This post was updated Oct. 5 at 11:09 p.m.
After beating then-No. 1 Stanford in early September, a switch seemed to flip for UCLA.
The Bruins were flying high for nearly four straight weeks, sitting atop the Big Ten while raking in wins after a shaky start to the season that featured losses to then-No. 6 Tennessee and then-No. 19 BYU.
But after a slow first half Saturday, the Bruins couldn’t escape their deficit against the then-second-ranked team in the Big Ten.
No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer (8-3-1, 4-1-1 Big Ten) fell to Washington (7-1-5, 4-0-2) 1-0 on Saturday in Seattle – its first conference loss. The match marked the end of the Bruins’ eight-game unbeaten streak and halted their reign as the Big Ten’s top-ranked squad. It was also the Huskies’ first time besting the Bruins in a decade.
“We struggled a little bit to perform individually well,” said sophomore forward Bella Winn. “Winning our individual battles just wasn’t working for us today, and I think that really let us down at the end.”
The Huskies scored early, with midfielder Jadyn Holdenried netting her fourth match-winner of the season in the 19th minute. The Bruins struggled to create opportunities during the first half, taking zero shots on goal compared to the Huskies’ five.
The match echoed UCLA’s two preceding losses this season, with the opponent scoring early and the Bruins failing to equalize. The squad picked it up in the second half, but UCLA surged too late.
The Bruins logged just five shots throughout the night – a season low.
“I thought the second half was a little better – obviously, we were down in goals,” said head coach Margueritte Aozasa. “We had to chase the game quite a bit.”
The Bruins entered the second half with a seemingly renewed intensity. Redshirt senior midfielder Emma Egizii took the team’s first shot in the 48th minute, and Winn took another in the 59th minute. Sophomore forward Kara Croone helped lead the offensive charge, launching a shot in the second period that bounced off the crossbar and two more that Husky goalkeeper Tanner Ijams saved.
The team’s halftime message was simple, Winn said.
“We had zero shots,” Winn said. “‘No team should shut us out’ is essentially what our message was overall, and then we said, ‘Now we have 45 minutes to score two goals.’”
Aozasa said the team got into “good spots” throughout the game but failed to be “good enough” when the moment came. Washington, Aozasa added, also boasts a strong defense, one that gave UCLA its first shotless initial half of the season.
But for Aozasa, the Bruins’ loss did not primarily stem from an inability to set up and position themselves – but from a failure to execute.
“The biggest thing is better quality in the final third – we can create those shots and take advantage of our positioning,” Aozasa said. “We’re getting in really good spots – we just weren’t able to make anything of it.”
UCLA will continue Big Ten play next week, facing Wisconsin on Thursday and Minnesota on Oct. 12 in a pair of away matches.
The Bruins will channel the loss as motivation in their upcoming matchups, Winn said – adding that she believes the team is “still rising.” UCLA – which has five games left in its regular season – is hoping to head into the postseason on a high, she said.
“We’re a team who likes to be challenged,” said senior forward America Frias. “It’s just an opportunity for us all to grow.”
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