Bruins Open Season at IU/Adidas Credit Union Classic

Friday, August 30

Bloomington, IN

2:00 PM

UCLA

Northwestern

Blayne Martinez (photo: Don Liebig)

Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA

Bruins Open Season at IU/Adidas Credit Union Classic

August 29, 2019 | Men's Soccer

Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats

UCLA vs. Northwestern
Date/Time: Friday, Aug. 30 - 2:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Bloomington, Ind. (Bill Armstrong Stadium)
Stream: Big Ten Network+ (Subscription required)
Live Stats

UCLA Vs. No. 2 Indiana
Date/Time: Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019 – 5:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Bloomington, Ind. (Bill Armstrong Stadium)
Stream: Big Ten Network+ (Subscription required)
Live Stats

UCLA OPENS 2019 SEASON WITH THE IU/ADIDAS CREDIT UNION CLASSIC
The UCLA men's soccer team will begin the 2019 regular season on the road this weekend, playing a pair of matches as part of the IU/Adidas Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. The Bruins open tourney play with a neutral match against Northwestern on Friday, Aug. 30 at 2:00 p.m. PT in the first-ever matchup between the two schools. UCLA will then face No. 2-ranked and tournament host Indiana on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. PT. Both games will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+, which requires a subscription to gain access. Stream and live stats links for both games are available on the UCLABruins.com men's soccer schedule page.

UCLA IN SEASON OPENERS
The Bruins are 38-8-6 all-time in season-openers for the years in which results are available. UCLA is unbeaten in six consecutive season openers, last falling to New Mexico to begin the 2012 campaign. The Bruins have opened on the road five times in the last 11 years, going 4-1-0 in those contests. UCLA has scored at least four goals in each of its last two season openers, winning 5-3 on the road at San Francisco in 2017 and blanking Coastal Carolina 4-0 in 2018.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA enters the 2019 campaign receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches national preseason poll and College Soccer News preseason poll.

RYAN JORDEN ERA BEGINS THIS WEEKEND
This weekend marks not just the beginning of the 2019 season, but the official start of the Ryan Jorden era at UCLA. Formerly the head coach at Pacific and Cal Baptist, Jorden was tabbed to take over the program in late April by UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero. Jorden oversaw the revival of Pacific's dormant men's soccer program in 2013, and turned them into one of the top programs on the west coast. Only Stanford and Jorden's Pacific squad made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons. The Santa Barbara, Calif. native also helmed Cal Baptist to NCCAA National Championships in 2011 and 2012. He was a student-athlete at Westmont from 1991-1994, serving as an assistant coach with the Warriors from 2000-2007. He is the 11th head coach in UCLA men's soccer program history.

POWELL TABBED TO PRESEASON ALL-PAC-12 TEAM
Redshirt senior midfielder/defender Matthew Powell was named to the 2019 Preseason All-Pac-12 Team ahead of the new season. Powell was one of just three defenders to make the conference's preseason Best XI. The Castro Valley, Calif. native was an All-Pac-12 second team choice in 2018 after receiving an all-conference honorable mention as a sophomore in 2017. A mainstay of the defensive corps last year, Powell was one of just three Bruins to start all 19 of the team's games. Spending time at both center back and holding mid, Powell played the full 90 in all but three games and ended the year with 1,670 minutes of action, third-most on the team.

PRESEASON IN BRIEF
UCLA was a combined 2-0-0 in preseason play, posting shutout wins over NAIA-member Westmont and Omaha. The Bruins began exhibition action with a 3-0 home decision over Montecito, Calif.-based Westmont. Marcony Pimentel opened the scoring in the first half, followed by a second-half PK conversion from Milan Iloski and a late third tally from Jefferson Alade. Eric Iloski potted the lone goal in a 1-0 road win at Omaha. The Bruins posted a 4-0 aggregate scoreline in the two preseason scrimmages.

JEFFERSON ALADE INCLUDED ON TOP DRAWER'S PRESEASON FRESHMAN BEST XI
UCLA freshman forward Jefferson Alade was tabbed to the TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Freshman Best XI before the start of the new season. He was one of just three forwards listed among the XI. A product of the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy, Alade scored 36 goals over 83 career games with the club. He saw his productivity go up as he got older, culminating in a career-high 15 scores last year in 31 games. He was a three-star recruit per TopDrawer.

2018 IN REVIEW
The Bruins posted a 10-9-0 overall record last year, qualifying for the 2018 NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. The Bruins were eliminated in the first round in a road contest at Portland. The Bruins were 5-5-0 in Pac-12 play, good for fourth place in the conference. UCLA was 4-1-0 at one point in conference action, but closed the season by losing four of five against league foes. Top scorers included Matt Hundley (17 points), Mohammed Kamara (11), and Milan Iloski (8), who missed the early part of the season due to an emergency appendectomy. The Bruins had two players selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, including No. 1 overall pick Frankie Amaya, who went to FC Cincinnati. Midfielder Anderson Asiedu was selected 24th overall by Atlanta.

LAST TIME OUT
UCLA and Indiana last faced each other in 2013, also part of the season-opening IU Tournament, with the Bruins emerging victorious via a 91st minute overtime golden goal from then-senior forward Victor Chavez. The win came despite UCLA playing the final 15 minutes of regulation a man down, with Indiana entering the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the country. Chavez scored just 49 seconds into overtime, receiving a through ball in the box from Victor Munoz before rounding the IU keeper and finishing into an open net. Earl Edwards Jr. made three saves to keep a clean sheet for UCLA.

BRUINS IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE
Former UCLA players Reggie Cannon and Jackson Yueill as well as current volunteer assistant coach Walker Zimmerman were all named to the 26-man roster for the U.S. Men's National Team on Wednesday. The trio will suit up in September for matches against Mexico and Uruguay. Cannon has accrued six caps with the senior team, including a start at right back in the 2019 Gold Cup final against Mexico. Yueill received his first cap earlier this year. Zimmerman, an LAFC defender, has scored twice over 10 career games with Team USA.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, BRUINS
The Bruins will have 16 of 18 regular season games appear on TV this season, including all 10 home games. Pac-12 Networks will provide live television coverage of every regular season game at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in addition to four UCLA road games.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend's action, UCLA will return home to host a pair of strong East Coast clubs. The Bruins first welcome defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Maryland on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7:00 p.m. PT in the home opener at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. UCLA defeated the Terrapins 1-0 on the road last year. The Bruins then face preseason No. 13 Georgetown on Monday, Sept. 9 at 5:00 p.m. PT before playing three straight on the road.

HOME COOKING
Starting on Sept. 26, UCLA will play a season-high eight consecutive games at home. That is the longest homestand for the program since at least 1980 (home-away designations are unavailable prior to 1980). Once that stretch begins, the Bruins don't play another road game until they head to Berkeley for a matchup against Cal on Halloween.

NEWEST BRUINS
The 2019 UCLA squad features 10 newcomers. That contingent includes a trio of Division I transfers in midfielders Jose Sosa (Pacific) and Marcony Pimentel (Pitt) as well as defender Ben Reveno (UC Irvine). Defender Ruben Soria (Santa Monica College) joins the Bruins from the junior college ranks, while Jefferson Alade (Vancouver Whitecaps) represents the MLS Academy system. Other newcomers include Cyprus-native Constantinos Michaelides (AEL Limassol), Riley Ferch (South Florida Football Academy), Luke Bone (Placer United), Ollie de Visser (Silicon Valley Academy), and Eric Pearce (San Francisco Glens).

UCLA100
UCLA will celebrate its first 100 years with a year-long university-wide Centennial Celebration. UCLA Athletics has several Centennial Celebration plans and giveaways in store for designated home events, including a set of 13 Centennial Pins highlighting each sport, as well as a souvenir mosaic poster that features personal photos submitted by UCLA fans. UCLA men's soccer will hold its Centennial game on Sept. 26 in a matchup against UC Irvine.