After sitting out most of 2020 and all of 2021, Kali Trevithick said she didn’t know if she would ever play soccer again.

However, after rehabbing multiple knee injuries, the senior forward made her return to the field Sunday and had a night to remember.

Trevithick entered the match in the 81st minute to make her first appearance in nearly two years, and two minutes later, she scored her first goal since 2019.

“I honestly didn’t know if I was gonna play at all this season,” Trevithick said. “I thought I was going to be medically retiring soon.”

Trevithick’s late goal was one of five on the night for No. 1 UCLA women’s soccer (6-0), which made its return home to Wallis Annenberg Stadium and defeated Cal State Fullerton (3-2-3) 5-1. The victory marks the Bruins’ first win as the No. 1 team in the country.

But the forward’s night would not end with just one score because two minutes after her first goal, Trevithick swept the back of the net for a second time.

Coach Margueritte Aozasa said she was very emotional after both of the goals,

“It made us tear up because Kali is someone on our team that just loves the game so much,” Aozasa said. “It was like a movie moment for that to happen.”

UCLA came out attacking, tallying a total of seven shots in the first 19 minutes. However, it wasn’t until the blue and gold’s eighth shot of the match in the 31st minute that the team found the back of the net, after graduate student forward Ally Cook headed a cross in from freshman midfielder Ally Lemos.

The Bruins would add another before the end of the half off the foot of graduate student Maricarmen Reyes in the 43rd minute. The midfielder’s second goal of the season came from way outside the box near the right sideline, resembling a cross until it snuck into the far corner of the goal.

Aozasa said it was great to see Reyes make her return to the pitch in the fashion she did.

“I was just really happy to get her back on the field,” Aozasa said. “Similarly to Kali, she plays with such joy. She plays with creativity and hard work. She hadn’t played in a while but in second half, we really got to see her personality come through.”

Fullerton claimed a goal of its own in the second half, pulling the score within one thanks to a goal from midfielder Kaya Hawkinson. The score marks the second consecutive game that the Bruins have given up a goal from a set piece.

Sophomore defender Lilly Reale said the Bruins will make adjustments to get rid of their set-piece woes.

“We do a lot of film as a backline,” Reale said. “We’ll figure it out as a team, and having these things early in the season is never a bad thing – we can learn from it. We’ll just have to make sure we stay on top of those.”

UCLA, on the other hand, would start off the second half slower than it did the first, not tallying a shot until the 65th minute. However, the Bruins’ first shot of the half found the back of the net off a chip shot from senior forward Sunshine Fontes, who scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season.

Trevithick capped off the night with her pair of goals in the 83rd and 85th minute to give the Bruins a 5-1 victory.

Although the Bruins rolled to their third straight 6-0 start, Sunday showed there are much bigger things than wins and losses.

“Going into this game, I didn’t even expect to play – and for this outcome, that was just in my dreams,” Trevithick said.