Big Ten play has begun.

And it is more competitive than ever.

Last week marked the first matches of conference play – and over half of the Big Ten contests ended in a draw, exemplifying the conference’s rigor. But the Bruins were one of only four Big Ten teams to open with an unblemished conference record.

No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer (5-2, 1-0 Big Ten) continues conference play this week with a pair of road matches, first against Michigan State (3-2-3, 0-0-1) at DeMartin Stadium Thursday and then against Michigan (3-4-1, 0-0-1) at U-M Soccer Stadium Sunday.

“Our conference is very competitive,” coach Margueritte Aozasa said. “That’s what we can expect … We know it’s going to be two challenging games, and hopefully we can bring home the points.”

This weekend will mark UCLA’s first-ever matchups against Michigan State and Michigan in program history after not facing either team during their inaugural Big Ten season.

But a formidable non-conference slate that featured No. 2 Stanford, No. 5 Tennessee and No. 10 BYU has seemingly prepared the Bruins well.

“We learned a lot in the preseason playing a lot of those top-10 teams, and now we want to take the lesson and show the Big Ten what we learned,” redshirt senior midfielder Emma Egizii said.

The Spartans are coming off a record-breaking 2024 campaign, where they achieved a program-high 14-game winning streak along with a NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance. They entered the 2025 season with a program-high No. 12 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches poll but fell out of the top 25 in week three after suffering a 2-5 loss against No. 23 Xavier.

Michigan State is searching for its first win since Aug. 28, as the squad has gone 0-2-1 across its last three contests. The Spartans have excelled on the attack – ranking second in the Big Ten with 18 goals – but will need a stronger defensive performance to break their slump. Michigan State has conceded 11 goals this season, forfeiting 10 across its last four matches.

Michigan, on the other hand, has had less success over the last few seasons and finished 14th in the Big Ten with only a pair of conference victories in 2024. The Wolverines most recently recorded a scoreless tie against No. 22 Ohio State after snapping a four-game losing streak with a victory against Youngstown State on Sept. 7.

“No matter what team we play, we’re going to execute with whatever we have,” freshman forward Leena Powell said.

Although Michigan has a sub-.500 winning percentage this year, the team captured two of its three victories in Ann Arbor.

The Bruins have mixed up their substitutions this season, and Aozasa has spread minutes across the young roster. All but five Bruins have seen action so far including 10 of the team’s 11 freshmen.

Aozasa has also rotated goalkeepers, giving sophomore Mariangela Medina 45 minutes last week against Oregon, where she recorded one save. Freshman Daphne Nakfoor, UCLA’s primary goalkeeper this season, tallying 18 saves with a .900 save percentage.

“Both our keepers right now are performing at a really high level in training,” Aozasa said. “They’re both young keepers, so we are trying to prioritize experience. We’re just fortunate we have two keepers we can trust regardless of the game situation.”

UCLA has steadied after a rocky start, riding a four-game winning streak while posting a .714 shutout percentage.

But as they move deeper into conference play, the Bruins realize that they must strengthen team bonds while sustaining focus on the field.

“Our mentality is just to be ourselves, be creative and lean on each other,” Powell said. “If we’re putting our best foot forward every second of every game, that’s all you can ask for.”