UCLA
San Diego
No. 1 UCLA Upset by San Diego
September 27, 2014 | Men's Soccer
San Diego, Calif. – The top-ranked UCLA Bruins lost their first road game of the season to San Diego, 1-0, tonight at Torero Stadium.
San Diego (3-2-4) earned the upset victory with a first half goal from junior defenseman Patrick Zimmer. Zimmer poked the ball into the net off of a free-kick from Darragh Vieyra in the 15th minute to post his first goal of the season.
UCLA (4-2-2), who held a 22-6-4 all-time record over the Toreros coming into tonight, was unable to mount a consistent offensive attack, totaling just one shot on target in the game. The loss ends the Bruins four-match unbeaten streak and three-match shutout streak.
UCLA goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. had not allowed a goal in 383 consecutive minutes before conceding the first-half tally to Zimmer. Despite the goal allowed, Edwards Jr. continued to prove his standing among the best in the nation with his four-save performance tonight.
Overall, the Bruins could not solve the Torero defense. Despite dominating the possession, UCLA had difficulty getting the ball into scoring areas, due in large part to San Diego's defensive posture. Totaling just two shots (none on goal) in the first half, the Bruins entered halftime with a one-goal deficit.
The second half proved to be much of the same for UCLA; however a late flurry of attempts for the Bruins narrowly missed finding an equalizer. In the 73rd minute, Willie Raygoza sent a bending free-kick into the box from the left wing that was re-directed wide of the frame off of the head of Jordan Vale. With just under 10 minutes to play, Vale would get another chance off of a cross from the right corner, but the ball sailed high over the crossbar effectively ending the evening for the Bruins.
The Bruins will look to rebound on Sunday, Sept. 28 when they take on Cal State Northridge at Marshall Field at Drake Stadium. Kick-off is set for 5:00pm PT and the game will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks.
