UCLA
2-1-0
San Francisco
2-0-1
UCLA Edged 1-0 by San Francisco
September 02, 2018 | Men's Soccer
LOS ANGELES – The No. 8 UCLA men's soccer team suffered its first loss of the 2018 season on Sunday night, dropping a 1-0 decision to visiting San Francisco at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.
The Bruins (2-1-0) and Dons (2-0-1) battled to a blank scoreline in the opening half, but USF broke through for the lone goal of the game in the second half.
With UCLA deep in visitor territory for an extended period of time, the Dons were able to break into a quick counter when they got possession. Junior forward Jorge Ruiz ended up making a run down the right wing, sending a pass into the middle for senior midfielder Sean Bowman, who gathered the ball and finished low past UCLA keeper Justin Garces.
The score ended UCLA's season-opening shutout streak at 232 minutes. The Bruins were looking to record clean sheets in their first three games for the first time since 2013.
"We had a lot of chances to score the first goal of the game and we didn't," said UCLA head coach Jorge Salcedo. "It was one of those games where one mistake ended up costing us. We had two good chances in their box and then a few seconds later, the ball is in the back of our net. I think that was a microcosm of what went on tonight."
The Bruins weren't able to find an equalizer, but got agonizingly close on a number of occasions following Bowman's strike.
Almost immediately after the USF goal, senior midfielder Erik Holt capped off some solid build up by blasting a shot from 30 yards out off the left goalpost. A few minutes later, freshman midfielder Matt Hundley found sophomore defender Brandon Terwege on a corner kick, but his header ricocheted off the crossbar and out.
The Bruins had their last grade-A opportunity in the 84th minute, as Holt flicked a long throw into the path of junior forward Mohammed Kamara, who poked it towards the net but saw his shot roll just wide of the post.
Despite not producing any goals, the first half was far from drama-free.
Both teams played physical from practically the starting whistle, with UCLA recording 14 fouls to USF's 13 in the opening half.
Kamara recorded the two best chances of the half for UCLA; he ran down a long ball over the top from Holt in the 25th minute but had his low shot turned away, he then tried to chip the keeper from a narrow angle in the 41st minute but had that effort cleared off the line.
Garces made a trio of saves in his collegiate debut, including a solid block of a Bowman drive at the 7:30 mark.
UCLA returns to action next Friday, traveling to Maryland for a 4:00 p.m. PT contest. The Terrapins are 0-1-1 so far this season.
Team Stats
BOWMAN, Sean (2)
Assisted By: RUIZ, Jorge
counter on right side cross to left
51:01
