Sunshine Anuhea Fontes helped lead the UCLA women’s soccer team to the final four of the NCAA College Cup on Saturday. The forward is in her senior year at the university.
The UCLA Bruins beat the University of Virginia 2-1 on November 26 to book their ticket to the final four of the College Cup. During the 15th minute of the game, Fontes received the ball in the box after a give-and-go with her teammate Lexi Wright. Her strike beat the University of Virginia keeper for the first goal of the game.
According to the PAC-12 website, Fontes is the school’s leading goal scorer with 11 goals on the season. Her college soccer journey got off to a rocky start. According to the Daily Bruin, Fontes tore her ACL at the end of her senior year of high school in 2019. She redshirted her freshman season at UCLA as she did rehab for her ACL injury. During her sophomore year, the Fall 2020 season was postponed until Spring 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fontes scored five goals during her sophomore year but zero goals during her junior year, according to UCLA’s website. Her teammates and coach are happy she has found her form during her season year.
“Up until this year, anyone within our program knew how special she was and what she was capable of,” coach Margueritte Aozasa told the Daily Bruin. “I’m just really happy for her now that she’s gaining that recognition on a national stage.”
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