The UCLA men’s soccer team traveled to Northern California this past weekend to face off against San Francisco and Santa Clara. They ended the weekend with a win and a loss, defeating San Francisco 1-0 on Thursday and falling to Santa Clara in overtime, 2-1.
UCLA finally broke through in the final minutes of the San Francisco game with a late goal by sophomore midfielder Chance Myers. It was the second time this season Myers has scored in the waning minutes of a game. Previously, Myers had scored a goal with 38 seconds to play in the Bruins’ season opener against Notre Dame on Aug. 31.
“It was kind of a relief,” Myers said about the goal against San Francisco. “It was a tough game. It was back and forth the whole game.”
While coach Jorge Salcedo appreciated the timing of the goal, he didn’t see it as anything beyond a successful scoring opportunity. Overall, he felt his team played well enough to win.
“Obviously if the game is a little tighter at the end, it becomes more important to get that goal because you have less time if you don’t,” Salcedo said. “I thought the guys were rewarded for their hard work and their effort. I thought we deserved it, and we got the goal to win the game.”
Goalkeeper Brian Perk also played well against San Francisco. While he earned his second shutout of the year, he credited his teammates for playing well in front of him.
“You can’t lose with a shutout and that’s the key,” Perk said. “Every time we get a zero (the team) always plays well and every time we get a zero I usually play well. But sometimes I don’t have to because they play well. I’m the last line of defense, if they do their job I won’t have to do mine.”
Unfortunately, the Santa Clara game ended a little differently for the Bruins. Redshirt junior forward Richard Flores received a red card with 23 minutes remaining in regulation play. That left the Bruins playing a man down for the remainder of the game, giving Santa Clara premium scoring opportunities.
“It went from us pretty much having the game at hand ““ they didn’t have many chances,” Perk said. “Then after that, I think they had 10 shots in 20 minutes, when they had five the whole game.”
The Bruins led 1-0 when Flores was sent off, but the Broncos tied the game with 82:59 on the clock, then scored the winning goal in overtime.
While Salcedo cited the short-handed situation as a major factor in the loss, he remained positive afterwards and applauded his team’s effort.
“(The ejection) was big. I think it was a turning point in the game,” Salcedo said. “I think the next day, the guys are still disappointed by the results. But you live and learn from mistakes like that. From out of loss, hopefully you learn what you can do better.
“I was very proud of the guys for what they put in and the work ethic they showed the whole game. I thought it was a very good performance. Unfortunately, we were on the short end of the result.”