(Photo Courtesy of Scott Chandler/UCLA Athletics)
UCLA Men's Soccer Powers Through Contact for Blowout Win Over CSUN
The Bruins have had to fight to the final three whistles all season long.
Despite getting roughed up for most of the night, they were able to create enough separation to feel secure in their chances Monday against the Matadors.
UCLA men's soccer (3-1) rushed out to a quick 4-0 lead and never looked back, closing things out to take down CSUN (0-4) at Wallis Annenberg Stadium and extend its winning streak to three. All four of the Bruins' goals came between the 25th and 44th minutes, while the Matadors did not get a single shot on goal in the first half.
The first half also consisted of nine fouls by CSUN, compared to just two by UCLA. Only one led to a Bruin goal – a successful penalty kick by graduate midfielder Yoni Sorokin he buried in the bottom right corner while the Matadors' keeper dove left.
CSUN finished the night with more yellow cards than shots on goal with five and two, respectively.
UCLA's first two goals came off the foot of sophomore defender Tommy Silva. He got the Bruins on the board in the 25th minute following a corner kick, gathering a rebound off a teammate's blocked header and sending it inside the left post for a goal.
Ten minutes later, sophomore forward Grayson Doody chased down a long pass from redshirt junior midfielder Jose Sosa on the right wing and crossed it into traffic at the top of the box. The first defender whiffed and the next deflected it to Silva, who powered it passed the charging goalie for his first career brace.
Redshirt freshman forward Jose Contell put UCLA up 3-0 after Sosa's attempt from 18 yards out got turned away, and he buried the rebound for another Bruin score. Sorokin's penalty kick came not long after, and UCLA led by four for the remainder of the match.
Prior to Monday, each of the Bruins' first three games of the season had been decided by exactly one goal.
The Matadors picked up a team yellow card at the conclusion of the first half, rounding out a one-sided period in the Bruins' favor. Things turned around slightly in the second, but not to the point where CSUN could make up any ground.
Senior goalkeeper Justin Garces actually had to make a couple saves on Matador shots in the 59th and 63rd minutes, the second of which came off a direct kick by Oscar Cardenas that nearly curled into the top right corner.
It wound up being a combined clean sheet from Garces and sophomore Tyler Kirberg, who replaced the former in the 71st minute. That makes it back-to-back shutouts for UCLA, taking their average goals against down to 0.75 on the season.
Kirberg didn't face a shot on goal in his 20 minutes of playing time, but the Bruins didn't send any the Matadors way in that span either. They did get fouled another eight times in the second half though, bringing CSUN's total to 17 on the night.
Sitting at 3-1 four games into the fall 2021 campaign, this marks the first time UCLA has been two games above .500 under coach Ryan Jorden since he came to Westwood in 2019.
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