UCLA Men's Soccer Handles Cal in Yet Another Shutout Effort
All it took was one goal for the Bruins to pull off the win Thursday night, capitalizing on the man advantage and holding strong down the stretch.
Redshirt sophomore forward Jose Contell scored the game-winner for UCLA men's soccer (8-4-1, 3-2-1 Pac-12) in the first half of its 1-0 victory over Cal (3-6-4, 1-4-1 Pac-12). At the time, the Bruins were up one man, thanks to a red card on Golden Bear defender Cameron Robie that Contell managed to draw in the 32nd minute.
The Spaniard had a breakaway and was looking to make a go for goal, but Robie tripped him from behind. Contell was plenty physical himself in the match, leading all players with four fouls, but he avoided any yellow cards and instead made his impact felt with a suave finish just before the break.
Redshirt senior forward Kevin Diaz was making a run down the left wing, and he sent a low cross to Contell towards the back post in the 42nd minute.
Contell took an inside touch to avoid the charging keeper, and the ball deflected off a sliding defender before the Bruin tapped it in for the goal.
The Bruins had other chances to score in the contest – including a counter attack sparked by a cross-field pass from Diaz to Contell in the 16th minute – but none came to fruition. UCLA attempted six shots in the first half and four in the second, four of which ended up on target and three of which got saved.
Sophomore goalkeeper Nate Crockford only needed to make one save to record the clean sheet, as the Bruins' back line limited the Golden Bears to just three shots all night.
Cal's attack didn't exactly come into Thursday on a hot scoring pace – recording just two goals across their last three matches – but they had been shut out just once all season. UCLA, meanwhile, had put up back-to-back clean sheets entering the showdown, and they made it three in a row by keeping Cal off the board for the entire 90 minutes – 58 of which they played with just 10 men.
The Bruins' defense has now allowed just three goals combined across their last eight games.
UCLA will play its final home game of the year Sunday against Stanford, before playing four consecutive road games in four separate states to close out the regular season. The Bruins and Cardinal will face off at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, with the match scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT CHANDLER/UCLA ATHLETICS