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. โ 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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"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."
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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.
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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.
ยThat's our @B1GSoccer Freshman of the Year Nicki Fraser using her head to give the Bruins the first goal of the game. ??
โ 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.
ย
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.
ย
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.
ย
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.
ย
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.
ย
"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."
ย
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.
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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
Players
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
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