Bruin forward duo helps drive UCLA women’s soccer’s attacking success

This post was updated Sept. 23 at 1 a.m.

It’s been more than six months since the name Fishel or Turner hasn’t showed up on the stat sheet for the Bruins.

Junior forward Mia Fishel and sophomore forward Reilyn Turner have spearheaded the attack of No. 3 UCLA women’s soccer (8-0), scoring 14 of the team’s 18 goals during the Bruins’ eight-game winning streak that started the season.

At least one of the forwards has scored a goal in the first eight contests for UCLA. In three of those matches, both attackers found the back of the net during the 90 minutes.

In two games last week, Fishel added three more scores to her season tally, while Turner capped off the nonconference schedule with a late goal against San Diego State on Sunday to tie for the team lead.

Turner said the duo’s success can be attributed to the attention each attacker draws from opposing teams.

“Whoever is up top, they’re going to have to pick somebody to mark, and they can’t triple-team or use multiple players,” Turner said. “With Mia being so dangerous with her back toward goal and having our other forwards with their strengths, it’s really difficult to mark such a different group of forwards.”

Fishel and Turner are also responsible for seven of the eight game-winning goals UCLA has recorded so far, including Fishel’s late header in the 1-0 victory over Long Beach State and Turner’s long shot in the 1-0 win over defending national champions Santa Clara.

“(Fishel and Turner) are so threatening and offer defenses so many challenges,” said coach Amanda Cromwell. “You can’t really defend them with one player, so they draw a crowd a lot of times, so they open up playmaking opportunities for other players, scoring opportunities for other players.”

In their debut campaign for UCLA last season, the tandem recorded a combined 17 goals in a condensed 17-game schedule. Fishel’s six goals and six assists earned her First Team All Pac-12 honors while Turner – the 2020 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year – led the conference with 11 goals and 27 points. This season, they have already netted 14 total scores in nearly half as many games.

“We’ve been working on strengthening our relationship on the field, and I think it’s been really beneficial,” Turner said. “With both of us up top, we can really play off of each other and not only get clear opportunities for ourselves but create opportunities for each other.”

Sophomore midfielder Michaela Rosenbaum – who is second on the team in assists and was the direct provider of two Fishel goals – said she tries to play direct as much as she can to help her teammates, including Fishel and Turner.

“I just want to keep playing the ball forward as fast as I can or a lot of the time to create chances,” said Rosenbaum.

In addition to scoring goals at an increased rate compared to last season, both forwards have seen their shot-to-goal percentages improve. Fishel’s shooting percentage has risen from .158 to .233 and Turner’s has increased from .200 to .292.

Turner said the different situations they put themselves in at practice has yielded more success in front of goal.

“If you never try in practice, you’re not going to pull it off in the games,” Turner said. “We’re both going to get opportunities, so practicing different types of finishes is really beneficial to us when it comes game time.”