First-year UCLA(w) coach Margueritte Aozasa was surprised by the atmosphere at Drake Stadium. It was a Sunday night in early April, right in the middle of the offseason — a time for tweaking and fine-tuning squads. But UCLA’s home field was noisy ahead of a rival matchup against USC(w) — and her newly-inherited squad was fired up.

“For a spring game, we had quite a few fans there, a really great atmosphere,” Aozasa said. “My team was incredibly hyped.”

It was Aozasa’s first taste of a Los Angeles derby — a clash between rival colleges that has yielded some intense matches over the years. Aozasa isn’t the only coach to be thrown into a new matchup. Two major Pac-12 programs have made prominent hires as part of a historically turbulent offseason for women’s soccer.

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“There were more openings, I think across the country than in any period during my seven or eight years college coaching,” Aozasa said.

UCLA and USC have appointed head coaches in a competitive Pac-12 conference. And amidst all of that shuffling, there’s plenty of opportunity for young and exciting coaches to make their mark in one of the nation’s best conferences.

Aozasa wasn’t sure if she wanted to apply at first. The Bay Area native had a solid job as an assistant coach at Stanford, working under Paul Ratcliffe — one of the nation’s most successful coaches. Every year, positions would open up across the country, but her commitment to Stanford was strong.

However, when the UCLA job became available, there was widespread encouragement around her to apply.

“I had some, I think, incredible backing. People going out of their way to encourage me to apply,” Aozasa said. “I don't know if I would have [applied] if not for that.”

She certainly was qualified enough for the position. During her seven years as an assistant for the Cardinal, the team had won five Pac-12 titles, and two NCAA Championships. Furthermore, she’d played a key role in bringing in talent — recruiting six current US Women’s National Team players.

The hiring process was both swift and hectic. She received a call back within 48 hours, and enjoyed a productive conversation with UCLA’s assistant athletic director. That conversation took place six days before her wedding day, and she was offered the job while on her honeymoon in Hawaii.

“We had to do the interview really quickly, because the wedding was coming up. So I ended up interviewing a day or two after the phone call, just because that was the only time I had,” Aozasa said.

Now in the depths of her first preseason, Aosaza’s adaptation from assistant to head coach has been steady. There are times when she has to remind herself that she has the final word. And the management of a receptive staff has certainly been an adjustment, she said.

There are further adaptations on the pitch, too. The difficulties of inheriting an unfamiliar squad is a common thread among newly-minted coaches across the women’s game. It’s certainly been the case for Aosaza. She took on a highly-touted UCLA attack, one notorious for its fluid movement and quick transitions. One that finished no. 4 in the Pac-12 in goals scored. One that could do with small tweaks rather than a total overhaul.

So her focus is at the other end of the pitch, shoring up a defense that had its moments of uncertainty. 

“I want us to be just as well known for our defensive organization, our individual commitment to defending, all of that,” Aozasa said. “Soccer goes both ways.”

For her, that means seeing the game in a more formulaic way, the kind of philosophy that she inherited from Ratcliffe, and her former college coach, Santa Clara’s Jerry Smith.

And it’s worked so far. Because on that raucous April evening, her UCLA squad put four past USC.

The coach on the other sideline was also cutting her teeth. USC head coach Jane Alukonis took over for the reigning Pac 12 champions after the decorated Keidane McAlpine departed for Georgia.

A former UCLA assistant, Alukonis started looking around after former Bruins head coach Amanda Cromwell moved to the NWSL’s Orlando Pride. Following that switch, she kept an eye out for opportunities, pondering the various openings around the country.

“After that nothing's really certain,” Alukonis said. “And so you had to start getting the resume together and look around.”

What she found was 12 miles from her former home. Rivalry aside, the short commute to Westwood was ideal. Alukonis had connections on the recruiting trail around the area, having coached club team LA Breakers for four years.

And her coaching style was a natural fit, too. Here was a coach who had overseen an exciting UCLA attack, offered a chance to coach the conference's most prolific front line.

“We played them at UCLA, and their attack was always fire,” Alukonis said. “It was awesome.”

But there remained questions regarding how she might set up the team. At USC, Alukonis has a number of elite attackers at her disposal. She can look to Croix Bethune — the Pac-12’s top returning scorer. She might also look to get more from exciting underclassmen in Simone Jackson and Aaliyah Farmer.

Figuring out how to utilize the resources at her disposal, though, isn’t easy.

“You have to honor the history of the program, you have to honor the players who are here. You can't just come in and put a cookie cutter on it and say ‘we're gonna play this way’,” Alukonis said.

Establishing an identity, then, is a major challenge. However, Alukonis has had the backing of her squad so far, and those vital tactical tweaks have been abided by in the early goings of the spring season.

So, when those two coaches squared off on a surprisingly rowdy Saturday night, they oversaw two squads evolving, adapting to new styles. And every time the ball hit the back of the net in the six-goal thriller, each new leader saw a glimpse of what their squad could be — and, perhaps more importantly, how it could improve.

And for two new coaches, seeing that potential is a start.