The scoring drought is over.
After being held scoreless in its past two contests, the UCLA men’s soccer team (4-5, 1-2 Pac-12) picked up its first goal and win of Pac-12 play on the road against Oregon State (3-7, 0-2) on Thursday in a 1-0 victory.
UCLA scored for the first time in 249 minutes of play as freshman forward Milan Iloski logged his first goal as a Bruin.
In the 17th minute, UCLA was given a man advantage when Oregon State redshirt senior defender Jalen Markey was sent off with a red card following a shot-preventing foul on redshirt senior midfielder Brian Iloski.
The underhanded Beavers swapped in sophomore midfielder Michael Swift, and were soon back on the attack, forcing a corner kick.
Oregon State junior midfielder Hassani Dotson was able to put a well-placed cross into the low corner, but his shot was deflected off line by junior midfielder Anderson Asiedu’s left foot.
Despite the man advantage, the Bruins were unable to capitalize on their opportunities as the first half ended in a scoreless draw.
“Often times when a team loses a player early in a match … it sometimes makes it even more difficult to break them down,” said coach Jorge Salcedo.
UCLA was far more aggressive following the break as the team logged a season high in shots with 11 in the second half and 21 total.
But Oregon State did not park the bus.
The Beavers came close to opening up the game’s scoring in the 67th minute when a powerful shot from junior defender Nathan Braaten was deflected off the crossbar.
However, the Bruins were able to put the ball in the back of the net just two minutes later when Milan Iloski drilled a strike past the near post from just outside of the 18 yard box, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
“Milan (Iloski) scored his first goal for UCLA and hopefully more will come for him and the team as the season continues,” Salcedo said.
The goal opened up the offense and Salcedo said his team was able to find more holes for through balls and crosses behind Oregon State’s backline after the game’s lone score.
UCLA will finish the second leg of its two-game road trip in Seattle when it faces No. 28 Washington (9-2, 2-0) as the team looks to even its record before returning home for a one week hiatus.