WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Sixth-seeded Penn State women’s soccer took a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute of action and managed a one-goal lead at the halftime intermission, but the Nittany Lions were ultimately overcome by a second-half scoring surge as the third-seeded and 20th-ranked UCLA Bruins took home a 2-1 decision in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament from Folk Field Saturday night.
Graduate forward Kaitlyn MacBean put her talents on display yet again in the Big Ten Tournament, notching PSU’s only goal in the event this season. The Excelsior, Minnesota, native anchored the Blue & White throughout the Big Ten regular season and finished as the league’s leading goal scorer in conference play with seven tallies against B1G opposition this season. MacBean notched her eighth goal against a Big Ten opponent and tallied her ninth of the 2025 campaign in the process, leaving her one goal shy of cracking double digits in that statistic in each of the last three years. She is up to 39 goals scored as a collegiate athlete and has mustered an eye-popping 88 points since stepping foot on the Penn State campus back in 2021.
Elsewhere on the scoresheet, senior forward Amelia White and redshirt senior midfielder Julia Raich each earned credit for assists on MacBean’s tally in the 26th minute. White, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, logged her third assist of the 2025 campaign in addition to her 13th assist as a collegian. The veteran attacker notched her first helper since logging one against the Santa Clara Broncos on August 28 in Happy Valley. Raich, meanwhile, extended her point streak to three consecutive matches after logging a goal against Indiana followed by an assist apiece against Ohio State and UCLA on Saturday. MacBean led the Nittany Lions in shot attempts with three, with White and redshirt senior midfielder Riley Gleason finishing as the only other Penn Staters with multi-shot outings by logging a pair each.
Between the pipes, redshirt junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress turned in one of the most impressive individual performances of her collegiate career to date despite the final result, with the Lyndhurst, New Jersey, native matching her career high in saves with eight. Gress swatted away eight saves for the first time since doing so against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the opening round of last year’s Big Ten Tournament in the Twin Cities. Gress faced a season-high 26 total shots and also notched a save on a penalty kick for the first time since turning one back against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in her first collegiate start last season. For UCLA, freshman netminder Daphne Nakfoor allowed a goal with three saves en route to the winning decision.
On the final box score, UCLA racked up decisive advantages in multiple statistics, although the Nittany Lions were more effective at generating dangerous chances in their limited opportunities. UCLA took the victory on the final shot chart by a 26-6 differential in addition to an 11-4 edge in shots on goal. The corner kick competition finished deadlocked at four apiece, marking the fourth time this season Penn State finished tied with its opponent in that statistic, moving to 1-2-1 in those instances. Whistles were plentiful in Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup, with UCLA picking up 11 fouls against eight on the Nittany Lions. PSU’s bench picked up a yellow card for dissent in the first half, while UCLA earned its only caution for timewasting in the second stanza.
It was all Nittany Lions in the first 45 minutes of play, with the Blue & White setting the tone early in the match with a wide array of dangerous scoring opportunities. MacBean nearly had the first goal of the night less than 10 minutes into action following a haphazard giveaway by the Bruin back line. She found herself in front of an empty net, but her right-footed shot opportunity took an unfortunate carom off the left pipe to keep things level. A few minutes later MacBean was able to work down the left side of the pitch and put a banger on frame, but a successful save by Nakfoor kept the sheet clean through the first 25 minutes of play.
Tides turned for the Blue & White in the 26th, as a run up the middle of the pitch by redshirt junior midfielder Molly Martin kicked off Penn State’s best opportunity of the night. Raich was able to take over on the left side of the field moments later, lifting a brilliant long-range ball to the edge of the penalty area for White in the middle of the pitch. White utilized her head to immediately play the ball forward to a running MacBean, who utilized a world-class left-footed finish to beat Nakfoor to mark UCLA’s sixth goal conceded on the 2025 season. The Blue & White were able to hold on for the remainder of the opening stanza to take a 1-0 lead into the intermission. Unfortunately, the Bruins were able to capitalize with a pair of unanswered scores on the other side of the break, and Penn State could not force an equalizer as UCLA went on to take Saturday’s match by a 2-1 differential.
Following Saturday’s matchup in West Lafayette, the Nittany Lions drop to 9-7-3 overall on the 2025 season and completed their run in the Big Ten women’s soccer tournament following a one-and-done performance. UCLA improved to 11-4-3 overall and will look to continue their early success as a member of the Big Ten Conference in the tournament semifinals next week, set to take on either second-seeded Michigan State or seventh-seeded Northwestern on Thursday night from Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri. After the ninth all-time meeting between the two sides on Saturday, UCLA extended its advantage over the Nittany Lions to 5-3-1.
SCORING SUMMARY
26’ – A run up the middle of the pitch by Martin kicked off Penn State’s best opportunity of the night. Raich was able to take over on the left side of the field moments later, lifting a brilliant long-range ball to the edge of the penalty area for White in the middle of the pitch. White utilized her head to immediately play the ball forward to a running MacBean, who utilized a world-class left-footed finish to beat Nakfoor into the bottom right corner. PSU 1, UCLA 0
62’ – Emma Egizii worked down the right side of the pitch and slotted the ball forward to Oruha Hayashi, who made a dangerous run into the Nittany Lion box on the right side of the field. Hayashi slotted the ball back to an open teammate in Bella Winn on a central run toward the six, with the Bruin attacker able to find the back of the net with a right-footed finish. PSU 1, UCLA 1
77’ – A questionable penalty kick was awarded to the Bruins, with Winn standing over the ball to take the attempt. She tried a shot along the ground to her right, which Gress saved with an impressive diving stop, but Jordan Geis was able to charge into the 18 and clean up the parried ball into the top right corner for the match-winning tally. UCLA 2, PSU 1
UP NEXT
Penn State women’s soccer awaits its fate in the NCAA Tournament selection show, which will stream live at no cost on NCAA.com on Monday afternoon, November 10. The stream of the selection show is slated to begin at approximately 4 p.m. (ET).
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women’s soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women’s soccer team on X and Instagram @PennStateWSOC, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at /PSUWomensSoccer.
The 2025 Penn State women's soccer season is presented by Highmark.