This post was updated Oct. 14 at 10:10 p.m.

After three consecutive Big Ten road games, the Bruins are returning to Westwood winless.

On Sunday afternoon, No. 9 UCLA women’s soccer (8-4-2, 4-2-2 Big Ten) shut out Minnesota (6-6-2, 2-4-2) but could not find the back of the net, resulting in a 0-0 draw in the team’s last away game of the regular season.

The Bruins have lost two of their last three matchups – falling to Big Ten opponents Washington and Wisconsin, with the former marking UCLA’s first loss since Aug. 23.

Conference play has been a thorn in the Bruins’ side – following their tie against the Golden Gophers, UCLA’s conference goals-per-game mark dipped to .43 in Big Ten contests – nearly half a goal lower than its overall season rate of .93.

“’I’m torn – obviously disappointed in the result, frustrated with the result, frustrated over the last week or two – but we know that that frustration is not really going to serve us, and we have to just figure out what we can do between now and Thursday to score some goals,” said coach Margueritte Aozasa.

The game marked the Bruins’ ninth shutout of the season.

While Aozasa has opted to play freshman goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor for the majority of the season, sophomore keeper Mariangela Medina made her first collegiate start Sunday, recording seven saves and garnering her third shutout.

UCLA took a season-high 20 shots throughout the affair – over twice the amount of shots as the Gophers, who finished with nine – but failed to execute on scoring opportunities.

A strong performance from Gopher goalkeeper Sarah Martin, who posted a career-high 12 saves, kept the Bruins from lighting up the scoreboard.

Sophomore forward Kara Croone recorded a season-high four shots, putting two on frame. The Brookhaven, Georgia, local said that despite the loss, the Bruins improved in creating opportunities to score.

UCLA also tried out a new 3-5-2 formation for the matchup, in what Croone said was an attempt to play more directly and get the ball to the team’s central forwards.

“We just got unlucky, because there were a lot of chances, a lot of shots on goal,” Croone said. “Just getting more familiar with each other and that certain formation definitely contributed to the lack of our execution, but I’m excited to keep on pursuing.”

The match mirrored the Bruins’ last affair – a 0-1 loss against Wisconsin on Oct. 9 – in all but score. Similar to the Golden Gophers’ match, the Bruins maintained control of the ball for the majority of the game and outshot the Badgers 14-3, ultimately failing to come up victorious.

On Sunday, the Bruins also racked up 10 fouls to the Gophers’ two.

“We had the majority of the ball and we were in dangerous positions, so they were counterattacking and that’s often when you’re going to give up fouls,” Aozasa said. “That’s something we need to work on.”

The Bruins will finish up the rest of their regular season with a trio of home games.

UCLA will play No. 7 Iowa on Thursday, as well as Nebraska and USC in the following days.

With the team coming off a strong showing in Minnesota – and returning to its home pitch – Croone said the Bruins are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“We can see it with our style and our play – it’s coming,” Croone said. “We’re so close to figuring it out.”