There was nothing easy about the UCLA men’s soccer team’s come-from-behind victory over Cal State Fullerton Thursday night. There was nothing pretty about it, either.
But at the end of the night, none of that mattered to sixth-year coach Jorge Salcedo.
“Sometimes winning ugly is OK,” he said following the Bruins’ 2-1 defeat of the visiting Titans at Drake Stadium. “We grew up a little bit, in a sense that we found a way to win.”
With the match tied at 1-1 in the 65th minute, junior defender Shawn Singh drove to the left side and snuck a shot past Titan goalkeeper Trevor Whiddon to hand the Bruins (3-1) the lead for good. It wasn’t necessarily a spectacular goal, but it counted as such.
The Bruins, playing without seniors Brian Perk and Michael Stephens ““ members of the U.S. Under-20 national team that is competing in the FIFA World Cup held in Egypt ““ seemed to be caught off guard at the beginning of the match. In the fourth minute, Cal State Fullerton’s Celso Alvarez scored off a deflection from Perk’s replacement, goalkeeper Brian Rowe.
“Unfortunately, them scoring early was a little knock on (Rowe’s) confidence,” Salcedo said. “The goal wasn’t his fault. I thought he did a good job to get the first save. Brian Rowe is only going to get better after tonight.”
Rowe made five saves and held off the Titans’ furious second-half attack.
UCLA improved after falling behind early and held an 8-5 shot advantage at the half. The Bruins’ equalizing goal came eight minutes before halftime, as freshman forward Evan Raynr shot the ball through a tight window at the right post.
“My touch just worked,” Raynr said. “I didn’t expect to score but luckily it went through the keeper’s legs.”
Senior forward David Estrada, who also assisted on Singh’s game-winning goal, found Raynr streaking down the right side.
“You always hope that, when you’re making those long runs as a flank player, guys see you,” Raynr said.
Raynr’s goal, his second of the season, was the fifth goal scored by UCLA freshmen through four games.
“We’re trying to show these older guys that we can help too,” Raynr said. “If you get us the ball, we’ll do good things with it.”
Seven yellow-card cautions were issued during the match ““ three during the final 10 minutes ““ as both teams scrambled near the finish.
“We’re coming,” Raynr said. “We’re coming for teams this year. We’re not giving up; it’s going to be a fight until the end.”