As the timeless mantra goes, “Defense wins championships.”

And while the Bruins have yet to prove this in the postseason, it has largely contributed to their current three-game winning streak.

No. 4 UCLA (13-3, 3-0 MPSF) will have the opportunity to extend this streak against No. 11 Princeton (9-2, 4-1 CWPA) at Spieker Aquatics Center on Thursday. Although the matchup’s history is short, the Bruins can achieve a sixth consecutive victory over the Tigers.

Part of the Bruins’ recent success can be attributed to their defense. In UCLA’s last two matchups against then-No. 5 Berkeley on Saturday and then-No. 15 Indiana on Sunday, the reigning national champions held both opponents to a combined 0.276 shot percentage.

“Everybody has a responsibility – no matter where you are in the pool – to the team defense,” said coach Adam Wright. “All it takes is one second to drift off and, now, penalty, which could cost us everything.”

At the epicenter of this defensive fortitude is Lauren Steele. The sophomore goalkeeper is coming off a 2024 campaign that crowned her as the ACWPC National Player of the Year in her first collegiate season. So far in 2025, the Old Greenwich, Connecticut, local boasts a 0.554 save percentage.

However, Steele does not defend the pool alone. Against the Golden Bears, sophomore goalkeeper Joey Niz played the full length of the match – her first full appearance since Feb. 9 against then-No. 11 Arizona State.

“Joey is an excellent goalkeeper,” Wright said. “She played at ASU. She got in some of the tournaments, including Kalbus (the Barbara Kalbus Invitational). We got Lauren, too, but we need her to be ready. What we do know is we have two great goalies.”

Wright added that the team’s defensive prowess has driven its success on the other side of the pool.

The Bruins’ most recent performance against Indiana on Sunday witnessed the team’s third-highest goal tally of the season, with three players finding the back of the net multiple times.

“If we can get the game where we want it, with the pace of the game and limit the free goals, teams have to defend that,” Wright said. “They have to make real choices. If you want to press, I’ll take our centers one-on-one.”

Leading the way last weekend was junior attacker Taylor Smith, whose four goals in two games last weekend tied her season-high initially set Feb. 22 against then-No. 6 UC Irvine.

“We had a wake-up call after Kalbus,” Smith said. “The start of the season wasn’t what we wanted it to be, but we talked about reinvesting and resetting ourselves.”

Joining Smith on the attack is junior utility Anna Pearson, who scored three goals off four attempts Sunday. The 2024 ACWPC First Team All-American has a 0.769 shot percentage in 2025.

“I have to give all credit to my teammates,” Pearson said. “They set me up and put me in good positions. When they give the ball to me, I have to do my job and finish.”

Squaring off against the Bruins is a Tigers squad led by utility Kayla Yelensky. The 2024 ACWPC Second Team All-American has scored 34 goals this season on a 0.557 shooting clip.

Defensively, Princeton is guided by goalkeeper Lindsey Lucas, who has logged a 0.570 save percentage alongside six steals this season.

Despite strong performances, the Bruins will be tested by a Princeton team coming off a NCAA quarterfinal run in last season’s national tournament.

“It starts with our energy, our intensity and our presence,” Wright said. “If we can keep stepping – one step, two step – this would be a really good team. … We have to keep going forward. We know that standard. We have a ways to go.”