Big Ten conference play has kicked off with a win.

No. 22 UCLA women’s soccer (6-2-1, 1-0 Big Ten) tallied off its first match in Big Ten action with a 2-1 win against Oregon (4-4-1, 0-1) at the Papé Field in Eugene on Saturday night.

“It was a real soccer game in the sense of it having a little bit of everything – it had some lows, some emotional moments, kind of everything that you could ask for,” said coach Margueritte Aozasa.

The 14th minute began with a save by graduate goalkeeper Ryan Campbell, shielding Oregon’s midfielder Haley McWhirter’s attempt. Around a minute later, senior defender Quincy McMahon shot just inches off the bottom left of the goal but was blocked by Oregon keeper Maddy Goldberg.

The Bruins totaled 16 shots in the first half against Oregon, with McMahon accumulating four attempts. The Ducks attempted a single shot but, like the Bruins, did not find the back of the net during the first half.

The second half continued much like the first, with UCLA racking up 17 more shots by the 75th minute.

With the Bruins accumulating a total of 33 shots this match, graduate midfielder Sunshine Fontes said there’s more to focus on besides creating chances.

“Our possession was a lot better this game than it has been the games prior,” she said. “Continuing to focus and hone in on our set pieces, both offensively and defensively, we can be more dangerous in the attack and also prevent other teams from scoring on set pieces.”

Freshman forward Jordan Geis added that the team’s possession of the ball throughout the game was exciting and something to build off of.

“We could have scored a lot more goals during that game and shut it down a lot earlier,” she said. “But we got the win, and that’s what’s important.”

But the slow pace ended when Oregon’s Taylor Bryan shot a counter goal to the net, slipping through Campbell’s hands. Only moments after, though, the Bruins finally cracked the scoreboard.

Fontes tallied the first point in a penalty for the Bruins, equalizing the match in the 79th minute. The goal marked Fontes’ first goal since she took a year off the pitch to recover from injury.

“When we did get the PK (penalty kick), Jordan came up to me and was like, ‘Do you want it?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll take it,'” Fontes said. “I think that shows how much trust they have in me, and I can’t thank them enough for that.”

With the game tied and only 10 minutes remaining, both teams had the opportunity to run away with a win.

The pieces fell into place in the Bruins’ Big Ten debut when freshman forward Jordan Geis, assisted by sophomore forward Taylor Cheatham, scored a shot to the upper left side of the net in the 82nd minute – securing the go-ahead point.

“I was happy because winning is our first priority, but it felt past due,” Geis said. “But I’m also like, ‘OK, let’s go and onto the next game and hopefully drop some more.”

After securing the first win in conference play, both fresh and current talents shone, fostering the potential that coach Aozasa has explored this season.

“We’ve had our setbacks, and that’s been hard,” she said. “But the benefit of it is a lot of players to play good minutes throughout the season, to dedicate that experience.”

The next matchup for the Bruins will be a series of conference road games before returning home after six games away from Wallis Annenberg Stadium.