No. 3 UCLA women’s soccer maintains winning streak with triumph over Oregon

The Bruins haven’t lost since 2019.

No. 3 UCLA women’s soccer (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12) defeated No. 20 Oregon (2-2-1, 1-1) 3-0 at home Friday to extend its five-game undefeated season. The Bruins have tallied three shutouts so far this year.

“(We) got the clean sheet against a great team,” said coach Amanda Cromwell. “It’s so fun to be rewarded (with wins). (We’ve) also scored a lot of goals this season, which is awesome.”

Although UCLA kept Oregon pinned in its own half throughout the first period, neither team found the back of the net until the 37th minute, when redshirt freshman forward Sunshine Fontes received a low ball from senior midfielder Olivia Athens and slipped it past Oregon keeper Leah Freeman.

The goal was the 11th by a Bruin this season, and the first of two scored by Fontes in the match.

Fontes, who has played 175 minutes and scored four times this season, was a 27th-minute substitute into the match.

“I didn’t know if I’d ever be the same player again,” Fontes said. “After tearing my ACL last year, I didn’t know what to expect. But, in each of these games, I’ve gained confidence and momentum.”

UCLA had two close calls less than four minutes after halftime, including a shot by Oregon forward Ally Cook that was tipped up by Bruin redshirt junior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy’s hand and bounced off the crossbar.

The Ducks would not tally another shot for almost 20 minutes.

“When they came at me in the second half, I got a tip, thank goodness,” Brzykcy said. “I think I lost track of it after I hit it, but I saw it leave the net, which is always great. Crossbars are unfortunate, but the net would be worse.”

In the 70th minute, Fontes once again made her way to the Oregon goal and sent the ball through all four defenders with a shot that was received by freshman forward Reilyn Turner and shared with sophomore forward Mia Fishel, who converted it into her third goal of the season.

The goal preserved UCLA’s seasonlong multi-goal streak.

“I played (Turner) because she’s really fast and I knew she’d get there,” Fontes said. “(Fishel and Turner) are both great players and excellent finishers, so any day of the week I would play them up the line.”

Fishel had a hand in the final goal, assisting in Fontes’ second goal of the match and the Bruins’ third finish of the game, which blew past Freeman’s left side without touching a Duck defender.

Despite a slow start to the scoring, there were fouls all over the pitch early. By halftime, Oregon had out-fouled UCLA 5-1 and finished the match with six fouls and a yellow card for Duck defender Croix Soto.

Fontes said the Bruins expected the high physicality from their opponents.

“Any team in the Pac-12 is going to give us a challenge,” Fontes said. “It was definitely physical, but we were prepared for that. We tried to be ready for whatever game they were going to bring.”

Oregon defeated No. 23 Stanford – the reigning NCAA Champion – on Feb. 26.

UCLA will meet Oregon State on Sunday afternoon. The Beavers also claimed a victory over the defending champions last week.

“We’re trying not to take (Oregon State’s) wins into consideration,” Fontes said. “We know what we can bring to the table. We are going to go out and play our game, and I think we’re the better team.”