The men’s soccer team had an erratic month of non-conference play to start the season, losing four of its first eight contests.
The first game of the Pac-10 season was no different.
The Bruins dominated the first half of their game Saturday at San Diego State, but were held scoreless.
Then the team came out flat in the second half. UCLA (4-5-1, 0-1 Pac-10) was outshot 12 to 1 as San Diego State (5-2-2, 1-0 Pac-10) claimed a 1-0 victory, its first win over the Bruins since 1989.
“We just couldn’t put it away the second half,” senior midfielder Jason Leopoldo said. “I just think we didn’t come out to play. We just went through the motions. We didn’t get ourselves the chances for shots on goal.”
The Bruins have now lost three of their last four games. It is the worst start of Jorge Salcedo’s career as coach. The loss to the Aztecs was the fifth of the season for UCLA, the same number of games it lost all of last season.
The first half of the game went relatively smoothly for the Bruins, as they had several promising shots that were stopped by Aztec goalie Brad Byrns. Leopoldo had three of the team’s seven shots in the first half.
“It was pretty frustrating to see them stopped,” Leopoldo said. “Two of them were long-range but one of them was pretty close. The keeper was fortunate to make the save.”
Salcedo also had a positive take on the 45 minutes.
“I think the first half we did really well, and we created some good opportunities,” he said. “Their goalkeeper just made a few good saves. Our plan was to get the ball wide, get the ball to Jason Leopoldo and Kyle Nakazawa. (And) we were successful.”
In the second half, the Bruins lost defender Chance Myers. The Thousand Oaks native sustained a head injury and was forced to sit out the rest of the game. Defenders Brandon Owens and Ryan White were also sidelined with injuries.
“We had a few defenders out, so it was hard to find someone to take Chance’s spot,” Salcedo said. “We’ve had tough issues and a lot of bad luck.”
The Bruins noted that the Aztecs gained a lot of confidence when UCLA was not unable to score early on. And yet, the Aztecs didn’t completely control the game.
“A lot of their play was from long throw-ins and corner kicks,” Salcedo said. “It wasn’t as if they were absolutely possessing the ball.”
Once again, goalie Brian Perk was successful at keeping the Bruins in the game until the end. He had six saves, including two diving saves that narrowly prevented goals.
“He has been good,” says Salcedo. “We continue to see improvement in him. He is consistent.”
The Bruins are still thinking positively, even after such a rocky start.
“Obviously, in the Pac-10 you want to win every single game. However, I don’t think there has been a champion that has had less than two or three losses,” Salcedo said.
“On the road in the Pac-10 is tough. You are in a good spot if you win at home. I am confident that we will find a way to come through and score goals.”
Next up for the Bruins are home games against Stanford (4-2-3, 1-0 Pac-10) on Friday and California (6-2-1, 1-0 Pac-10) on Sunday.