Meet UCLA’s Margueritte Aozasa and USC’s Jane Alukonis, the new soccer coaches in town

New UCLA coach Margueritte Aozasa celebrates with her team following a season-opening win over Iowa on Aug. 18 in Westwood. “It’s also weird knowing all the players on the other team.” Women’s soccer came to both campuses in 1993 but never before have USC and sixth-ranked UCLA both welcomed new head coaches in the same season, with Aozasa replacing Amanda Cromwell in Westwood and Alukonis taking over for Keidane McAlpine at USC. I do feel there’s an expectation on us to maintain that.” — UCLA women’s soccer coach Margueritte Aozasa “Every single day I come to work, every day we are out on the field, I have that duty to make sure I follow in those footsteps,” said Aozasa, whose Bruins, the two-time defending Pac-12 champions, opened with a preseason win over Fresno State, a victory over Iowa and a 6-0 romp over Cal State Northridge. There’s no way to build the relationship and get the best out of athletes if you only view them as athletes.” — USC women’s soccer coach Jane Alukonis “It kind of felt like both schools were hitting the reset and kind of in the same scenarios, where you’re going to build a little bit of a new identity,” said Alukonis who, like Aozasa, is a college head coach for the first time. “The whole person comes first,” said Alukonis, the first woman to run the USC program since Karen Stanley in 1995.