Conference tournaments offer an opportunity to test a squad’s postseason chops, with performance impacting seeding for the ultimate goal – a national championship.

But all 64 teams enter this week with a clean slate and a championship ripe for the taking, regardless of conference outcomes.

No. 4 seed UCLA women’s soccer (11-5-3, 6-2-3 Big Ten) will face Pepperdine (11-6-2, 8-2-1 West Coast Conference) Saturday night at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Bruins enter the tournament with home-field advantage but are coming off an overtime loss to No. 2 seed Michigan State in the Big Ten semifinals – a setback that may offer a reset and a new path forward.

“Now we kind of all have a taste of what a tournament-style game feels like,” said redshirt senior midfielder Emma Egizii. “(We will) use that feeling, get comfortable with it and play our style in the NCAAs.”

Pepperdine is coming off a 3-1 win against San Francisco that secured them the West Coast Conference championship. The Waves have logged 41 goals throughout their season, holding opponents to just 1.16 goals per game. Forward Julia Quinonez, who leads the squad with 11 goals, and midfielder/forward Tatum Wynalda, who boasts a team-high 10 assists, headline the offensive arsenal.

Although the Waves opened their season with a pair of losses and a tie, they logged a six-game winning streak punctuated by 6-0 and 9-0 shutout wins against Oregon State and Pacific, respectively.

And the Waves have fared well away from Malibu, with seven away wins compared to just four at home.

But the mission is simple for UCLA.

“The goal, of course, is to win it (the NCAA championship),” said coach Margueritte Aozasa. “We know this is a young group, and one of our goals is to win as many games as possible. I think we are a top-10 team. We are a team that can make a real splash during playoffs. The biggest thing will just be coming together, getting our legs back so that we can put our best foot forward and really play with something to prove.”

Aozasa is well equipped to guide the squad on another postseason run. She led UCLA to a national championship title in her first year at the helm in 2022, making history as the first rookie coach to achieve the feat.

And her 2025 squad boasts accolades of its own, particularly on defense, where the Bruins have logged 12 shutouts across 19 games and hold the seventh-highest shutout percentage in the nation. Their 0.42 goals against average is also second in the country.

But the Bruins have been battered this season, with multiple lynchpin starters missing or on limited playing time. Redshirt senior forward Lexi Wright left the Nebraska game Oct. 19 with an apparent ankle injury and has yet to return to the turf. Similarly, senior forward Lily Boyden – who started in 11 regular-season contests – did not appear in the Big Ten tournament, and her status remains unclear.

And those who did play exited the Big Ten tournament more banged up than ever – opposing teams committed 22 fouls against UCLA while the Westwood bunch recorded 36.

“We’re mostly focused on recovery,” said senior forward America Frias. “Getting our feet back on the ground.”

The Bruins’ 10th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance will kick off at 6 p.m. Saturday.