The UCLA Bruins came into Sunday’s Big Ten Championship game as one of the Top 10 programs in the country, poised to collect their first conference championship after having just gotten edged out by USC as the regular season champs.

After an emotional, gutsy win over the No. 1 seed, USC, the Scarlet Knights would be taking on the No. 2 seed without their offensive leader, senior Riley Tiernan, due to her suspension for a red card in the semifinal round. The suspension of Tiernan, as well as the absence of standout freshman Gabriela Gil due to injury, put Rutgers behind the 8-ball before the opening whistle blew.

If those obstacles weren’t enough, UCLA’s outstanding goalkeeper Ryan Campbell had the lowest goals against average (0.33 GAA) in the nation, with 15 shutouts this season.

So, it was no surprise that the Bruins struck first, as sophomore Val Vargas put a shot past Olivia Bodmer at 6:28 to take the early lead, 1-0.

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The Bruins’ pressure was relentless in the first half, constantly creating opportunities and keeping the Scarlet Knights bottled up in their own end of the pitch.

That effort soon paid off as forward Taylor Cheatham picked up the rebound from Bodmer’s initial save and fired the ball into the net to give UCLA a two-goal lead at 40:52.

Unbelievably, the Bruins would net a third goal just as the half came to a close when freshman Jordan Geis launched a prayer from long range that cleared Bodmer’s reach to put UCLA up by three goals at 44:59.

When the first 45 minutes had drained from the clock, UCLA had outshot Rutgers six to four, had amassed five corner kicks to just one for the Knights, and had taken total control of the game at 3-0.

With a seemingly insurmountable hill to climb, Rutgers began to open up the offense in the second half to put pressure on the Bruins’ goal, which left the Scarlet Knights vulnerable in their own end.

That mode of play led to the Bruins’ fourth goal, when Lily Boyden re-directed a pass with a header that flicked past Bodmer at 68:48 to put UCLA up, 4-0. Shortly thereafter, freshman Sophie Reale put one into the Rutgers net to extend the lead to 5-0, which ended up being the final score.

For the Scarlet Knights it was a difficult finish to an otherwise stellar Big Ten campaign, which fell just one game short.

Rutgers will now await the selections for the NCAA Tournament, for the possibility of continuing their season. Should they be chosen to be one of the invited field of contending teams, the NCAA Tournament will begin on November 15 and run through December 9.