The United States women’s national team opens the Round of 16 Monday after winning Group D in the opening round of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The team looks to claim the title after falling short in the championship game in 2011. The United States is coached by former UCLA coach Jillian Ellis, whose roster features former Bruins Lauren Holiday and Sydney Leroux. Also making a name for UCLA in the World Cup is Rosie White, who graduated in spring and represented New Zealand.
Lauren Holiday
UCLA Class of 2010
Position: Midfielder
Member of the U.S. women’s national team since 2007
Past professional teams: Pali Blues, Boston Breakers
Current team: FC Kansas City since 2013
Holiday made an instant impact at UCLA, as she was named first-team All-American and National Soccer Coaches Association of America Freshman of the Year following her rookie season, in which she also led the Pac-10 with 19 goals. She repeated this feat her second year, recording a Pac-10-best 23 goals and winning Pac-10 Player of the Year. During her time as a Bruin, Holiday set school records for points with 173 and game-winning goals with 28.
After playing with the W-League Pali Blues the summer following graduation, Holiday was selected by the Boston Breakers with the second overall pick of the Women’s Professional Soccer draft. In 2014, Holiday earned a National Women’s Soccer League championship title with FC Kansas City.
Holiday has two Olympic gold medals to her name, from the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Summer Olympics. Holiday started in all three of the women’s group play matchups.
Sydney Leroux
UCLA Class of 2012
Position: Forward
Member of U.S. women’s national team since 2011
Past professional teams: Vancouver Whitecaps, Seattle Sounders FC, Boston Breakers, Seattle Reign FC
Current team: Western New York Flash
Leroux was UCLA’s sixth-highest scorer as a freshman, registering five goals and six assists in her first season as a Bruin. In her sophomore season, the striker’s 23 goals tied with UCLA and USA teammate Lauren Holiday for the school’s single-season record. That year, Leroux notched four goals in the Bruins’ 7-1 victory over the Boise State Broncos in the NCAA Tournament, tying the UCLA record for most goals in a single match. Leroux repeated this feat in the opening game of her junior season, a 7-0 win against Cal Poly. Leroux capped off her UCLA career by leading the Bruins in scoring for her third-straight season, registering 16 goals and three assists as a senior.
During the striker’s offseasons, she played for the Vancouver Whitecaps of the W-League. Starting her Whitecap career at the age of 15, Leroux was the youngest player in team history. While Leroux was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Beat in the 2012 WPS draft, the ensuing collapse of the league forced Leroux to return to the W-League, playing for the Seattle Sounders FC in her first professional season following college.
In 2013, for the inaugural season of the National Women’s Soccer League, Leroux was assigned to the Boston Breakers. She was then traded to the Seattle Reign FC for the 2014 season, where she helped the team set a league record with a 16-game win streak. Leroux has an Olympic gold medal from the 2012 London Summer Games. The UCLA alumna opened the World Cup in impressive fashion, assisting on the game-winning goal in the U.S.’s first game, a 3-1 win over Australia.
Rosie White
UCLA Class of 2015
Position: Forward
Member of New Zealand women’s national team since 2009
Past professional team: Three Kings United
White appeared in 20 of 21 matches during her rookie season at UCLA, starting in four games and scoring one goal. Her sophomore season saw prolific improvement, as White started 19 of 20 games and ranked third on the team in scoring with five goals, three of which were game-winners.
In 2013, White, who was then a junior, made the deciding penalty kick in UCLA’s NCAA semifinal win over Virginia. The win allowed the Bruins to secure women’s soccer’s first national title and UCLA’s 111th NCAA championship win. White had a career season her senior year, recording seven goals and six assists. Her two goals and three assists in the 2014 NCAA Tournament made her UCLA’s leading scorer in the tournament.
White competed with the New Zealand national team in the 2012 London Summer Olympics as well as the 2011 World Cup. New Zealand failed to make it past group play in this year’s World Cup.
Jillian Ellis
UCLA women’s soccer coach from 1999-2010
Coach of U.S. women’s national team since 2014
Past teams: Illinois, UCLA
The two Bruin players on the U.S. roster already have experience playing under Ellis, since Ellis was UCLA women’s soccer coach during both Holiday’s and Leroux’s collegiate careers. During her tenure with the Bruins, Ellis led UCLA to eight NCAA Final Fours, including a seven-year streak from 2003 to 2009 and six-straight Pac-10 titles from 2003 to 2008.
Over the course of her 11-year UCLA career, Ellis posted a record of 229-45-14, contributing to her all-time collegiate coaching record of 248-63-14. Ellis joined the U.S. women’s national team in 2000 as a scout at the Summer Olympics in Sydney and went on to serve as an assistant to Pia Sundhage at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, where the U.S. won gold. After Sundhage left the U.S. team for the Swedish women’s national team, Ellis was named interim head coach. Shortly after Tom Sermanni was fired in 2014, Ellis was named to the head coaching position in April. The World Cup is Ellis’ first real test as the head coach of the women’s national team.
Compiled by Claire Fahy, Bruin Sports senior staff.