UCLA women’s soccer wins 3-1 against Minnesota, alters formation to secure more shots

Freshman defender Paloma Daubert celebrates following her first collegiate goal in Sunday’s match against Minnesota. (Vivian Le/Daily Bruin)
Women's Soccer
Minnesota | 1 |
No. 18 UCLA | 3 |

By Rahaf Abumansour
Sept. 30, 2024 1:02 p.m.
This post was updated Oct. 2 at 12:06 a.m.
Three players, three goals.
No. 18 UCLA women’s soccer (9-2-2, 4-0-1 Big Ten) hosted Minnesota (8-2-2, 2-2-1) on Sunday for its second conference game at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The match ended in a 3-1 victory for UCLA, a strong response following a scoreless draw against Wisconsin on Thursday.
“We talked a lot about the mentality of wanting to score and doing everything we possibly could,” said senior defender Quincy McMahon. “It was about being able to create those chances and putting them away.”
The Bruins opened the first half with seven shots and seven corner kicks compared to the Golden Gophers’ two shots. It was in the 33rd minute when the Bruins scored, courtesy of junior forward Bridgette Marin-Valencia, who shot to the bottom right of the goal after being assisted by McMahon.
That moment marked the true beginning of the match, as both teams quickly ramped up the intensity – as seen by three Bruins receiving yellow cards for unsporting behavior throughout the game.
In the 60th minute, the Golden Gophers had their only opportunity to score when midfielder Kate Childers struck the ball toward the top right corner of the net. Graduate student goalkeeper Ryan Campbell was unable to make the save. It was the first time UCLA had allowed a goal since its 2-1 victory over Oregon on Sept. 14.
Freshman defender Paloma Daubert scored UCLA’s second goal and her first collegiate goal off an assist by graduate midfielder Sunshine Fontes, breaking the tie in the Bruins’ favor.
“I think it’s been a rough couple of games so far,” Daubert said. “We had a conversation with the team recently about how these are the last few days of many players, and I actually wanted to score for them. I mean, the older players mean so much to me.”
As the final 15 minutes of the game ticked away, the Bruins continued to generate scoring opportunities, racking up a total of 10 shots and six corner kicks in the second half. In contrast, the Golden Gophers managed just six shots and had no corner kicks over the same span.
“I thought maybe we created an equal amount of chances as previous games, but they felt more dangerous,” coach Margueritte Aozasa said. “They felt like there was more of a chance that we could actually score.”
In the 80th minute, graduate defender Maya Evans and Fontes both assisted McMahon, who struck the ball into the top right corner of the net for UCLA’s final goal.
“I saw Maya pick up the ball and I know what she really likes to do, and there was an opening for me to run through,” McMahon said. “I wanted to create more chances for us.”
This period also marked a return to action for Evans, who had been sidelined by injury.
UCLA has one more chance at home when it hosts Washington on Saturday night – and the Bruins are planning to keep a change in formation in which some players who usually play outside back, such as McMahon, instead play up top, all for the sake of getting more reliable shots.
“Today we played a different shape, and I thought it helped us be more dangerous,” Aozasa said.