This post was updated Oct. 21 at 1:29 a.m.

Coach Margueritte Aozasa may have tapped into a new expertise this season: halftime speeches.

In yet another showing of two halves, Aozasa’s unit waited to enter the locker room at half to hit the reset button.

“I said (at halftime), ‘Do you want your season to end in two weeks?’” Aozasa said. “Do you feel good looking the seniors in the eye and saying, ‘Sorry, we lost, but I was a little tired?’”

No. 10 UCLA women’s soccer (13-2-2, 8-0-2 Big Ten) hosted its final home game of the regular season against No. 15 Ohio State (10-4-3, 5-3-2) on Sunday afternoon at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, clinching a 1-0 victory, thanks to a halftime transfiguration.

The Bruins’ first half culminated in a scoreless tie for the fourth time – something had to give.

“Our coaches at halftime were just telling us that it had to be better, and we knew it had to be better,” said senior defender Jayden Perry. “We looked like we wanted to win that game in the second half versus in the first half.”

And Aozasa – who is now accustomed to halftime pep talks – managed to catalyze a spark among her arsenal. Reentering the field for the final 45 minutes of play, the Bruins turned things up a notch – firing 11 shots throughout the frame, a far cry from the first half’s four.

Ohio State’s first goal attempt early in the match was thwarted by graduate student goalkeeper Ryan Campbell, who made three crucial saves in just the first 30 minutes.

“I thought Ohio State did a great job at possessing us,” Aozasa said. “Thankfully, Ryan came up with two or three big saves.”

Sunday’s match – though it was the second-last of the regular season – allowed for two Bruins to see the field after observing from the sideline in recent games. Freshman midfielder forward Avery Robinson attempted one shot and played for 27 minutes after a week off the field.

UCLA’s fifth shot attempt in the second half was a close call. Forward junior Bridgette Marin-Valencia attempted it to the top center of the net. In what appeared to be home safe, the shot was ruled a block by goalkeeper Molly Pritchard, prolonging the stalemate at 0-0.

In the 60th minute, the Bruins were awarded the first and only penalty kick of the match, prompting an eruption of voices from the Bruin faithful.

Perry stepped up to take the shot, taking a minute to gather herself before the whistle blew. She struck the ball with her left foot, sending it into the back of the net to spray the frozen scoreline.

“We’ve been practicing. We call it our flow state,” Perry said. “Just your routine before you go out to take a PK (penalty kick) and we practice that. I do it every day at practice and when it gets to the game. It’s just like practice.”

UCLA relentlessly peppered Ohio State with 15 shots through the game. Simultaneously, the Bruins’ protection units limited the Buckeyes to just four in the same stretch.

Pritchard remained Ohio State’s sole saving grace through Sunday’s encounter – racking up seven saves – but it wasn’t enough to halt UCLA’s second-half engine.

“We’ve been through a lot of adversity this season,” said senior defender Lilly Reale. “We’ve had our losses and our ties. I think there’s just been a trend of a couple games where we haven’t really found our footing until the second half, and I think that kind of happened again today.”