LOS ANGELES – UCSB came up empty again on the scoreboard and suffered a 1-0 men’s soccer loss at No. 14-ranked UCLA on Friday
Leo Stolz scored the game’s only goal on a breakaway in the 49th minute.
For UCSB, it was the second straight match it failed to score a goal.
The Gauchos registered a season-high 15 shots against the Bruins but only two ended up on frame. UCSB played with a man advantage for the final half hour of the game, but were unable to put a shot in the net despite creating a number of chances.
Tim Vom Steeg’s squad fell to 2-2-0 with the loss, while UCLA improved to 2-1-1 in the young campaign.
Both teams played relatively conservative at the outset of the match, as the Bruins were content to play a counterattacking style.
The Gauchos started five first-year players against UCLA. Besides Drew Murphy, Nick DePuy, Josh McNeely,Ismaila Jome, and Paul Ehmann all cracked the starting XI.
UCSB did a good job of absorbing UCLA’s wide attack, but the Bruins were still able to get the first dangerous scoring opportunity of the match when a Jordan Vale header in the 19th minute trickled just wide of the net.
UCSB got a similar chance in the 23rd minute, when DePuy was able to get his head on a Murphy free kick, but his header went over the cage.
At the 17:07 mark of the first half, UCLA’s Felix Fobejda had a shot deflected by Daniel Welsh at the top of the box, but had the ball carom right back to his feet. The freshman midfielder had a clean look at net, but McNeely was up to the task with the save. It was one of just two saves the keeper would make on the day, as the Bruins only put three shots on frame for the match.
UCLA got off to a hot start in the second half, creating multiple chances before scoring. From the midfield, the Bruins’ Stolz received a ball and then proceeded to thread his way the through the left side of the UCSB defense and rip a shot past McNeely.
Off the kickoff, the Gauchos came tantalizingly close to an equalizer, but Goffin Boyoko’s far-post header ended up just wide of the net. UCSB got another break in the 61st minute when UCLA’s Nathan Smith earned his second yellow card of the day after a dangerous challenge on Ismaila Jome, putting the Bruins a man down for the rest of the match.
UCSB would threaten multiple times with the man advantage, including dangerous drives from Ehmann, Jome, and Reed McKenna, but the Gauchos were unable to convert.
The Gauchos will look to get back into the win column this Sunday, when they welcome Penn in the start of UCSB’s longest homestand since 2001.
