Saturday, November 15
6:00 PM PT
UCLA
12-5-3, 6-2-3
3
vs
1
Pepperdine
11-7-2, 8-2-1
1
2
F
Pepperdine
0
1
1
UCLA
2
1
3
Payten Cooper and America Frias
Photo by: Elijah Carr
UCLA Downs Pepperdine, 3-1, in NCAA First Round
November 15, 2025 | Women's Soccer
LOS ANGELES - No. 4 seed UCLA scored two first-half goals and another in the final 49 seconds to hand Pepperdine a 3-1 defeat at a rain-soaked Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Saturday night.
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Redshirt senior Emma Egizii put UCLA on the board quickly at 2:04, nutmegging a Pepperdine player before dribbling center towards goal. From about 25 yards out, Egizii fired a right-footed shot to the far post for the goal, her sixth of the season.
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The Waves (11-7-2) earned a corner kick with under 90 seconds to play, but the Bruins defended well, and Oruha Hayashi got the ball out wide to Laila Edris. With the Pepperdine goalkeeper crashing the box on the corner kick, Edris launched a pass down the field, and Payten Cooper sped after it, beating the last Pepperdine defender to the ball. Medvecky and two other Wave defenders got back to defend the goal before Cooper was able to get a shot off, but she positioned herself perfectly to hit the shot for the insurance goal at 89:11.ย
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"We're one of the teams in the country where [conditions] like this really take away from how we like to play, so in the second half we had to abandon that, and it just came down to work ethic and grit, and I thought we did a good job of that," . I'm really proud of the group to get the result."
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The Bruins (12-5-3) will next face No. 5 seed BYU in the NCAA second round on Friday, Nov. 21. The game will take place at Stanford at 4pm PT.ย
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Redshirt senior Emma Egizii put UCLA on the board quickly at 2:04, nutmegging a Pepperdine player before dribbling center towards goal. From about 25 yards out, Egizii fired a right-footed shot to the far post for the goal, her sixth of the season.
Redshirt freshman Bella Winn doubled the Bruins' lead in the 31st minute. After Kara Croone's shot was blocked, Winn collected the rebound and shot from the top of the arc, hitting the left post and going in. The goal was Winn's team-leading ninth goal of the year. Less than a minute later, Leena Powell nearly made it 3-0, but her shot hit the post, and then Vargas' follow-up shot was saved by Pepperdine goalkeeper Jillian Medvecky.First the nutmeg, then the goal by Emma Egizii! ??
โ UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) November 16, 2025
??: ESPN+#SCTop10 | #NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/gHmoT1RUU6
As the rainfall increased in the second half, the amount of shot opportunities decreased, neither team getting a shot off until the 83rd minute, when Daphne Nakfoor saved a shot by Tabitha LaParl. The floodgates opened from there, though, and the Waves had three more shots before breaking through with a goal at 88:06. Tatum Wynalda's shot was cleared off the line by Meila Brewer, then Leena Powell blocked another shot by Elle Quinn in front of the goal, but the Waves would not be denied a third time, and LaParl connected, with her shot going off Nakfoor and in.ยOff the post and in for @Bellawinnsoccer to double the Bruins' lead!
โ UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) November 16, 2025
??: ESPN+#GoBruins | #NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/uzOHRAEXaQ
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The Waves (11-7-2) earned a corner kick with under 90 seconds to play, but the Bruins defended well, and Oruha Hayashi got the ball out wide to Laila Edris. With the Pepperdine goalkeeper crashing the box on the corner kick, Edris launched a pass down the field, and Payten Cooper sped after it, beating the last Pepperdine defender to the ball. Medvecky and two other Wave defenders got back to defend the goal before Cooper was able to get a shot off, but she positioned herself perfectly to hit the shot for the insurance goal at 89:11.ย
"A huge shout out to our field crew because this may not have happened without them, and they were literally out here for hours prior to the game prepping the field," said UCLA head coach Margueritte Aozasa. "Everyone who worked here on that, thank you."Payten Cooper seals the win for the Bruins!
โ UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) November 16, 2025
??: ESPN+#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/O9o92fHjdx
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"We're one of the teams in the country where [conditions] like this really take away from how we like to play, so in the second half we had to abandon that, and it just came down to work ethic and grit, and I thought we did a good job of that," . I'm really proud of the group to get the result."
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The Bruins (12-5-3) will next face No. 5 seed BYU in the NCAA second round on Friday, Nov. 21. The game will take place at Stanford at 4pm PT.ย
Team Stats
PEPP
UCLA
Goals
1
3
Shots
8
11
Shots on Goal
5
5
Saves
2
3
Corners
5
3
Fouls
9
13
Scoring Plays
Emma Egizii (5)
GOAL by UCLA Egizii, Emma.
02:03
Bella Winn (8)
Assisted By: Kara Croone
GOAL by UCLA Winn, Bella Assist by Croone, Kara.
30:22
Tabitha LaParl (4)
GOAL by PEPP LaParl, Tabitha.
88:06
Payten Cooper (3)
GOAL by UCLA Cooper, Payten.
89:11
Game Leaders
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
fwd
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
D
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's SoccerMF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's SoccerF
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