WASHINGTON D.C. – The top-ranked UCLA Bruins conceded three goals and lost to No. 12 Georgetown, 3-1, on Monday afternoon at Shaw Field. Freshman Jackson Yueill's second-half tally wasn't enough to lift the Bruins over the Hoyas, resulting in the second-straight defeat for UCLA.
“The road trip was obviously disappointing,” said UCLA Head Coach Jorge Salcedo. “We did enough in both second halves of each game to win. Georgetown's goalkeeper made some spectacular saves in the second half. This coupled with a few critical moments and decisions not going our way led to a difficult weekend. We will bounce back quickly and move forward.”
In the first half, much of the play was confined to the center of the pitch, with neither team generating a lot of offensive chances. The Bruins best early chance came in the 10th minute when Abu Danladi found Grady Howe in behind the Hoya defense. However, a good recovery from the Georgetown backline shut down the opportunity with a blocked shot to keep UCLA off of the board.
Yueill also threatened to post a first-half goal on a beautiful free-kick from the top of the 18-yard box, but his bid was denied by Georgetown's JT Marcinkowski. Just four minutes later, in the 39th minute, the Hoyas struck first with a goal from Brett Campbell. Keegan Rosenberry found Campbell in the box for the close-range score to put Georgetown up, 1-0, in the first half.
At the half, UCLA was getting out-shot by the Hoyas, 6-2, and earned zero corners compared to Georgetown's three.
Georgetown (1-2-1) wasted no time doubling up its lead early in the second half with a header from Arun Basuljevic. Just one minute and 33 seconds into the second period, Brandon Allen provided the assist with a well-placed cross to find the head of Basuljevic in the box.
Down two goals, UCLA (1-2) began to press and move more players forward into the attacking third. Danladi and Abdullah Adam had a golden chance in the 62nd minute when they both got in behind the Georgetown defense. However, some confusion between the players and a heavy touch from Danladi resulted in a squandered opportunity. Yueill also had an excellent chance to bring the Bruins back within one in the 68th minute, but his attempt went careening off of the crossbar.
Three minutes later, Yueill finally found the back of the net for his first career goal to get UCLA on the board. The ball found the freshman inside of a crowded penalty area after several deflections where he wasted no time blasting the ball into the net to make it, 2-1.
With UCLA pushing numbers forward, Georgetown took advantage on a counter-attack late in the game to retake a two-goal advantage. Campbell scored his second goal of the game after some nifty passing set him up alone in front for the easy finish to close out a tough afternoon for the Bruins.
In total, UCLA out-shot Georgetown, 14-11, including 12-5 in the second half. The Bruins' Juan Cervantes finished with two saves, while the Hoyas' Marcinkowski racked up six.
The Bruins return home to host the UC Riverside Highlanders on Sunday, September 13 at 5:00pm PT. The game can be seen live on the Pac-12 Networks and heard live on uclabruins.com. Tickets are available for all home matches and can be purchased by visiting uclabruins.com/tickets or by calling 310-UCLA-WIN.