ten Network's subscription streaming platform, which offers access to nearly 2,500 events annually. The Bruins will be streamed on B1G+ at least 10 times this season, with three games scheduled to be televised on Big Ten Network. B1G+ subscriptions can be purchased directly at www.bigtenplus.com. Fans can subscribe to B1G+ with an annual pass ($89.99 per year) or a monthly pass ($12.99). B1G+ subscriptions can also be purchased via in-app purchase in B1G+ apps.
UCLA IN HOME OPENERS
The Bruins are 28-2-1 all-time in home openers, winning the last seven in a row. UCLA won its 25th season opener in 32 seasons on Thursday at Long Beach State.
BABY'S FIRST MATCH
Sunday's home opener against UC Riverside will mark the first home match for UCLA Head Coach Margueritte Aozasa's baby daughter Akari. To celebrate, UCLA is offering free admission to those who donate items or show proof of a direct donation worth $10 or more to the Downtown Women's Center. Free admission can be redeemed at the box office. For information on donatable items, visit downtownwomenscenter.org.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA opened the 2024 season with a 3-0 victory at Long Beach State on Thursday. The Bruins scored all three goals in the first half, with Emma Egizii scoring the first and last goals and Bridgette Marin-Valencia recording the second and assisting on the first. Freshman Bella Winn recorded an assist on Marin-Valencia's goal. Graduate transfer Ryan Campbell earned her first shutout as a Bruin and the 20th of her career.
EGIZII RECORDS FIRST BRACE
Senior midfielder Emma Egizii scored two first-half goals in the season opener, recording her first collegiate multi-goal game and the first multi-goal game by a Bruin in a season opener since Julia Hernandez scored a pair in 2017.
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
UC Riverside recorded a 2-10-7 record last season and opened the 2024 season with a 3-0 loss to Idaho. The Highlanders generated six shots, four on goal, including two by Mimi Dominguez. Goalkeeper Allee Grashoff made seven saves in goal. The Highlanders are led by interim head coach Geraldo Hidalgo and return their top three scorers from a year ago in Daphane Mendez (2g, 6a, 10pts), Spenser Gonzales (3g, 3a, 9pts) and Braelynn Llamoca (3g, 3a, 9pts). This will be the first-ever meeting between UCLA and UC Riverside.
PRESEASON RANKINGS
UCLA enters the season ranked No. 11 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll and No. 5 in Top Drawer Soccer's preseason rankings. The Bruins were picked to finish first in the conference in the Big Ten's preseason poll. UCLA will face three teams in 2024 who are ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 in No. 3 BYU (Aug. 28 at home), No. 4 Penn State (Oct. 17 at home), No. 19 Wisconsin (Sept. 26 at home), No. 22 Santa Clara (Aug. 25 at home), and No. 23 USC (Oct. 27 on the road at the LA Coliseum).
BRUINS EARN NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Five UCLA women's soccer players have earned national preseason recognition ahead of the 2024 season. Senior defender Lilly Reale and graduate goalkeeper Ryan Campbell were selected to MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI first team and the NCAA Division I Women's Players to Watch List. They were joined on the NCAA Players to Watch list by senior defender Quincy McMahon and graduate midfielder Meg Boade. Defender Nicki Fraser was selected to the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Freshman Team. On the conference front, Reale, Boade and Emma Egizii were selected to the Big Ten Players to Watch List.
WELCOME BACK
UCLA returns seven starters from last season's conference championship team and seven all-conference players in Defensive Player of the Year Lilly Reale, Quincy McMahon, Sofia Cook, Ayo Oke, Jayden Perry, Sunshine Fontes and Lexi Wright. Additionally, Val Vargas earned all-freshman honors a year ago.
The Bruins' senior class has been prolific. Reale, McMahon, Perry, Wright and Emma Egizii entered together in 2021 and won a conference title in 2021, a NCAA title in 2022 and another conference title in 2023. They have combined for seven all-conference honors and have scored 98 points (31 goals and 36 assists) collectively while posting an overall record of 55-5-5. Reale is a two-time All-American and was the Honda Award winner in 2022, as well as the Most Outstanding Defensive Player at the 2022 College Cup.
Although not in that senior class, Fontes has also accomplished much in her time at UCLA. After redshirting the 2019 season with a torn ACL, she competed in the 2020 season and helped UCLA win the Pac-12 title, the first of three Fontes has been a part of (2020, 2021, 2023). She was the leading scorer for the 2022 NCAA champion Bruins with 11 goals and 30 points and enters the 2024 campaign with 21 career goals, 14 assists and 56 points.
IMPACT TRANSFERS
UCLA welcomes four experienced transfers to the squad in 2024, including a pair of graduate transfers in goalkeeper Ryan Campbell (Stanford) and midfielder Meg Boade (Northwestern) who were named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Players to Watch List. Campbell was the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year and a first-team All-Region selection after recording 11 solo and two combined shutouts in 2023. She also led the conference with a 0.601 goals against average. Boade broke Northwestern's single-season assists record a year ago with 14 assists and ranked second in the nation in assists per game with a 0.78 average. She is a two-time All-North Region and All-Big Ten honoree. UCLA also brought in a pair of former conference foes in senior midfielder Alice Barbieri (Oregon) and junior forward Lily Boyden (Washington State). Barbieri has played in 55 games with 36 starts over her career and has totaled nine points. Boyden was a Pac-12 All-Freshman selection in 2022 after playing in 18 of 19 games for the Cougars. She finished the season with two goals and three assists. Boyden did not play in 2023 after suffering an injury in the spring.
All four transfers saw significant minutes in Thursday's season opener. Campbell made two saves and recorded the shutout. Boade also started and record two shots, including one on goal. Boyden came off the bench to play 44 minutes and record one shot on goal, and Barbieri played 35 minutes with one shot.
NO. 2 RECRUITING CLASS
The Bruins boast Top Drawer Soccer's No. 2 recruiting class in the nation, led by six rookies ranked in the Top 50 in No. 12 Nicki Fraser, No. 15 Kamryn Winger, No. 19 Bella Winn, No. 39 Avery Robinson, No. 46 Kara Croone and No. 50 Paloma Daubert. Samantha Sanchez is also ranked at No. 64. Also joining the team are freshmen goalkeepers Layla Armas and Mariangela Medina and forward Jordan Geis.
Five of the freshmen made their collegiate debuts on Thursday. Fraser, Will and Geis earned starts, and Daubert and Sanchez logged double-digit minutes off the bench.
VIVA MEXICO
Three Bruins - junior forward America Frias, sophom*ore midfielder Val Vargas and freshman goalkeeper Mariangela Medina - will miss the opening of the season while competing for Mexico at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia. Team Mexico will play two prep matches against Ghana and Nigeria on Aug. 22 and 26, respectively, before opening the tournament on Aug. 31 against Cameroon. Mexico will then play Australia on Sept. 3 and Colombia on Sept. 6 to round out group play. The Round of 16 begins on Sept. 11, with the quarterfinals taking place Sept. 15, the semifinals Sept. 18 and final on Sept. 22.
SISTER ACT
Sophom*ore forward Sophie Reale made her collegiate debut on Thursday in the season opener after redshirting the 2023 campaign, playing 36 minutes and recording two shots, including one on goal. The game marked the first time Reale and her older sister Lilly have played together in their collegiate careers and the first time that two Bruin sisters have played in the same game since Anika and Karina Rodriguez played together in 2019.
ACADEMIC HONORS
For the 13th consecutive year, the UCLA women's soccer team has won a United Soccer Coaches College Team Academic Award, recognizing exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2023-24 academic year. The Bruins posted a team GPA of 3.25, their fifth consecutive year over 3.25. A total of 17 players were named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll in 2023. The Bruins had a record 18 honorees in 2022.
FOLLOW THE BRUINS
Follow UCLA Women's Soccer at @UCLAWSoccer on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok and /UCLAWSoccer on Facebook. The Bruins lead all collegiate soccer teams, men or women, in Instagram followers with 114k.
