This past weekend, the UCLA men’s soccer offense had a different look to it.
First, there was the new starting forward combination of athletic freshmen Seyi Adekoya and Abu Danladi, which the team couldn’t utilize for the first month of the season because of injuries Danladi sustained.
In its debut on Thursday, the new lineup created two goals – one assisted by Danladi and the other scored by Adekoya – and the Bruins defeated the No. 1 Washington Huskies, 2-1.
“It started with (Danladi), that invigorated me,” Adekoya said after the Washington game.
But beyond the lineup card being different, the offense itself seemed to run more fluidly than it had earlier in the season. The Bruin offense looked more energized with Adekoya and Danladi together on the pitch. They were making more long passes and putting more consistent pressure on the opposing defense.
“Not having (sophomore midfielder Brian Iloski) and Danladi, there’s been a lot of questions – is our attack meek? Can we create enough goal-scoring opportunities?” coach Jorge Salcedo said after the Washington game. “And as you saw in the first half (against Washington), we have an inordinate amount of potential in the group and in the attack.”
The magnitude of Danladi and Adekoya’s impact in UCLA’s two home victories last week against Washington and No. 17 Oregon State was intensified by the fact that the two forwards were still not able to have a full slate of playing time together.
In the Washington game, all of their work was done in the first half, as Adekoya was ejected from the game after receiving his second yellow card in the 53rd minute. In the Oregon State game, Adekoya was suspended because of his ejection, and Danladi only played the first 39 minutes because of a hamstring injury, yet still scored two goals in UCLA’s 3-0 victory over Oregon State.
But when the two freshman forwards were out there this past week, they made their presence felt, breaking out into the open field with their standout speeds.
Adekoya’s goal-scoring play began when he broke away from the defense at midfield, sprinting past Washington defenders to the point that he was momentarily alone in open space, striding towards the goal. With the remaining three Washington defenders on their heels, Adekoya scored on a give-and-go with senior midfielder Leo Stolz.
Danladi’s two goals against Oregon State on Sunday came on similar open-field opportunities.
His first came after a high-arcing 30-yard downfield pass from freshman defender Chase Gasper, which Danladi caught in stride and turned into a score.
Danladi’s next goal would follow a similar formula – starting with a long, lofted pass from a UCLA defender, from the UCLA penalty box to the other side of midfield. The long ball created an immediate transition opportunity for Stolz and Danladi on the other end, which Danladi converted for the score.
Though they played little, the big plays by Danladi and Adekoya had a ripple effect on a once-dormant UCLA offense.
“For us, it’s important to score early, to get the team to open up a little bit,” Iloski said. “Once (Danladi) scored two, (the defense) had to open up a little bit, and that just created more space for us, so scoring early is important for our team.”