Two Late Goals Help Washington Stun UCLA Men's Soccer

After getting held without a goal for 80 minutes, the Bruins finally broke through and took control of the game.

It turns out that wasn't enough of a cushion.

No. 23 UCLA men's soccer (6-4, 2-2 Pac-12) was 10 minutes away from upsetting No. 2 Washington (9-0, 2-0) on the road Sunday afternoon. Four minutes after the Bruins got on the board though, the Huskies responded with a goal of their own, and then scored again not long after to go ahead and eventually win the match 2-1.

Washington's two goals came off a set piece and a well-developed attack, while UCLA made the most out of its opponents' error to take its brief lead.

The Huskies had a throw in deep in their own territory in the 80th minute, and they tossed it backwards uncontested. The defender received the ball and turned to center it to goalkeeper Sam Fowler, who had already made four saves in the match.

Fowler took a big touch to his left across the open net and was rushed by redshirt freshman forward Jose Contell, who knocked the ball free for senior forward Kevin Diaz to clean up and put away.

Jose Contell with the pressure, Kevin Diaz with the goal!

📲 | https://t.co/vS6VSjuDGt #GoBruins | @kevvdiaz6 | @contell10 📲 pic.twitter.com/oj56ReiRBP
— UCLA Men's Soccer (@UCLAMSoccer) October 3, 2021

The Bruins had put together the lesser attack for most of the match up to that point, and once they went ahead, the Huskies turned up the pressure even more.

UCLA didn't record a single shot in those final 10 minutes after scoring, while Washington had three – two of which found the back of the net.

The equalizer came following a yellow card by freshman defender Pietro Grassi. Defender Charlie Ostrem took the free kick after a fake from his teammate coming from the other side, and his ball got right to defender Ryan Sailor deep in the box.

Sailor popped it off the top of his head while facing away from the goal, and the ball got past senior goalkeeper Justin Garces to tie things up at 1-1.

84' | Ryan Sailor ties it right back up off the Ostrem assist! It's a 1-1 game!

📲 https://t.co/MTuP7OHWtl #GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/F1pTjiToMK
— Washington Men's Soccer (@UW_MSoccer) October 3, 2021

A minute later, the Huskies used some inside-outside action to get into the box and give midfielder Imanol Rosales the ball in space.

Rosales turned the right corner and fired it past a diving Garces to go up 2-1.

85' | GOAL HUSKIES!! Imanol Rosales gives the Huskies a 2-1 lead late!!

📲 https://t.co/MTuP7OHWtl #GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/yrvMfo1TTS
— Washington Men's Soccer (@UW_MSoccer) October 3, 2021

The Bruins were unable to put together any kind of attack to answer the Huskies' two late goals, and they wound up on the losing end after giving themselves a chance earlier on.

The two goals by Washington spoiled what could have been a season-best performance by Garces, who held them off the scoreboard for over 83 minutes. Garces recorded a season-high seven saves, but the fact that the Huskies attempted 18 shots to the Bruins' nine eventually caught up with him and the UCLA defense.

UCLA has now lost back-to-back matches for the first time this season after losing 4-3 to Oregon State on Thursday. The Bruins will return home for a game against San Diego State scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m., trying to avoid their first real losing streak of the campaign.

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