SAN JOSE, Calif. – San José State women's soccer will take on No. 2 seed UCLA in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament tonight at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcasted live online by Pac12 Plus.
Match #22
San José State (9-6-6, 6-2-3) at UCLA (14-3-1, 9-2-0)
Friday, November 9, 6 p.m. PT
Wallis Annenberg Stadium
Los Angeles, Calif.
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Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
SJSU claimed their second Mountain West Championship Tournament Title of the last four seasons as they took down New Mexico 1-0 in the championship match. Four Spartans earned All-Tournament Team honors and Paige Simoneau took home the MVP trophy for the second time of her career.
MEET THE OPPONENT – UCLA
UCLA is ranked No. 4 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll and enters Friday night with a 14-3-1 record. The Bruins finished second in the Pac12 behind No. 1 overall seed Stanford and is riding a nine-game win streak. They are tied for 20th nationally with 44 total goals for an average of 2.44 per game. The Bruins are led by Amanda Cromwell in her sixth season at the helm.
SERIES HISTORY – UCLA
The teams have met just once before all the way back in September 1997 in a 4-1 Bruins victory in Los Angeles.
SHUTTING DOWN THE COMPETITION
The Spartans led the Mountain West and are tied for fourth in the nation with 11 shutouts this season. Eight of those shutouts came in Mountain West play, which is the conference record for shutouts in conference games.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Spartans entered the Mountain West Championship Tournament,
hosted on their own field, as the No. 4 seed behind Boise State, Wyoming and New Mexico. SJSU took down rival Fresno State in the first round, 2-1 and faced top-seeded Boise State in the semifinal round. The Spartans and Broncos played a tie to penalty kicks where Paige Simoneau blocked back-to-back kicks to give the Spartans a 4-3 win. In the championship match, SJSU faced New Mexico and scored in the 22nd minute for the game's lone goal.
ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST TEAM
SJSU Landed five players on the Mountain West All-Conference Team including three on the first team. Goalkeeper Paige Simoneau, forward Darriell Franklin and defender Kristen Amarikwa represented the first team while defender Jada Wilson was tabbed the second team. Wilson was also named to the all-newcomer team along with fellow freshman defender Hannah Mathews.
AMONG THE BEST DEFENSES IN THE NATION
In addition to their shutouts, the Spartans Defense has been outstanding in 2018 at limiting opponents in all facets of the game. SJSU has given up just 14 goals in 21 games for a goals against average of .620, which leads the Mountain West and ranks 25th in the nation.