Friday, September 13
Evanston, IL
5 p.m. PT
UCLA
3-1-2, 1-0-0
1
at
0
No. 14 Northwestern
5-2-0, 0-1-0
1
2
F
UCLA
1
0
1
Northwestern
0
0
0
UCLA Earns First Big Ten Conference Win, Beats No. 14 Northwestern 1-0
September 13, 2024 | Men's Soccer
EVANSTON, Illi. – The UCLA men's soccer program earned their first conference win as a member of the Big Ten Conference on Friday night, beating No. 14 Northwestern 1-0. Jose Contell scored the lone goal on the night from the penalty spot.
With the win, UCLA (3-1-2, 1-0-0 B1G) hands No. 14 Northwestern (5-2-0, 0-1-0 B1G) their second loss of the season. With the win UCLA improves to 3-0-2 against teams ranked in the top 25 in 2024.
Sam Joseph, making his fourth start of the season, kept his fourth clean sheet on Friday. The junior from San Diego made multiple crucial stops for the Bruins and finished the night with a season-high five saves in goal.
Contell opened the scoring in the ninth minute for the Bruins. With play developing down the right side, freshman Shakir Nixon attempted a cross into the box, but a Northwestern defender handled the ball in the box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Bruins. Contell calmly strode up to the spot and slotted his penalty kick into the bottom left corner of the goal, and put the Bruins up 1-0.
Neither side were able to make any clear-cut chances in the remaining minutes in the first half, and the Bruins took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, UCLA kept the Wildcats off the board, and have now only conceded three goals across six games played.
Joseph kept Northwestern off the board in spectacular fashion midway through the second half. In the 62nd minute he made a point-blank save off a Northwestern header from a corner to keep the Bruins up 1-0.
In the 70th minute Andre Ochoa had two great looks at goal to try and extend the Bruins lead. The first was a point-blank chance from just in front of the keeper, that Northwestern's keeper kept out, before firing the follow up shot just wide of the post.
Neither team was able to create any great goal-scoring opportunities in the final 20 minutes as the UCLA backline held firm and kept Northwestern off the scoresheet, securing the 1-0 win.
Up Next: UCLA continues Big Ten play at No. 8 Wisconsin on Monday night at 7 p.m. CT, 5 p.m. PT. The Bruins will be making their Big Ten Network debut.
Game Notes:
With the win, UCLA (3-1-2, 1-0-0 B1G) hands No. 14 Northwestern (5-2-0, 0-1-0 B1G) their second loss of the season. With the win UCLA improves to 3-0-2 against teams ranked in the top 25 in 2024.
Sam Joseph, making his fourth start of the season, kept his fourth clean sheet on Friday. The junior from San Diego made multiple crucial stops for the Bruins and finished the night with a season-high five saves in goal.
Contell opened the scoring in the ninth minute for the Bruins. With play developing down the right side, freshman Shakir Nixon attempted a cross into the box, but a Northwestern defender handled the ball in the box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Bruins. Contell calmly strode up to the spot and slotted his penalty kick into the bottom left corner of the goal, and put the Bruins up 1-0.
This goal from Jose Contell makes us all wanna do cartwheels ????#B1GMSoccer x @UCLAMSoccer pic.twitter.com/WdInhpD4de
— Big Ten Soccer (@B1GSoccer) September 14, 2024
Neither side were able to make any clear-cut chances in the remaining minutes in the first half, and the Bruins took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, UCLA kept the Wildcats off the board, and have now only conceded three goals across six games played.
Joseph kept Northwestern off the board in spectacular fashion midway through the second half. In the 62nd minute he made a point-blank save off a Northwestern header from a corner to keep the Bruins up 1-0.
If you look up the definition of a brick wall in the dictionary, you'll find this stop from Sam Joseph??
— UCLA Men's Soccer (@UCLAMSoccer) September 14, 2024
??: @BigTenPlus #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/N4XoqIC7Gd
In the 70th minute Andre Ochoa had two great looks at goal to try and extend the Bruins lead. The first was a point-blank chance from just in front of the keeper, that Northwestern's keeper kept out, before firing the follow up shot just wide of the post.
Neither team was able to create any great goal-scoring opportunities in the final 20 minutes as the UCLA backline held firm and kept Northwestern off the scoresheet, securing the 1-0 win.
Up Next: UCLA continues Big Ten play at No. 8 Wisconsin on Monday night at 7 p.m. CT, 5 p.m. PT. The Bruins will be making their Big Ten Network debut.
Game Notes:
- The Bruins won their first ever Big Ten conference game on Friday night.
- Jose Contell tallied his first goal of 2024, he now has 13 goals in his collegiate career.
- UCLA kept their fifth clean sheet in six games to begin the year.
- Keeper Sam Joseph kept his fourth clean sheet in his fourth start, Joseph has yet to give up a goal in 360 minutes of action.
- The Bruins improved to 3-0-2 and remain undefeated in games against ranked opponents in 2024.
Team Stats
CLA
NU
Goals
1
0
Shots
5
15
Shots on Goal
3
5
Saves
5
2
Corners
5
7
Fouls
9
15
Scoring Plays
Jose Contell
CLA Jose Contell PENALTY KICK GOAL.
08:52
Game Leaders
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
fwd
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's SoccerF
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