UCLA
No. 2 Ohio State
Bruins Set to Host No. 2 Ohio State
October 09, 2024 | Men's Soccer
UCLA (4-3-4, 1-2-2 Big Ten) vs. No. 2 Ohio State (9-0-2, 4-0-1 Big Ten)
Date: Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 – 7 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Wallis Annenberg Stadium)
Broadcast: B1G+
Talent: Nick Koop, Graham Metzker
Live Stats: uclalivestats.com
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
Price: $9-17; UCLA students free with BruinCard
Parking: purchase in advance on Park Mobile app
UCLA Hosts No. 2 Ohio State Friday Night
The UCLA men's soccer team returns home to Wallis Annenberg Stadium for a matchup with the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday night, at 7 p.m. PT. The Bruins head into Friday's game after a 2-2 draw on the road at Penn State last Friday, while Ohio State heads to Westwood after beating Washington 2-0 on Monday night.
Tough Slate to Start
UCLA has opened the season with seven of their first 11 games coming against teams ranked in the top 25 at the time of the game. In those games UCLA is 3-1-3, and have picked up wins over No. 11 LMU and No. 8 Portland, and No. 14 Northwestern, while drawing with No. 18 James Madison, No. 3 Denver, and No. 16 Michigan.
Against top-10 opposition since 1998, the Bruins are 34-45-14. Prior to this season, UCLA's last win against a team ranked two or higher in the United Soccer Coaches poll was on November 8, 2021, when No. 22 UCLA beat No. 1 Oregon State 3-2. Current Bruins Jose Contell and Pietro Grassi started in that game. In their last five games against top-two opposition, UCLA is 2-3-0.
Clean Sheet Machine
Junior keeper Sam Joseph has recorded four clean sheets in six starts in 2024. The San Diego native has yet to concede a goal in 360 minutes of 540 played, and all of his clean sheets have come against teams ranked inside the top 25. Joseph has produced multiple game saving stops in 2024, and has held No. 11 LMU, No. 8 Portland, No. 3 Denver, and No. 14 Northwestern to a combined 0 goals.
Stout Defense
UCLA had not conceded a goal until the fourth game of the season to begin the 2024 season. Over the course of six games, the Bruins have limited No. 11 LMU, No. 18 JMU, No. 8 Portland, Cal State Fullerton, No. 3 Denver, No. 14 Northwestern, and No. 8 Wisconsin to a combined seven goals, while keepers Sam Joseph and Wyatt Nelson have recorded a combined five clean sheets.
Bruins in the NCAA Rankings
Shutouts: T-31st -5
Sam Joseph - Shutouts - T-26th - 4
Bruins in the B1G Rankings
Team shutout percentage: 2nd - .455
Sam Joseph - Shutouts - 1st - 4
Philip Naef - Assists - 14th - 3
B1G Time Results
UCLA earned their first win as a member of the Big Ten Conference on Sept. 13, when the Bruins beat No. 14 Northwestern on the road to begin Big Ten play. The matchup was UCLA's fifth against ranked opposition at that point in the season, and pushed UCLA to 3-0-2 at the time against ranked teams in 2024.
Making an Impact
Freshman Artem Vovk came off the bench for the Bruins last Friday at Penn State and tallied his second career goal. The Sacramento, California product put the Bruins up 2-0 in the 53rd minute on Friday, and earned himself Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week honors in the process. The award was the first of his career for Vovk.
Goals Galore
UCLA beat Westmont 5-1 on Tuesday evening, with five different Bruins finding the scoresheet, and a total of 11 different Bruins recorded at least a point on Tuesday. In the win three different Bruins tallied their first career goals as Jacob Diaz, Artem Vovk, and Sam Scott all found the scoresheet for the first time. Seven players tallied an assist with Wilkerson, Grassi, Diaz, Greenlee, Naef, Foster and Senden all dishing out at least one assist. Nikolai Rojel's goal in the 21st minute which put the Bruins 1-0 up, moves him to three on the season, tied with Edrey Caceres for the most on the team this season.
The last time the Bruins scored five or more goals in a game was on September 2, 2022 in a 5-2 win over Liberty.
There's A First For Everything
In UCLA's 2-0 win over No. 8 Portland, three Bruins tallied their first collegiate points. Graduate forward Sveinn Hauksson tallied his first career assist, while freshman Shakir Nixon and Tamir Ratoviz both scored their first collegiate goals, and provided their first collegiate assists.
The same thing happened to Nikolai Rojel on Thursday against Cal State Fullerton. The transfer tallied his first career goal as a Bruin with a well-taken goal from just outside the box, pulling the Bruins within a goal at the time. Additionally, for UCLA, freshman Allan Legaspi, sophomore Jacob Diaz, and sophomore Sam Scott all made their collegiate debuts.
B1G Players of the Week
UCLA junior goalkeeper Sam Joseph and freshman defender Shakir Nixon have been named the Big Ten Men's Soccer Goalkeeper of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week (Aug. 27 - Sept. 3), becoming the first Bruin men's soccer players ever to win a weekly award in the Big Ten Conference.
Sam Joseph (San Diego, Calif.) earns his first career conference accolades for his display in goal for the Bruins in the 2-0 win over No. 8 Portland. The junior earned his second start of the campaign and produced three top-notch saves to secure the clean sheet. Playing all 90 minutes for the second time this season, Joseph recorded his second consecutive shutout, after also not conceding a goal in UCLA's 2-0 win over No. 11 LMU to open the season.
Shakir Nixon (Cerritos, Calif.) tallied his first three collegiate points on Friday night over 52 minutes of action off the bench, helping No. 10 UCLA take down No. 8 Portland 2-0. The freshman scored the second goal for the Bruins in the win over the Pilots in the 76th minute of the match, putting UCLA up 2-0. Nixon also recorded the first assist of his collegiate career on the Bruins' first goal, setting up fellow freshman Tamir Ratoviz in the 54th minute, which put UCLA up at the time 1-0.
Bruin Debuts
Eight Bruins made either their collegiate debut or UCLA debut in the season opener against No. 11 LMU. Freshman Shakir Nixon and Tamir Ratoviz, and international graduate student Sveinn Hauksson all made their NCAA debuts. Additionally, Caceres, Nico Cavallo, Oshea Foster, Nikolai Rojel, and Youri Senden all made their UCLA debuts.
UCLA Draws With No. 16 Michigan
UCLA men's soccer continued Big Ten play with a 3-3 draw with No. 16 Michigan. The Wolverines went ahead 1-0 before the Bruins tallied two twice, off an own goal and an Olimpico from Edrey Caceres off a corner to take a 2-1 lead. Michigan responded with a goal in the 31st minute to retie the game at 2-2 before Sveinn Hauksson scored his first career collegiate goal to put UCLA up 3-2 going into halftime. Michigan added a late equalizer in the 81st minute to tie things up, and the game ended 3-3. The three goals scored by the Bruins were there most in a game so far this season.
UCLA Falls at No. 8 Wisconsin
UCLA men's soccer continued Big Ten play with a 4-1 defeat at No. 8 Wisconsin. The Badgers tallied three goals in the opening half before Nikolai Rojel got a goal back for the Bruins in the 50th minute, making it 3-1 in favor of Wisconsin. With five minutes to go the Badgers added another and ran out 4-1 winners on the Big Ten Network.
UCLA Opens Big Ten Play with 1-0 Win over No. 14 Northwestern
UCLA men's soccer began Big Ten play with a 1-0 win over No. 14 Northwestern on Friday night in Chicago. Jose Contell scored the lone goal of the match, converting a penalty kick in the 9th minute. UCLA kept their fifth clean sheet in six games to begin the year and keeper Sam Joseph kept his fourth clean sheet in his fourth start, Joseph has yet to give up a goal in 360 minutes of action. The Bruins improved to 3-0-2 and remain undefeated in games against ranked opponents in 2024.
UCLA Draws With No. 3 Denver
The No. 6 UCLA men's soccer team earned their fourth shutout in five games to begin the season, drawing 0-0 with No. 3 Denver on Monday night at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. Allan Legaspi and Shakir Nixon both earned their first career starts on Monday, while Sam Joseph recorded his third shutout in his third start of the year. With the result, UCLA moves to 6-2-2 in their last 10 games, when both teams are ranked inside the top 10.
UCLA Falls to Fullerton
The UCLA men's soccer lost for the first time on Thursday to Cal State Fullerton, 3-1. Fullerton tallied two goals in the 12th minute to take the lead into halftime. Transfer Nikolai Rojel, who was subbed on at halftime, got his first goal as a Bruin in the 50th minute, making it 2-1, but then the Bruins gave away a penalty in the 53rd, and CSUF converted the penalty and won 3-1
UCLA Beats No. 8 Portland
The Bruins earned their third consecutive result against a ranked opponent on Friday night, taking down No. 8 Portland 2-0 at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. Freshman Tamir Ratoviz and Shakir Nixon provided the goals for the Bruins. Ratoviz tallied his first collegiate goal and opened the scoring in the 54th minute from a headed-down cross by Graduate Sveinn Hauksson and Nixon. Both Hauksson and Nixon recorded their first career collegiate assists as a result of Ratoviz's goal. Nixon scored in the 76th minute from on top of the penalty box which and floated over the Portland goalkeeper to put the Bruins up 2-0. After scoring a goal earlier in the night Ratoviz also assisted Nixon on the goal.
Bruins Draw With No. 18 JMU
UCLA kept a second consecutive clean sheet against a top-25 opponent on Sunday night, tying 0-0 with No. 18 James Madison University at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. Statistically, for UCLA Edrey Caceres, Sveinn Hauksson, and Andre Ochoa all tallied two shots, while sophomore goalkeeper Wyatt Nelson produced three saves. To begin the year the Bruins have now played 180 minutes without conceding a goal to begin the season. Nelson also produced the fourth clean sheet of his career in his first start for UCLA in 2024.
Opening Night Win over No. 11 LMU
UCLA opened the 2024 season with a win over No. 11 LMU on Thursday night. Edrey Caceres provided both the goals for the Bruins, scoring two beautifully taken free kicks from just outside the 18 yard box. UCLA found the opening goal in the 27th minute. After a handball just outside the 18 yard box on LMU, Caceres stood over the ball to take the ensuing free kick. Caceres lined up the shot and lifted the ball over the LMU wall, past the outstretched arms of the keeper, and put the Bruins up 1-0. As for the second goal, just five seconds before the end of the first half, the Bruins had a free kick in almost the same spot where Caceres scored from the first time. It was almost a déjà vu moment as Caceres placed his second free kick of the game perfectly, directing it over the LMU wall, past the diving keeper, and into the back of the net, making it 2-0 UCLA going into halftime, and that's how the game would finish.
Contell, Greenlee, Ochoa Selected to Big Ten Preseason players to watch list
Jose Contell enters his fifth season in Westwood in 2024. The redshirt senior has been a consistent contributor for the Bruins during his three years in the lineup, netting at least 12 points in all three seasons. The Valencia, Spain, native scored a career-high five goals in 2021 and has tallied six assist seasons twice, in 2021 and 2023. At the conclusion of the 2023 season, Contell was named to the All-Far West Region Second Team and was a 2023 Pac-12 Second Team selection.
Pablo Greenlee also enters his fifth season at UCLA. The Hollywood, California native has played 40 times for the Bruins over four seasons, making 14 starts. During the 2023 season, in which the Bruins earned the Pac-12 title, Greenlee made 11 appearances, with 10 starts.
Andre Ochoa embarks on his third season at UCLA, having transferred from San Diego State after his sophomore season. The senior from Anaheim, California, started all 18 of UCLA's games in 2023, and earned third-team all-Far West region honors and Pac-12 honorable mention accolades after tallying 15 points (4G, 7A) on the season. For his career in Westwood, Ochoa has seven goals and 11 assists over 39 appearances (36 starts).
