Three days after its four-goal onslaught sunk Cal Poly, the UCLA men’s soccer team got a taste of its own medicine.
The unranked Bruins (2-4-0) returned to the pitch Monday evening to face the visiting Gauchos (4-2-1) in a showdown that has been historically lopsided. In 41 prior matches, UCSB had won just four times – none of those coming in Westwood.
Unfortunately for UCLA, history was made Monday. The Bruins fell by a score of 4-2 after a second half collapse in which they allowed three goals and offered little fight against a Gaucho team that was firing on all cylinders.
The loss left the previously-top-ranked Bruins searching for answers.
“I don’t know, obviously it’s not any one person’s fault – it’s the whole team,” said sophomore forward Seyi Adekoya. “Our mindset was a little slow, we should’ve tried to put the game away … I don’t know, though. (There are) a lot of things we have to talk about, work on.”
Adekoya was once again a crucial part of the UCLA offense, but his goal in the 79th minute was simply too little, too late. The defense had already crumbled, allowing three goals within the span of 10 minutes.
“It’s hard to say (what fell apart),” said junior midfielder Felix Vobejda. “Coach said we have too much talent in this group to play like the way we did. I think everybody on our team knows that, too.”
Against Cal Poly last week, coach Jorge Salcedo was displeased with his team’s effort in the final 15 minutes of the first half, but said he was otherwise impressed with the Bruins.
Monday was a stark reversal. UCLA ratcheted up the pressure in the first half, taking a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick by senior forward Larry Ndjock. Ndjock, after getting tripped up along the left side of the penalty box, found the back of the net for the first time this season.
UCSB equalized less than ten minutes later on a throw-in that the Bruins “made a mess of,” as Salcedo described it, and the visitors carried the momentum with them out of halftime, scoring three more goals in rapid succession to take a 4-1 lead.
“All four goals we gave away. In the second half, we really didn’t defend well, they out-competed us and they scored three goals,” Salcedo said. “We just did not do a good job with our individual defending, our team defending and we didn’t compete hard enough. That’s the bottom line.”
UCLA’s inconsistencies continue to haunt them, as the team remains without a winning streak of more than a single game. The Bruins jump back into play with a Friday afternoon match against Virginia Commonwealth University (2-5-1).