The UCLA men’s soccer team never found its rhythm Friday night. As a result, the Bruins (10-5-6) dropped a 1-0 contest to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (11-5-6) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, eliminating them from postseason play.
After Cal Poly took the lead in the 28th minute on a goal by Ryan Anderson, the Bruins struggled to click as an offensive unit, managing only four shots on goal all night.
The Bruins had only allowed two goals over their last eight games ““ both coming in the last two minutes of regulation. But on Friday, the Mustangs found a slight crease in the Bruin backfield and capitalized on the opportunity. In the 28th minute, Mustang midfielder Julian Alvarez eased a pass through a pair of Bruin defenders, directly to a streaking Anderson, who beat goalkeeper Brian Perk for the tie-breaking goal.
Six minutes later, UCLA seemed to get a break when Anderson was red-carded for a hard foul on Bruin midfielder Jason Leopoldo. But the Mustangs played a man down for only two minutes. Freshman forward Prince Lapnet, who had entered the game to try to spark the Bruin attack, elbowed a Mustang defender to the ground, drawing a red card of his own.
From that point on, the Mustang defense stifled a Bruin attack that had posted a season-high six goals in the final game of the regular season at San Diego State.
NOTES: Heading into Friday, UCLA was riding an eight-game unbeaten streak and had lost only one of its last 15 games. “¦ The game was Cal Poly’s first NCAA Tournament victory in the program’s history. “¦ Cal Poly will play at UC Irvine on Tuesday night in the second round. … With the loss, the Bruins drop to 13-5 all-time in the first round of NCAA Tournament play. The Bruins had not lost in the first round since 2005, which also marks the last year they won the Pac-10 Championship.