No. 16 Women’s Soccer Visits the City of Angels for Nationally Televised Clash at No. 10 UCLA
PSU set for the program’s first B1G Pacific Coast road trip against third top 10 opponent of 2024
#16 Penn State at #10 UCLA
11-3-2 | 5-2-1 B1G
12-2-2 | 7-0-1 B1G
LOS ANGELES – No. 16 Penn State women's soccer prepares for its first Big Ten Conference transcontinental matchup on Thursday night, October 17, as the Nittany Lions square off against the No. 10 UCLA Bruins in PSU's fourth nationally televised match of the 2024 campaign on the Big Ten Network. Thursday night's clash will kick off at 10:30 p.m. (ET) from Wallis Annenberg Stadium in the City of Angels.
Follow the Action
For fans of the Nittany Lions unable to attend Thursday’s Big Ten Conference transcontinental road challenge against the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, the match will air to a national television audience in Penn State’s fourth Big Ten Network contest of the 2024 regular season, with streaming available via the FOX Sports App. Christian Miles and Tracey Bailey will call the action live from the Wallis Annenberg Stadium press box. Click the link here to be redirected to the live stream of the broadcast and sign in with credentials for access. Live stats provided by the University of California at Los Angeles and StatBroadcast are available here.
KICKIN’ IT
Aided by a perfect service from senior midfielder Jordan Fusco, redshirt senior midfielder Olivia Damico found the back of the net for her first goal of the 2024 campaign in one of the highest-pressure moments of the season, with her score propelling then-No. 20 Penn State to a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers Sunday afternoon, October 13, on Jeffrey Field. Penn State battled in the second half to retake their early lead but finished the match with an 11-13 deficit against Minnesota on the final shot chart. PSU led the shot battle by an 8-5 margin through the first 45 minutes of play. Still, the Golden Gophers generated more offensive opportunities as the second half wore on. Minnesota contributed eight shots on goal against just five for the Nittany Lions, picking up a win in the corner kick competition by a 6-5 margin.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress secured the first Big Ten Conference weekly accolade of her collegiate career, earning the league’s Goalkeeper of the Week award following the conference’s release Tuesday afternoon. Gress becomes the third Penn Stater to pick up individual Big Ten weekly honors over the course of the 2024 campaign, joining redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean and senior defender Mieke Schiemann. Penn State continues its run through the most grueling schedule in Division I women's soccer this year, with the Nittany Lions set to square off against their third top 10 opponent in the 2024 campaign and ninth matchup against a team that is either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll. PSU will face its fourth top 10 challenger and 10th ranked/receiving votes foe of the year on Sunday against USC.
MACK ATTACK
Gress booked her first career Big Ten Women's Soccer weekly accolade this week, earning recognition as the league's Goalkeeper of the Week following a pair of wins against Maryland and Minnesota last week. Gress earned her first career solo shutout in the dominant 5-0 performance against the Terrapins on the road, her first collegiate road start. In Sunday’s victory against the Golden Gophers, Gress faced a career-high 11 shots and recorded a career-high six saves while managing to guide Penn State through a shutout second half of work en route to her fourth consecutive unbeaten decision. Gress maintains a 0.78 goals-against average with just three goals allowed against 13 saves. Her first career clean sheet against Maryland is paired with a season-long 0.813 save percentage through her first four opportunities in 2024.
Next Up: #10 UCLA
BATTLING THE BRUINS
Under the direction of third-year head coach Margueritte Aozasa, the UCLA Bruins head into Thursday night's contest at home in Los Angeles boasting a 12-2-2 overall start to the 2024 campaign with a 7-0-1 ledger in Big Ten Conference competitions. The Bruins are newly ranked at No. 10 nationally after receiving votes last week. UCLA heads into its matchup against Penn State riding a four-match winning streak in addition to an eight-match unbeaten stand dating to the start of Big Ten play earlier this year. The Bruins have defeated Minnesota, Washington, Northwestern and Illinois in the last four tests, outscoring opponents by an 8-2 tally in that span. On an individual basis, the Bruins boast one of the most balanced scoring units in the nation with 12 different student-athletes finding the back of the net. Bridgette Marin-Valencia is tied for the team lead in goals with four and leads the team in overall scoring with 10 points, while goalkeeper Ryan Campbell is 12-2-2 with a 0.824 save percentage and 11 shutouts.
STORY OF THE SERIES
Penn State and UCLA prepare for the seventh meeting in an all-time series that dates to the 2002 campaign, with Thursday night's match serving as PSU's first contest against a new Big Ten Conference member institution since logging a 1-0 win over the Maryland Terrapins on October 30, 2014. The Nittany Lions and Bruins are deadlocked all-time, with each squad booking three wins apiece. Thursday night's test will be Penn State's first against UCLA, USC, Washington or Oregon this year. PSU owns a 6-7-1 combined record against UCLA, USC and Washington, with the Nittany Lions yet to play Oregon in the program's 31-year varsity history. The last fixture between PSU and UCLA came on August 25, 2018, with the then-No.2 Bruins narrowly escaping University Park with a 2-1 victory. Emily Ogle netted the only Nittany Lion score of the match, her second of the year in a nationally televised matchup.
Follow the Nittany Lions
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women’s soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women’s soccer team on X and Instagram @PennStateWSOC, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at /PSUWomensSoccer.