UCLA
1-1-0, 0-0-0
James Madison
2-0-0, 0-0-0
UCLA Blanked at James Madison, 1-0
August 27, 2023 | Men's Soccer
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The UCLA men's soccer team was held off the scoreboard in a 1-0 loss to James Madison on Sunday evening in the final game of Fairfield by Marriott Invitational at Sentara Park.
Coupled with Thursday's 4-1 result against Virginia Tech, the Bruins (1-1-0) earned a split at the tourney, which was hosted by James Madison (2-0-0).
JMU's Balint Kocso was the lone goalscorer on Sunday, as he found the back of the net in the 73rd minute with a strong header from just above the box that got over UCLA keeper Sam Joseph's head.
Joseph was strong overall for the Bruins, making four saves. Most notably, he made a pair of close-range saves in the 70th minute that temporarily kept the game deadlocked at nil-nil.
70' | Sam Joseph comes up with back-to-back outstanding saves!
— UCLA Men's Soccer (@UCLAMSoccer) August 28, 2023
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Graduate midfielder Sean Karani and redshirt junior midfielder Tucker Lepley co-led the Bruins with three shots apiece.
Karani had the Bruins' best chance in the first half, receiving a ball from Pablo Greenlee on the right side of the box in the 17th minute. From there, Karani made a few touches going laterally to his left before putting in a close-range shot, but it was gobbled up by JMU keeper Sebastian Conlon.
Karani also had a look in the second half after a Tommy Silva ball from the left wing got knocked down in the box in the 68th minute. From there, Karani tried to make a stab at the loose ball at the edge of the six, but he couldn't connect and the ball was later cleared out.
UCLA is next in action on Monday, Sept. 4 with the team's home opener, hosting CSUN at 7:00 p.m. PT. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Team Stats
Balint Kocso (1)
Assisted By: Luca Nikolai , Chay Strine
GOAL by JMU Kocso, Balint Assist by Nikolai, Luca and Strine, Chay.
72:44
