The UCLA women’s soccer team (17-2) earned a No. 1 national seed in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament and will host Big Sky Conference Champion Northern Arizona (10-5-4) in the NCAA first round on Friday, Nov. 11 at 6pm at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. By virtue of their No. 1 seed, the Bruins would be in line to host through the quarterfinals.
The winner of the UCLA-NAU match will advance to the second round to face the winner of No. 8 seed NC State (7-7-5) vs. UCF (9-2-5). In the other half of the quadrant are No. 4 seed Northwestern (14-4-2), No. 5 seed Clemson (8-4-5), SIUE (8-5-4) and Vanderbilt (11-4-4).
This is UCLA’s 26th overall and seventh consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have a 69-20-6 all-time NCAA record and have advanced to the Round of 16 or beyond in eight of the last 10 seasons, winning the 2013 NCAA title and making three College Cup appearances (2013, 2017 and 2019).
Under the direction of first-year head coach Margueritte Aozasa, UCLA enters the postseason with 17 victories, third-most in the NCAA. Defensively, the Bruins are led by Hermann Trophy candidates Lauren Brzykcy and Lilly Reale. Brzykcy leads the Pac-12 in goals against average (0.53), save percentage (.845) and wins (17). Reale and the Bruin defense has helped the team record a conference-best 12 shutouts and a 0.45 goals against average this season. Sunshine Fontes and Reilyn Turner lead the Bruin offense with nine goals each. Fontes leads the team in points (25) and assists (seven).
Northern Arizona won both the regular season and Big Sky Tournament championships this season, going 7-1 in conference play and winning the conference tournament following a pair of penalty kick shootout wins over Weber State in the semifinals and Idaho in the final. The Lumberjacks are currently on a 10-game win streak, the fourth-best current streak in the nation, with their last loss occurring on Sept. 29 against Weber State. This will be Northern Arizona’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2014.
Tickets for Friday’s first round match will go on sale on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 10am PT at uclabruins.com/tickets. Advance sale prices are $12 for…
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