The Bruins beat the altitude to add another victory to their belts.

After suffering its first loss of the season to Stanford last Friday, No. 1 UCLA women’s soccer (14-1, 6-1 Pac-12) forfeited its perfect record. It held onto its No. 1 ranking, however, and shut out Colorado (8-5-3, 2-4-1), scoring six goals to seal the deal at Colorado’s Prentup Field in the first of two games during its last Pac-12 road trip.

Coach Margueritte Aozasa said preparation was key for the blue and gold going into this away weekend.

“The team has been super committed to getting a good amount of sleep, eating well, drinking lots of water – kind of doing everything they can to minimize the effects of travel,” Aozasa said.

Sunday, the Bruins will face off against Utah in Salt Lake City, at an elevation of 4,637 feet. This will be a 600-foot decrease from the famous mile-high elevation they faced Thursday in Boulder.

To deal with the altitude, Aozasa emphasized the importance of hydration and substitutes so players had time to rest.

“All we can do is hydrate and rest, but thankfully, we put in a good performance today, and we were able to use a lot of players,” Aozasa said. “So I’m hoping that that will help us as we recover for Utah.”

Westwood – where the Bruins play at home – has an altitude of 377 feet.

Junior midfielder/forward MacKenzee Vance said the change in environment caught her by surprise.

“I was not expecting a massive change because I wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into,” Vance said. “Trust me, I could feel the difference.”

Even with the altitude, the blue and gold were unfazed.

Starting out strong, junior forward Reilyn Turner led the way with goals in the second and 28th minutes. She said last week’s loss against Stanford was on the forefront of her mind when it came to capitalizing on goal opportunities.

“It’s about the response after last week,” Turner said. “I think we were all just really ready for this game and ready to prove ourselves and get back on track.”

Turner now sits at nine goals this season and is tied with senior forward Sunshine Fontes for the team’s leading scorer.

Aozasa said Turner has strong playmaking skills.

“She’s a player that can change the game at any moment, and we especially love when she does it in the first five minutes of the game,” Aozasa said. “She was incredible today in setting the tone.”

Alongside Turner, Vance added to the scoreboard in the 16th minute, blasting a shot off her right foot into the left corner of the goal. She said her goal was a blur.

“Every single time I score, I end up getting into some kind of zone where I couldn’t even tell you what I thinking,” Vance said. “It just all happened so fast.”

Freshman forward Bridgette Marin-Valencia, freshman midfielder Sofia Cook, and sophomore forward Lexi Wright all contributed goals of their own in the 33rd, 63rd and 70th minutes, respectively.

The Bruins held the Buffaloes to six shots on goal compared to their 20, and Aozasa said the blue and gold plan on continuing this trend of high scoring as they move closer to playoffs.

“One of the things as a team we wanted to focus on was being more clinical in the box, being more aggressive in the box,” Aozasa said.

UCLA faces off against Utah on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Ute Field in Salt Lake City.