UCLA
1-0-0
Coastal Carolina
0-1-0
Hundley Shines as Bruins Rout CCU 4-0 on Opening Day
August 24, 2018 | Men's Soccer
Conway, S.C. – An infusion of offense from a pair of newcomers allowed No. 17 UCLA men's soccer to record a 4-0 season-opening win over No. 18 Coastal Carolina on Friday evening at CCU Soccer Stadium, as freshman midfielder Matt Hundley notched a brace before junior forward Mohammed Kamara put the game on ice with a late highlight-reel goal.
"Tonight was a great start to our season," said UCLA head coach Jorge Salcedo. "While there were times we could have been cleaner and sharper, we are pleased scoring four goals and not allowing any. Counting preseason, we've held all our opponents off the board and created numerous chances. We return to UCLA with a lot to work on, but with some momentum from this trip."
After an opening 20 minutes devoid of many dangerous chances, Hundley opened the scoring in the 24th minute. Senior defender and Preseason All-American Erik Holt started the play from behind the center line, playing a nice ball that allowed senior midfielder Anderson Asiedu to go streaking down the right side.
Once approaching the 18 yard box, Asiedu stepped on the brakes and sent a pass to Hundley near the penalty spot. Hundley then kept his momentum, ran to the left end of the box and hit a left-footed strike against his body and inside the far right post.
That goal would stand up as the only tally from the first half, though both teams did have Grade-A opportunities: UCLA's Cole Martinez had to make a big stop of a Langston Blackstock shot in the 36th minute and CCU keeper Chris Datallo had to scramble to stop a Kamara volley after a miscue from a CCU center back.
Each team came within inches of scoring early on in the second – Kamara on a saved breakaway shot and CCU on a free kick from about 22 yards that was tipped off the bar and out – but Hundley put the momentum in UCLA's favor for good with an eye-catching goal in the 71st minute, as he perfectly connected on a long-range free kick and got it to knuckle inside the top-right corner to put the Bruins up by a pair.
Hundley's stunner opened the floodgates for the Bruins, who netted twice more before the final whistle.
Kamara, who looked dangerous throughout the affair, was finally rewarded for his solid debut in the 78th minute, as he was played into a breakaway by Hundley. As opposed to his earlier breakaway where he shot low, this time he hit a moonshot chip at the last minute to finish off the spectacular goal.
?? at this goal from Mohammed Kamara!
— UCLA Men's Soccer (@UCLAMSoccer) August 25, 2018
Is this #SCTop10 worthy? We think so! #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/sulIi3WDDp
Redshirt junior midfielder Robert Knights put the icing on the cake in the 89th minute, getting near the goalmouth and then redirecting an Alex Knox cross from the right wing into the net.
This is the second straight Opening Day blowout for UCLA, which also topped USF 5-3 on the road last season.
Hundley's five-point (two goals, one assist) game was just the second recorded by a Bruin in the past three seasons (Knox, Oct. 26, 2017 vs. Oregon State).
UCLA returns home to host San Diego on Tuesday night in the Wallis Annenberg Stadium home opener. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m, and the contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Team Stats
Hundley, Matt
Assisted By: Asiedu, Anderson
GOAL by UCLA Hundley, Matt (FIRST GOAL), Assist by Asiedu, Anderson.
23:13
Hundley, Matt
Free Kick
70:51
Kamara, Mohammed
Assisted By: Hundley, Matt
Chip Shot
77:32
Knights, Robert
Assisted By: Knox, Alex
Deflection
88:37
