UCLA Women's Soccer Strikes Early, Sends Northern Arizona Home

The Bruins opened the NCAA tournament with a win, putting their first-round upset loss from 2021 behind them.

The Bruins were not going to let history repeat itself.

No. 1 seed UCLA women's soccer (18-2-0, 9-2-0 Pac-12) blew out Northern Arizona (10-6-4, 7-1-0 Big Sky) en route to a 4-1 victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday night. The Bruins were hosting the Lumberjacks for the postseason showdown, giving them a significant advantage on paper that they were unable to take advantage of last time around.

UCLA was also a nationally-seeded team in 2021, coming off a second-straight Pac-12 regular season title under coach Amanda Cromwell. The Bruins were unable to carry that success into the tournament, however, getting upset in the opening round 1-0 by UC Irvine on their home turf right before Cromwell left Westwood for the NWSL.

After getting shut out and sent packing last season, UCLA made sure to change their own fortunes this time under coach Margueritte Aozasa, wasting no time getting on the board and keeping their foot on the gas all the way through to the final whistle Friday night.

Sophomore forward Lexi Wright was the catalyst for the attack, scoring in the first minute, and then again in the ninth.

It turned out that was all the Bruins needed to win, but they kept the goals coming. Sophomore midfielder Emma Egizii scored in the 40th to make it a 3-0 contest before halftime, giving her the first goal of her college career.

Senior forward Sunshine Fontes capped things off with a fourth goal in the 84th minute.

Although Northern Arizona came through with a late goal in the 87th to avoid a clean sheet, that didn't change the fact that UCLA dominated essentially from stop to finish.

The Bruins outshot the Lumberjacks 27-5, with 18 of their shots ending up on goal. Trinity Corcoran minded the net for Northern Arizona in the first half, making nine saves, but she got pulled in favor of Natalie Manzo after the break.

UCLA kept the pressure on Manzo in the second half, and they attempted six corner kicks in the contest overall. The Lumberjacks did not get a single corner kick, and they only had one of their shots go on target all night.

As a result, graduate goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy didn't need to make a single save to hold Northern Arizona off the scoreboard, with Aozasa giving her the hook in the 70th minute. Freshman Neeku Purcell came in to relieve Brzykcy down the stretch, allowing the Lumberjacks' lone goal of the contest, but it didn't do much to change the end result.

UCLA will now move on to the Round of 32, and will face either No. 8 seed North Carolina State or UCF. The Wolfpack and Knights will face off Sunday in Raleigh, with the next round set to take place back in Westwood.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF ROSS TURTELTAUB/UCLA ATHLETICS