Scouting report: UCLA vs. Santa Clara

No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer (4-0) will welcome the defending national champions, No. 8 Santa Clara (3-1-2), to Westwood for a top-10 matchup. The two teams missed out on a potential quarterfinal bout in last season’s NCAA tournament, but will face each other for the first time since 2019. Here is the first-ever women’s soccer scouting report by Sports reporter Diego Farinha – who has attended more Broncos games this year than he has Bruins games.

Santa Clara Broncos

Formation: 4-4-2
Goals per game: 1.5
Goals allowed per game: 0.62
X-factor: Attacking ability of Kaile Halvorsen

Though the Broncos have dropped more points this season than the entirety of their last campaign, the national champions are still plenty dangerous.

Santa Clara is headlined by three players on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List – forward Kelsey Turnbow, defender Alex Loera and forward Izzy D’Aquila.

Turnbow and Loera led their team to the title last year, as Turnbow scored goals in the first round, semifinal and final of the NCAA tournament to win College Cup Offensive Most Outstanding Player while Loera commanded the backline, earning her the College Cup Defensive Most Outstanding Player distinction.

D’Aquila had a busy postseason run as well, scoring three goals and providing two assists before netting home the penalty kick that won the Broncos their first national championship since 2001.

Turnbow has continued her scoring streak into the fall, scoring three goals in her first six matches. She has the skill to dribble by defenders – even multiple at a time – before coming back to her preferred left foot and either shooting or laying off passes to her forward partner D’Aquila.

Loera quarterbacks the defense from the right center-back position. In addition to her savviness to defend 1-on-1 and come away with clean tackles, the defender is key to the Santa Clara attack.

Having dished out nine assists throughout her collegiate career, Loera can pass from the defensive third of the field and thread multiple lines of opposing defenses via the air or the ground. With Turnbow and D’Aquila in attack, Loera’s vision and outlet passes provide instant scoring opportunities by putting the ball at the feet of her attackers and letting them run at defenders.

The redshirt senior can also provide offense from set pieces and corner kicks.

The Broncos’ X-factor is forward Kaile Halvorsen, who has played right-back early in the year and put her attacking skills to use. Halvorsen has the speed to run by midfielders and defenders on the right flank, and when isolated, the Hawaii native has the space to go 1-on-1 with the opposing team’s left-backs or put dangerous balls into the box.

With attacking fullbacks and a similar formation, Santa Clara and UCLA field nearly identical philosophies. While both teams prefer to maintain possession, the Broncos demonstrated against Florida State in last year’s final that they are willing to sit back and counterattack, too, which often proves to be lethal.

UCLA Bruins

Formation: 4-4-2 (diamond)
Goals per game: 2.5
Goals allowed per game: 0.25
X-factor: Attacking duo of Mia Fishel and Reilyn Turner

On the other side, the Bruins have gotten off to a perfect start.

UCLA has scored three goals in three of its first four matches and has only conceded one goal, an 89th-minute score to UC Irvine.

Simply put, no team has been able to stop both junior forward Mia Fishel and sophomore forward Reilyn Turner. Since last season, either Fishel or Turner have recorded a point in 14 consecutive matches. So far in this campaign, the duo has made seven goals in four contests.

With the Bruins making a change from a front three to a front two, Fishel and Turner have had space to operate in the attack, enabling them to dribble by defenders and create on their own.

UCLA has succeeded in feeding its forwards via its fullbacks, particularly redshirt junior midfielder Madelyn Desiano, who is ranked No. 8 in the nation with five assists.

From left-back, Desiano has had success delivering crosses into the box for Fishel and Turner to latch onto, or for a trailing midfielder who might have a crack at goal.

Since Desiano and Halvorsen both play on the same side of the field, their attacking identities may force each other to play more conservatively and be aware of how high on the pitch they are each positioned.

The revamped Bruin backline of Desiano, freshman Lilly Reale, junior Kylie Kerr and junior Brianne Riley are holding a 271-minute scoreless streak while severely limiting the attempts aimed for senior goalkeeper Lauren Brzycky.

Playing against a two-attacker front and two First Team All-WCC forwards, the UCLA defenders will need assistance from their midfielders in slowing down the Santa Clara attack. Graduate senior midfielder Marley Canales is playing the team’s “6” and is not only essential in maintaining the ball while in attack, but also in providing defensive help in change-of-possession sequences.

A meeting between the reigning Pac-12 champions and the defending national champions with multiple all-conference forwards to boot should provide fireworks.