MATCH CENTRAL: Indiana vs UCLA, USC

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana women's soccer (5-1-1, 0-1 B1G) continues conference play as they host newly added Big Ten schools UCLA (Thursday) and USC (Sunday) at Bill Armstrong Stadium this week.

ABOUT THE BRUINS
UCLA (6-2-1, 1-0 B1G) won their Big Ten opener last week, 2-1, against Oregon. As a team, the Bruins have scored 11 goals, with 1.22 goals a game with a .429 shots on goal percentage. Junior forward Bridgette Marin-Valencia leads the team with two goals and two assists on the season. Senior midfielder Emma Egizii has also scored two goals on the season for four points. In goal, graduate student goalkeeper Ryan Campbell has played in nine matches with 20 saves on the year. She holds a 6-2-1 record between the posts. This will be the first matchup between the two teams.

ABOUT THE TROJANS
USC (5-1-1, 1-0 B1G) earned their first win against Washington, 1-0, and will face Purdue on Thursday before facing the Hoosiers on Sunday. The Trojans went undefeated through the first five matches of the season, with their only loss coming from No. 1 Stanford, 2-1. As a team, they have scored 12 goals, with a .411 shots on goal percentage. Senior Maile Hayes leads the offense with three goals, one assists for seven points. Hayes also holds a .545 shots on goal percentage. Graduate student goalkeeper Laurence Gladu has started in all seven matches and holds a .86 GAA (6) and a .786 save percentage (22). This will be the first meet up in almost two decades between the two teams. The all-time series is tied 1-1. IU fell 6-0 in their first match up in 2005 in Los Angeles, before earning a 2-1 overtime win during the 2007 season Bloomington.

NCAA RPI (SEPT. 15)
Indiana currently rank No. 24 in the first RPI of the season. The Hoosiers are just one of seven Big Ten teams in the top 25. Michigan State (1), Ohio State (5), Penn State (6), USC (8), Iowa (12) and Rutgers (21). UCLA (26^th) and Minnesota (27^th) sit just outside the top 25.

B1G LEADERS
The Hoosiers lead the conference in six categories: assists per game (3.14), goal differential (19), points per game (10), scoring offense (3.43), shots per game (19.71) and total goals (24). On an individual note, Layla Sirdah is tied first in the conference in assists per game (0.71) and total assists (5). She is also ranked second in points per game (2.43).

POSTGAME AUTOGRAPHS
The IUWS team will be signing autographs for fans following the match with against USC on Sunday (Sept. 22). Stop by the Flagpole to meet the team.

LAST TIME OUT
Indiana dropped their conference opener against No. 20 Ohio State, 3-0, last week. Senior goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg had a single-game high of nine saves while senior midfielder Hope Paredes led the Hoosiers with four shots.

SHARING THE SUCCESS
As a team, IU has scored 24 goals on 22 assists this season, averaging 3.43 goals per game with 19.7 shots a game. On the defensive side, the Hoosiers have four shutouts this season. Indiana has 10 different goal scorers this season, with nine Hoosiers scoring their first career goals and five gamewinners. Gerstenberg has five victories and four shutouts on the season.

@IndianaWSOC
For all the latest on Indiana University women's soccer, be sure to follow the team at @IndianaWSOC on X, Facebook and Instagram.

#NeverDaunted

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Players Mentioned

Jamie Gerstenberg

Hope Paredes

Layla Sirdah

Indiana University Athletics