UCLA
4-3
UC Santa Barbara
5-3
No. 15 Bruins Fall 3-1 at UCSB
September 22, 2018 | Men's Soccer
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara men's soccer team scored three goals in a span of seven minutes in the first half to land a 3-1 win over No. 15 UCLA on Saturday night at Harder Stadium.
With the loss, the Bruins dropped to 4-3 overall ahead of the start of Pac-12 play next week. UCSB meanwhile improved to 5-3.
Freshman midfielder Frankie Amaya put the Bruins up early, scoring in the sixth minute for his first career goal. The Pateadores Academy product received a pass from Blayne Martinez on the edge of the right side of the box, then moved laterally to his left before hitting a left-footed shot over UCSB goalkeeper Ben Roach to make it 1-0 UCLA.
That lead was ultimately short-lived however, as the Gauchos responded with three quick goals, including a pair from forward Rodney Michael, to wrest momentum.
Michael notched his first goal at the 15:40 mark, knocking down a long ball from Axel Mendez for a breakaway before finishing low into the left corner of the net for the equalizer. Just 62 seconds later, the ball was headed into the UCLA net on a set piece for an own goal. Michael finished off the flurry at 21:42, as he got off a shot after the ball was headed down inside the box by Faouzi Taieb.
UCSB played a physical brand of soccer in the first half, resulting in six yellow cards. Midfielder Sahid Conteh was ejected from the game after receiving his second yellow card in the 38th minute, leaving the Gauchos down a man for the rest of the contest.
That man advantage didn't translate into any second half goals for the Bruins, though they did create some decent scoring chances.
Sophomore forward Milan Iloski, making his season debut, had UCLA's two best chances of the latter half.
In the 54th minute, Amaya passed a ball into the box for Iloski, who was able to get a shot off from about 15 yards, but a Gaucho defender slid over to block the chance. Three minutes later, freshman midfielder Matt Hundley played a ball from right-to-left across the box, setting up Iloski for a sliding strike, but UCSB keeper Ben Roach came up with a big clo se-range save to preserve the two-goal advantage.
Amaya ended the night as UCLA's shot leader, taking three. Senior keeper Cole Martinez made a pair of saves for the Bruins.
UCLA commences league action next week on the road at California on Thursday, Sept. 27 and at Stanford on Sunday, Sept. 30.
Team Stats
Amaya, Frankie (1)
Assisted By: Martinez, Blayne
24 with left foot at top of the box
5:36
Michael, Rodney (4)
Assisted By: Mendez, Axel
8 from midfield up to 9 left post
15:40
TEAM
Own Goal
16:42
Michael, Rodney (5)
Assisted By: Taieb, Faouzi , Candia, Thibault
5 headed down to 9 in front of goal off
21:42
