Monday, November 4
St. Paul, MN
1:00 PM PT
UCLA
14-3-3, 8-1-2
1
vs
0
Penn State
12-6-3, 5-4-2
1
2
F
Penn St.
0
0
0
UCLA
1
0
1
Nicki Fraser and the Bruins celebrate the quarterfinal win over Penn State
Photo by: Matt Krohn
UCLA Blanks Penn State in Big Ten Quarterfinals, 1-0
November 04, 2024 | Women's Soccer
St. Paul, Minn. – No. 2 seed UCLA won its first-ever conference tournament match, beating No. 10 seed Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, 1-0, at the University of Minnesota. The victory enables the Bruins to advance to Thursday's semifinal against Washington at St. Louis' CITYPARK.
Defender Nicki Fraser, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, scored the game's only goal in the 36th minute, the first of her collegiate career. Fraser completed an end-to-end 12-pass possession by the Bruins that started with a Ryan Campbell distribution, was advanced by a Sofia Cook nutmeg, and ended on header by Fraser following a cross from fellow freshman defender Paloma Daubert. Fraser's header bounced off the left post and into the back of the net for the go-ahead score.
The Bruin defense took over from there, with Campbell recording her nation-leading 14th shutout of the season. UCLA held Penn State to just two shots on goal and seven shots in the game.
UCLA (14-3-3) started the match on the attack early against Penn State (12-6-3), with a shot by Cook in the first minute sailing high and another shot by Bridgette Marin-Valencia blocked in the fourth minute. The Bruins were in a prime position to score the first goal in the 11th minute when Penn State was whistled for a foul in the box on Kara Croone, but after a video review, the call was reversed, and no penalty kick awarded.
The Bruins continued to press for the go-ahead goal and had strong chances on a Quincy McMahon rocket that just missed the upper right corner in the 18th minute and on a Meg Boade long-distance strike that just missed the left corner in the 20th minute. In the 29th minute, a Lilly Reale steal led to a shot on frame by Cook that was saved by Penn State goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress for a corner kick. Jayden Perry's shot from the corner missed. Seven minutes later, however, Fraser scored the game-winner.
Daubert nearly doubled UCLA's lead in the 55th minute with a laser shot that went off the crossbar. In the 62nd minute, Gress used a kick save to stop a close-range shot by Cook, who had a curling shot just miss high three minutes later.
Penn State threatened in the 67th minute after earning a dangerously close free kick, but the kick by Jordan Fusco was easily handled by Campbell. The Nittany Lions had another dangerous free kick a few feet in front of the goal in the 87th minute but was unable to capitalize, with the Bruins deflecting the shot out and defending the ensuing corner kick well.
"That was a tournament game and against an experienced team," said UCLA head coach Margueritte Aozasa. "Everyone is very excited. One of our goals was to start the game on a different foot after the USC game, and I was really pleased with how the team started, and they kept that energy throughout the whole game."
UCLA will face No. 6 seed Washington in the second semifinal at CITYPARK on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 4:30 pm CT/2:30 pm PT. No. 1 seed USC will play No. 5 seed Rutgers in the first semifinal at 2 pm CT/12 pm PT. The semifinal winners will play in the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 10 at Noon CT/10 am PT. All three matches will be televised on Big Ten Network.
Defender Nicki Fraser, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, scored the game's only goal in the 36th minute, the first of her collegiate career. Fraser completed an end-to-end 12-pass possession by the Bruins that started with a Ryan Campbell distribution, was advanced by a Sofia Cook nutmeg, and ended on header by Fraser following a cross from fellow freshman defender Paloma Daubert. Fraser's header bounced off the left post and into the back of the net for the go-ahead score.
That's our @B1GSoccer Freshman of the Year Nicki Fraser using her head to give the Bruins the first goal of the game. ??
— UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) November 4, 2024
??: @bigtenplus #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/ENmGBYZ51b
The Bruin defense took over from there, with Campbell recording her nation-leading 14th shutout of the season. UCLA held Penn State to just two shots on goal and seven shots in the game.
UCLA (14-3-3) started the match on the attack early against Penn State (12-6-3), with a shot by Cook in the first minute sailing high and another shot by Bridgette Marin-Valencia blocked in the fourth minute. The Bruins were in a prime position to score the first goal in the 11th minute when Penn State was whistled for a foul in the box on Kara Croone, but after a video review, the call was reversed, and no penalty kick awarded.
The Bruins continued to press for the go-ahead goal and had strong chances on a Quincy McMahon rocket that just missed the upper right corner in the 18th minute and on a Meg Boade long-distance strike that just missed the left corner in the 20th minute. In the 29th minute, a Lilly Reale steal led to a shot on frame by Cook that was saved by Penn State goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress for a corner kick. Jayden Perry's shot from the corner missed. Seven minutes later, however, Fraser scored the game-winner.
Daubert nearly doubled UCLA's lead in the 55th minute with a laser shot that went off the crossbar. In the 62nd minute, Gress used a kick save to stop a close-range shot by Cook, who had a curling shot just miss high three minutes later.
Penn State threatened in the 67th minute after earning a dangerously close free kick, but the kick by Jordan Fusco was easily handled by Campbell. The Nittany Lions had another dangerous free kick a few feet in front of the goal in the 87th minute but was unable to capitalize, with the Bruins deflecting the shot out and defending the ensuing corner kick well.
"That was a tournament game and against an experienced team," said UCLA head coach Margueritte Aozasa. "Everyone is very excited. One of our goals was to start the game on a different foot after the USC game, and I was really pleased with how the team started, and they kept that energy throughout the whole game."
UCLA will face No. 6 seed Washington in the second semifinal at CITYPARK on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 4:30 pm CT/2:30 pm PT. No. 1 seed USC will play No. 5 seed Rutgers in the first semifinal at 2 pm CT/12 pm PT. The semifinal winners will play in the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 10 at Noon CT/10 am PT. All three matches will be televised on Big Ten Network.
Team Stats
PSU
UCLA
Goals
0
1
Shots
7
16
Shots on Goal
2
3
Saves
2
2
Corners
3
5
Fouls
7
14
Scoring Plays
Nicki Fraser (1)
Assisted By: Paloma Daubert , Ayo Oke
GOAL by UCLA Fraser, Nicki Assist by Daubert, Paloma and Oke, Ayo.
35:43
Game Leaders
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
mid
Shots
5
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Women's SoccerMF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's SoccerD
/ Women's SoccerD
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
D/F
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's SoccerDay One - UCLA Women's Soccer Head Coach Gof Boyoko
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