#8 UCLA vs. UC Riverside
Marshall Field at Drake Stadium
Sunday, Sept. 13 - 5:00 pm PT
TV - Pac-12 Networks (Christian Miles, Christopher Sullivan)
Radio/Live Stats - www.UCLABruins.com
Twitter - @UCLAMSoccer | #UCRvsUCLA
UCLA Returns Home to Host the Highlanders
Following a tough weekend away from Westwood, the No. 8 UCLA Bruins return home to take on the UC Riverside Highlanders this weekend. The contest is scheduled for Sunday, September 13 at 5:00pm PT, at Drake Stadium. The match will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks and can be heard live at www.UCLABruins.com.
In The Rankings
UCLA entered last weekend as the top-ranked team in the country, but a pair of losses has dropped the Bruins to No. 8 in the NSCAA poll, No. 16 in the Soccer America poll and No. 5 in the Top Drawer Soccer Poll. UC Riverside comes in unranked in all major polls.
Scouting the Highlanders
The UC Riverside Highlanders enter the weekend with an overall record of 2-3-0, having lost three of their last four matches. The Highlanders won their most recent match, however, 3-0, over San Francisco on Thursday, September 10 in their home opener. Norberto Ochoa notched his first career hat trick to lift the Highlanders over the Dons. Prior to hosting USF, UC Riverside defeated Concordia to begin the season before falling to San Diego, Syracuse and Colgate in consecutive road matches. The Highlanders are led by Ochoa with six points, along with redshirt senior Michael Salazar and junior Romario Lomeli who have each recorded five points this season. In between the pipes, senior Ashkan Khosravi has started four games and needs just two more wins to tie Charles Alamo atop the Highlanders' career wins chart with 21. Vincent Morales has started one game, earning the shutout against USF.
UCLA is undefeated against UC Riverside all-time, going 14-0-0 against the Highlanders. In total, the Bruins have out-scored UC Riverside 63-5 in the 14 meetings and have shut-out the Highlanders nine times. Furthermore, the Bruins have never conceded more than one goal to UC Riverside. In the last meeting, UCLA shut-out the Highlanders, 3-0, in 2013.
Bruin - Highlander Connections
-- UCLA sophomore forward Christian Chavez and redshirt freshman midfielder Joab Santoyo attended the same high school, A.B. Miller HS (Fontana, Calif.), as UC Riverside redshirt senior midfielder Jonathan Tovar.
-- UCLA freshman midfielder Stephen Payne and UC Riverside redshirt senior forward Norberto Ochoa and freshman defender Ali Harb are all from Riverside, Calif.
UCLA Struggles on East Coast Trip
UCLA traveled east last weekend to take on a pair of ranked opponents in then ranked No. 6 Maryland and No. 12 Georgetown. The Bruins opened the weekend in College Park, Md. to take on the Terrapins on Friday, September 4. It was a hostile environment at Ludwig Field where they set a new school record for fans in attendance at 8,449. A hand ball in the box awarded Maryland its first goal on a penalty kick before Abu Danladi equalized for the Bruins late in the second half to force overtime. However, just six minutes into the extra session, Terps forward Sebastian Elney closed out a 2-1 victory for Maryland by heading in a Tsubasa Endoh cross.
In the second game of the weekend at Georgetown on Monday, September 7, it was another tough afternoon for the boys in blue and gold. Down two goals in the second half, freshman Jackson Yueill netted his first career goal to bring the Bruins back within one. However, with UCLA pressing for a tying goal, the Bruins were caught on a counter-attack for a third Georgetown goal, Brett Campbell's second, late in the game to seal the second loss of the road trip, 3-1.
Malcolm Jones Pushes UCLA Past UNM
The Bruins opened the 2015 season with a 1-0 victory over the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday, August 29 at Drake Stadium. A second half strike from freshman defender Malcolm Jones pushed UCLA over the top for the one-goal victory. Despite struggling to find consistency in the first half, the Bruins pushed hard for an opening goal in the second half, out-shooting the Lobos, 11-2, in the period. The freshman, Jones, came on in the 55th minute as a substitute and wasted no time making an impact, scoring his first career goal just seven minutes later. After coralling his own rebound off a blocked shot inside the six-yard box, Jones volleyed his second chance home for the eventual game-winning tally.
Nothing Like Home Cooking
UCLA has had a lot of success against non-conference opponents at home under Head Coach Jorge Salcedo. Since Salcedo took over in 2004, the Bruins have gone 33-6-5 at home against non-conference foes. Six of Salcedo's 11 previous seasons have resulted in zero home losses to non-conference opponents, four have resulted in one loss and just one resulted in two losses. So far in 2015, UCLA is 1-0-0 against non-conference opponents at home, taking down New Mexico in the opening match. Including this weekend's match against UC Riverside, the Bruins are set to play five consecutive non-conference home matches.
UCLA Voted Pac-12 Preseason Favorite
For the sixth-straight season, the Pac-12 Conference's men's soccer coaches voted UCLA as the preseason favorite to win the 2015 regular season. The Bruins received four first place votes and a total of 24 points. In descending order after UCLA are Stanford (21 points) and Washington (18 points), who each received a first place vote, followed by California (13 points), Oregon State (nine points) and San Diego State (five points). The Bruins, who finished second in the conference last season, have claimed seven Pac-12 titles since men's soccer became a conference sanctioned sport in 2000. The last conference crown for UCLA came in 2011 and Head Coach Jorge Salcedo has led the Bruins to five Pac-12 titles since taking over in 2004.
Adekoya, Amick & Danladi Earn All-Pac-12
UCLA sophomores Seyi Adekoya and Abu Danladi, along with junior Michael Amick, were each named to the inaugural Preseason All-Pac-12 team this season. UCLA's three representatives ties Stanford for a conference-high, followed by Washington and Oregon State with two and California with one. Danladi and Adekoya return to Westwood after finishing second and third respectively in points on the team last season, while Amick comes back to anchor a strong Bruin backline. Amick earned first team All-Pac-12 a season ago, while Adekoya was named second team All-Pac-12.
Amick Named to MAC Hermann Watch List
UCLA junior Michael Amick was recently named to the 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy watch list. Amick is one of 30 men and 28 women from Division I soccer programs to be named to their respective watch lists. Last season, the MAC Hermann Trophy was awarded to UCLA midfielder Leo Stolz, marking the first Bruin to win the award since the MAC Player of the Year and the Hermann Trophy merged in 2002. Amick, a third team NSCAA All-American last season, is one of 13 players on the watch list who received NSCAA All-American nods in 2014.
UCLA Welcomes #1 Recruiting Class
UCLA welcomed the program's third consecutive top-ranked recruiting class this season. The 14 freshmen and one junior transfer join the returning Bruins to create a formidable roster for the 2015 campaign. Overall, seven players from the incoming class have taken part in the USA National Team program at the U-17 or U-18 level, highlighted by Malcolm Jones and Jackson Yueill who have each been consistent starters on the U-18 team. On the club side, Jose Hernandez was named the U-18 Development League Player of the Year after netting 25 goals last season for the Real Salt Lake Academy. Joining the freshmen is transfer Abullah Adam who set the school record for goals in a season (13) at Lyon College last year.
Tough Schedule Ahead
The Bruins sport one of the nation's most difficult schedules in 2015. UCLA will square off with seven teams that were ranked within the NSCAA Preseason Top-25, including three teams preseason ranked in the Top-10. Having already faced then-ranked No. 6 Maryland and No. 12 Georgetown last weekend, the Bruins still face off with now ranked No. 6 Washington, No. 12 Oregon State and No. 13 Stanford twice each during Pac-12 play.
UCLA on the Pac-12 Networks
UCLA will be featured on the Pac-12 Networks often in 2015. In total, 13 of the Bruins' 19 regular season games are set to be televised on the conference's network. Furthermore, the Pac-12 Network, in its' fourth year, will provide live telecasts of all but two of the Bruins' conference matches.