UCLA forward Payten Cooper has been recognized as the Big Ten Women’s Soccer Freshman of the Week following her performance against Long Beach State. Cooper, from Plano, Texas, entered the match at halftime and scored her first collegiate goal with a header in the 50th minute to break a scoreless tie. She also assisted on UCLA’s second goal in the 65th minute, scored by Oruha Hayashi. Cooper recorded two shots on goal and played a season-high 45 minutes. She currently leads the Bruins in scoring with three points and has a shots on goal percentage of .750.
This marks Cooper’s first career Big Ten weekly honor and is only the second time a UCLA player has received the conference’s Freshman of the Week award. The previous recipient was Jordan Geis on September 17, 2024.
UCLA is scheduled to play at Portland on Thursday, September 4 before returning home to face top-ranked Stanford at Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Sunday, September 7 at 1 p.m.
The Big Ten also announced other weekly honors: Offensive Player of the Week awards went to Gabrielle Prych (Michigan) on August 19, Aubrey Kulpa (Penn State) on August 26, and Freya Jupp (Minnesota) on September 2. Defensive Player of the Week honorees included Jennie Immethun (UCLA) on August 19, Hailey Baumann (Wisconsin) on August 26, and Kate Childers (Minnesota) on September 2. Goalkeeper of the Week selections were Nyamma Nelson (Northwestern) for August 19, Bella Grust (USC) for August 26, and Taylor Kane (Iowa) for September 2. Freshman of the Week recipients prior to Cooper were Liana Tarasco (Iowa) for August 19 and Hannah Jordan (Penn State) for August 26.
