No. 2 Seed UCLA (12-4-2, 9-2-1) vs. No. 7 Seed Wisconsin (10-4-4, 6-3-3)
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026 – 7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT
Location: St. Louis, Mo. (Energizer Park)
Broadcast: Big Ten Plus
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com

BRUINS OPEN POSTSEASON PLAY WEDNESDAY    
No. 2 seed UCLA (12-4-2, 9-2-1 in the Big Ten) is set to play No. 7 seed Wisconsin (10-4-4, 6-3-3) on Wednesday, Nov. 4 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The match will take place at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Mo. at 7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT and will be televised on Big Ten Plus. UCLA won the 2024 Big Ten Tournament at Energizer Park and has scored a total of eight goals in three games at that site, including five in the 2024 Championship game against Rutgers. 

WHAT’S AT STAKE    
A win over Wisconsin on Wednesday would advance the Bruins to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. CT/2 p.m. PT. As the No. 2 seed, a win would pit UCLA against the winner of the quarterfinal match between No. 3 seed Purdue (15-2-2, 9-2-1) and No 6 seed Penn State (9-3-5, 7-2-3). UCLA beat Purdue 2-1 at home in the conference opener on Sept. 10 and has not played Penn State this year.

SCOUTING THE BADGERS
No. 7 seed Wisconsin enters the match with a 10-4-4 regular season and 6-3-3 Big Ten record. The Badgers were 3-0-1 in their final four games of the regular season, including a 5-0 win over Oregon and a 2-1 win over a No. 11 ranked Washington team, before drawing their final match of the season against Iowa. Izy Traub leads the team in scoring with 14 points (two goals, 10 assists), while Erin Connolly leads the team in goals scored with five. Jane Rodgers and Anya Gulbrandsen each have four goals to their ledger, while goalkeeper Drew Stover has 10 wins, nine of which were shutouts.     

THE SERIES WITH WISCONSIN
UCLA leads the all-time series with Wisconsin, 6-1-1. Last year’s 1-0 Wisconsin win in Madison marked the first Badger win over the Bruins in the series history. UCLA is 5-0-1 against Wisconsin at home and 2-0 in NCAA Tournament play (2012 first round win, 2019 third round win). Wednesday’s matchup will be the first at a neutral site. As conference opponents, Wisconsin has the series edge, 1-0-1, after the 2025 win in Madison, along with a 0-0 draw in their first ever conference matchup in 2024 in LA. 

BIG TEN TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Since joining the Big Ten in 2024, UCLA is 4-1 in Big Ten Tournament play, going 3-0 in 2024 to win and 1-1 in 2025 to tie for third place. The second-seeded Bruins ran through the 2024 tournament without allowing a goal, beating Penn State 1-0 in the quarterfinals, Washington 2-0 in the semifinals and Rutgers 5-0 to win the title. The five goals scored in the Rutgers game set a new Big Ten Tournament championship game record. In 2025, the third-seeded Bruins won their quarterfinal game over Penn State by a 2-1 score but fell in overtime to Michigan State in the semifinals, 2-1.     

LAST TIME OUT 
UCLA closed the regular season with a wild 3-2 victory over crosstown rival USC. The Bruins secured the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with the win. USC scored two goals in the final nine minutes of the game to tie the game at 2-2, but UCLA scored the game-winner on a Kara Croone penalty kick in the 88th minute after a VAR review determined a USC foul in the box. Croone scored two goals in the match, her seventh and eighth of the season. After a scoreless first half, the Bruins wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard. In the 48th minute, Oruha Hayashi found Croone on a through ball, and the speedy forward got ahead of her defender and beat goalkeeper Josie Biehl for the game’s first goal. The Bruins doubled their lead in the 66th minute after forward Payten Cooper was fouled hard in the box. Defender Paloma Daubert took the penalty kick and scored her first goal of the season.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA moves into a tie for 10th in the IWSOC Coaches Poll, jumping up four spots and entering the Top 10 for the fifth time this season. The Bruins also jumped up in the Top Drawer Soccer poll, moving up two spots to No. 6. 

BY THE NUMBERS 
UCLA ranked second in the conference in goals allowed in conference play, allowing just seven and holding a 0.58 goals against average … UCLA held a 560-minute shutout streak from Sept. 13-Oct. 11, a span that included five consecutive shutouts. Prior to that streak, the Bruins’ last shutout streak of five or more games came in 2024 when they started the season with five consecutive shutout victories … UCLA has outscored opponents 20-6 in the second half of games this season … Eight of those 20 second-half goals have come in the final 10 minutes of the game, and six have come in the final five minutes.      

EIGHT CLAP FOR BIG TEN POSTSEASON HONOREES 
A total of eight Bruins received Big Ten Postseason Awards, including six who were selected to the All-Big Ten Team. Leading the way were first-team honorees Paloma Daubert and Grace Shank. Receiving second-team acclaim were Kara Croone and Oruha Hayashi. Leena Powell and Asa Yamazaki earned third-team honors. Additionally, Anna Wilson was named to the All-Freshman Team, and Lynette Bryant earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. 

CROONE, DAUBERT WIN FINAL BIG TEN WEEKLY HONORS 
Juniors Kara Croone and Paloma Daubert have been named the Big Ten Women’s Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the season’s final week. The award is a first for Croone, while Daubert picks up her fourth award of the season. The four awards for Daubert mark the first time in Big Ten history that a non-goalkeeper has won that many in a season. Croone recorded her second brace of the season in UCLA’s 3-2 win at USC. She scored the game’s first goal in the 48th minute to break a scoreless tie, and after USC had tied the game at 86:06, Croone drew a foul in the box to secure a penalty kick for the Bruins and scored on the PK with just 2:15 remaining on the clock. Daubert scored her first goal of the season, converting a penalty kick in the 66th minute to give UCLA a 2-0 lead in the win over USC. Daubert played the full 90 in the game, as she has for every single game this season  

GOALS GALORE 
A total of 10 different players have scored a goal this season. Junior forward Kara Croone leads the team with eight goals and 17 points after recording her second brace of the season at USC on Oct. 30. with goals this season. Croone and Oruha Hayashi, who has six total goals, have combined for four braces in UCLA’s last eight contests. Leena Powell and Cate Sarinopoulos each have three goals this season, and Grace Shank, Anna Wilson and Molly Hale each have two. Payten Cooper, Asa Yamazaki and Paloma Daubert have one goal apiece. Croone leads the team in points (17) and game-winning goals (4). Hayashi (15 points) and Shank (11 points) also have double-digit point totals. Shank leads the team with seven assists.

SHANK-HAYASHI CONNECTION
Sophomore midfielder Grace Shank leads the Bruins and is tied for fourth in the Big Ten with seven assists. Four of her assists have gone to Oruha Hayashi, and Hayashi’s last four goals have been assisted by Shank. Hayashi has six goals in total this season, and the only two goals that were not assisted by Shank were a penalty kick and an unassisted goal.  

IRON WOMEN 
Four Bruins have logged over 1,400 minutes of play after 18 games. Junior defender Paloma Daubert has played every minute of every game, 1,620 minutes in total. Senior midfielder Oruha Hayashi ranks second in minutes played with 1,490, followed closely by sophomore midfielder Grace Shank, who has played 1,473 minutes, and junior defender Asa Yamazaki, who has totaled 1,440. Daubert, Shank and Hayashi are the only Bruins to start every game this season.     

UCLA IN THE BIG TEN  
UCLA is in its third season in the Big Ten and holds an 23-5-6 all-time conference record. In year one in 2024, the Bruins finished second in the regular season with a 8-1-2 record and swept through the conference tournament, allowing zero goals in three games and setting a championship record with five goals in the title match against Rutgers. The Bruins went 6-2-3 in conference play in 2025 and finished third in the regular season and tournament. UCLA finished tied for second in conference play with 28 points in 2026 and locked up the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the second time in three years. The last time the Bruins were the No. 2 seed was in 2024, their first year in the conference. UCLA won the Big Ten Tournament that season.        

CHALLENGING SCHEDULE 
UCLA endured a tough early-season schedule, matching up against four Top 5 teams in its first nine games. The Bruins played eight opponents who were unbeaten going into the matchup, and four of those teams (San Diego, Santa Clara, Purdue and Ohio State) came away with their first loss of the year. Those eight teams entered this week with a combined record of 80-23-23 (BYU 11-3-3, Duke 9-2-4, San Diego 5-8-4, Stanford 10-4-2, Santa Clara 8-2-8, Purdue 15-2-2, Michigan State 13-3-2, Ohio State 15-1-1), and two are currently ranked in the Top 5 (No. 3 Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan State).

GOALKEEPER DEPTH 
For the first time since the 2015 season, three different goalkeepers have started a game for the Bruins. Daphne Nakfoor has started the most games with 12 and holds a season record of 9-2-1. She has five solo and one shared shutout and a goals against average of 0.86 and posted a season-high total of eight saves at Stanford. Mariangela Medina has made four starts, including three of UCLA’s last five games. She earned her first solo shutout of the season against No. 14 Washington, making three saves. Medina also has a shared shutout with Nakfoor against Indiana. Lynette Bryant got her first UCLA start against Pepperdine on Senior Day, earning a shutout, and she also started in the Bruins’ win over Purdue, making four saves. UCLA is one of just three teams in the nation to have three different goalkeepers record solo shutouts, joining UC Davis and Chattanooga.    

CORONA BACK FROM U-17 WORLD CUP 
Freshman midfielder Mia Corona is back with the Bruins after the U.S. team’s quarterfinal run at the the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco. In the United States’ opening match against Samoa on Oct. 19, Corona was named the captain and scored the team’s second goal in a 17-0 victory. She started in every game of the tournament. Corona was the third Bruin to miss playing time this season due to World Cup duty. Junior goalkeeper Mariangela Medina missed six games earlier in the season while with Mexico at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland. Junior defender Abby Gemma missed three games while training with the U.S. team at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup as an alternate. Corona had played just one game as a Bruin on October 2 at Oregon before departing for World Cup play.  

OH CAPTAIN, OUR CAPTAIN 
Junior defender Paloma Daubert has led the Bruins both on and off the field as the team captain and defensive leader. Daubert, a first-team All-Big Selection, has played in every minute of every game for a total of 1,620 minutes and has led the Bruins to eight shutouts and a team goals against average of 0.83. UCLA’s defense has held opponents to single-digit shot totals in 11 of 18 games this season. Daubert has won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors four times in 2026, becoming the first non-goalkeeper ever to win the award four times. The only other player with more is Rutgers’ Casey Murphy, who won a record five times in 2017.         

FRASER RETURNS 
Junior defender Nicki Fraser, the 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, is back in 2026 after sitting out the 2025 season with injuries. In the season opener against BYU, she started and played 60 minutes, and in the Duke contest, she logged 64 minutes and drew a penalty kick in the 1-1 tie while helping to hold the Blue Devils to just two shots in the game. For her efforts, she was named the UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week presented by Champion of Westwood. Fraser, however, was out of action the next 11 games and returned on Oct. 11, playing 28 minutes against Illinois. She has started in two games since. As a freshman in 2024, Fraser started in 20 games and helped UCLA’s defense record the lowest team goals against average in the nation (0.41) and the most shutouts (16). In addition to being named the conference’s Freshman of the Year, she also received third-team All-Big Ten honors and All-Freshman acclaim. A U.S. Youth National Team member, Fraser played in the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and the 2023 Pan American Games.                 

SANCHEZ WINS NWSL GOLDEN BOOT
Ashley Sanchez (2017-19) tied the NWSL single-season goals scored record of 20 and won the Golden Boot for the first time in her career. She and Lauren Cheney, who won in 2013, give UCLA the distinction of being the only school to produce two NWSL Golden Boot winners. Sanchez set a new NWSL record for goals scored by an American player and also tied league records with five multi-goal games and six game-winning goals. Sanchez set multiple assist records as a Bruin, including the single-game (4), single-season (15) and career (42) assist records in just three years in Westwood.  

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