Over the span of three days, the UCLA men’s soccer team extended its winning streak to five games and then saw it dashed to the ground by an out-of-state underdog.
The No. 13 Bruins (5-3-1) looked like two different teams this weekend. The squad that took out the Seattle Redhawks (1-4-2) 2-1 on Friday night was a creative, gritty and determined unit that dominated possession and scored a late goal with just 10 players on the field.
“We’ve played down a man before,” sophomore midfielder Kelyn Rowe said. “It’s not too hard to understand that it’s going to be a battle the rest of the game. We had to get a goal, so we pushed forward.”
In contrast, the Bruins were hard-pressed to get anything going against the SMU Mustangs (5-3-0), conceding a first-minute goal from a direct free kick and failing to seize an opportunity to draw level after SMU went down a man late in the second half.
The question now is whether the loss to the Mustangs on Sunday was nothing more than a hiccup in a strong run of play, or a sign that UCLA could be stumbling into the Pac-12 season.
UCLA junior forward Chandler Hoffman scored a goal in each of the weekend’s games, bringing his total for the season to an impressive nine goals in nine matches.
Hoffman’s close-range goal in the first half against Seattle came at the end of a 15-minute stretch in which Hoffman missed the net from point blank range and had a goal called back for being offside.
“I had a feeling I was finally going to get one,” Hoffman said. “It was a good feeling to finally get that goal.”
Hoffman got the plaudits for scoring the game’s first goal, but sophomore fullback Patrick Matchett made an equally vital contribution three minutes prior. A mix-up in UCLA’s defense forced redshirt senior goalkeeper Brian Rowe off his line, but the ball fell right to Seattle forward Travis Heim. Heim’s shot was dead on target, but Matchett showed good anticipation by positioning himself right in its path and headed the ball to safety.
The Bruins retained the lead until the 64th minute, when UCLA senior forward Eder Arreola blocked a sure goal with his arm and conceded a penalty, which Seattle defender Demaci Roussos converted to level the game at 1-1. Arreola received a red card for his actions and put the Bruins down a man.
However, the goal renewed the Bruins’ sense of urgency, and they played with a frenetic energy that culminated in Rowe’s third game-winning goal of the year. Sophomore midfielder Victor Munoz’s incisive through ball found senior fullback Shawn Singh on the left side of the area, who fired in a low cross to the 6-yard box. Rowe was on the doorstep, and tapped the ball past the keeper to give the Bruins the lead for good.
“(Munoz) is a crafty little player,” Rowe said. “He and Shawn did it to perfection. Shawn put it right across my foot and it was an easy tap-in.”
Things did not go as smoothly against SMU. The Mustangs outmuscled the Bruins for much of the game, and even though Hoffman continued his fine run of form with a goal, he missed a sitter in the 83rd minute that would have tied the game.
“(Hoffman’s) composure on his goal was very good,” coach Jorge Salcedo said. “He had a broken play that he turned into a goal. He had a good chance at the end of the game as well, but unfortunately it didn’t go in for him.”
The Bruins conceded a free kick in the opening moments of the game, and forward Arthur Ivo’s free kick skipped past Brian Rowe to put the Bruins in a hole early.
Hoffman equalized nine minutes later, but the Mustangs jumped back in front for good when forward Juan Castillo headed home a Tyler Engel cross.
“We had a poor performance,” Salcedo said. “To let in a goal that early in a home match is extremely disappointing. I thought essentially that we gave up two really soft goals.”
UCLA begins Pac-12 play Friday at Drake Stadium against the California.