This post was updated Nov. 7 at 4:31 p.m.

UCLA women’s soccer has concluded its regular season play. Despite falling to crosstown rivals USC in the final match of its season, UCLA is the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament. The squad will begin its tournament play against Penn State on Monday, after the two teams tied in a scoreless match earlier this season. Daily Bruin Sports women’s soccer beat predicts where the Bruins’ will land in the conference tournament.

Rahaf Abumansour
Daily Bruin staff
Prediction: A place in the finals

Having an extensive toolkit is necessary for anyone planning to succeed.

And coach Margueritte Aozasa has an arsenal ready to adapt to whatever challenges come her way.

UCLA women’s soccer is heading to its first-ever Big Ten tournament amid a year filled with adversity. The Bruins were still able to find different ways to keep attacking, giving them an actual shot of reaching the finals.

The Bruins’ record speaks for itself: with just one conference loss and eight Bruins receiving postseason honors.

Their X-factor? The ability to switch things up.

Senior defender Quincy McMahon, who has contributed three goals, is a key player to watch, switching positions and generating opportunities around the field.

Add junior midfielder Sofia Cook and graduate forward Maya Evans to the mix, and “magic” is exactly what fans might see in postseason play.

Even in a scoreless match, the Bruins can rely on graduate goalkeeper Ryan Campbell, who currently holds the NCAA’s top spot for shutouts – boasting 13 clean sheets this season.

UCLA’s defense is equally formidable, anchored by senior defender Lilly Reale. The team ranks No. 2 in the NCAA for goals against average. When the goals aren’t coming, this keeps any hopes of the first Big Ten championship title alive.

Their one challenge? Scoring early in matches. If there’s any shadow of doubt, it’s about the Bruins creating chances right from the start. But if they can build momentum and set the tone early, there’s no stopping a squad like the Bruins.

Chloe Agas
Daily Bruin reporter
Prediction: A crosstown finale

With an eerily familiar atmosphere headed into the postseason, the Bruins have a chance to pursue redemption in the final round of the Big Ten tournament against their crosstown rivals.

This year, the Bruins have expanded their gauntlet to include 10 new freshmen, increasing the depth of the roster and allowing Aozasa to experiment on the pitch.

With freshmen tallying goals on the scoresheet, such as forward Jordan Geis’ with a go-ahead against Oregon and defender Paloma Daubert’s tiebreaker against Minnesota, UCLA demonstrates its offensive prowess under pressure.

On the other hand, familiar faces are making their mark in defense.

Graduate midfielder Sunshine Fontes returns to the pitch after a season-ending knee injury. In her first match post-injury, she ended up scoring an equalizing penalty against Oregon.

Despite being a defender, McMahon demonstrated both an offensive and defensive prowess, playing as a forward for a full 90 minutes on senior night and scoring a goal in five minutes against Washington.

The final piece of the puzzle is Campbell, who only allowed three goals to slip past her fingertips out of 11 matches – demonstrating an iron shield prepared for battle.

With all gears firing on all ends of the pitch and having recorded only a single loss in conference, the Bruins now have to conquer the final boss – its own rival. After losing the Big Ten title against USC, coach Margueritte Aozasa confidently stated that despite not securing the title once before, “things ended up just fine.”

And you know what they say – history always repeats itself.

Sabrina Messiha
Assistant Sports editor
Prediction: Semifinal loss

It’s been a season filled with adversity.

The players and coaches of UCLA women’s soccer have repeated this phrase throughout regular season play as the team fell outside of the top 25 and suffered three losses and three ties, compared to two and one, respectively, last season.

But despite a season of struggles, UCLA is the No. 2 seed in its first-ever Big Ten tournament and will face Penn State in the quarterfinals round.

One of the Bruins’ three ties was to the then No. 16-ranked Nittany Lions in mid-October.

But with the combination of defensive strength from Campbell and strong attacks in Cook, McMahon and junior forward Bridgette Marin-Valencia, there is a possibility of success.

What may plague the Bruins is their inability to find the back of the net early during matches, with injuries and the graduation of key attackers proving difficult to overcome.

And with the intensity and anticipation of the Big Ten tournament, a continuation of their woes may cause the Bruins to not reach their full potential.

It’ll take relentless determination and an immediate attack – both not impossible to accomplish – but going based on just trends, UCLA may reach the end of its Big Ten journey sooner than anticipated.

Cecilia Schmitz
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: Big Ten Champions

No. 2 seed UCLA women’s soccer has a track record of overcoming adversity.

As Aozasa put it after losing to No. 1 seed USC in the Big Ten regular season championship match, “We’ve lost to USC before and things ended up just as fine for us at the end of the year.”

Aozasa was referring to the 2022 season, when UCLA overcame a loss to USC in its last regular season game to go undefeated after and claim the national championship.

Each potential opponent the Bruins could face in the tournament is familiar now.

UCLA tied then-No. 16 seed Penn State earlier this season, but like the loss to USC, the game may now prove a valuable learning experience that the Bruins can use to their advantage in the tournament.

The squad is not only full of talent, as shown by the recently released Big Ten postseason awards, but also has the humility and wisdom to take setbacks not as a moment to wallow but as fuel to move forward and improve.

Throughout the season, injuries have plagued the team, along with a challenging travel schedule, demanding adjustments and grit to push through.

“There’s two ways that you can come out after losing a game,” senior defender Jayden Perry said after the loss to the Trojans. “Either this could fire us up, or we can just keep putting our heads down.”

Based on the team’s character and history, the latter option seems more likely.