Monday, September 1
Lexington, KY
10 AM (PT)

UCLA

at

No. 18 Kentucky

Sebastian Rincon
Photo by: Ross Turteltaub

Men's Soccer Plays at No. 18 Kentucky Monday

August 29, 2025 | Men's Soccer

UCLA (0-2-1) at No. 18 Kentucky (2-0-0)
Date: Monday, Sept. 1, 2025 – 10:00 a.m. PT
Location: Lexington, Ky. (Bell Soccer Complex)
Talent: Josh Braun (PxP), Gavin Colton (Analyst)
Live Stats: ucla.statbroadcast.com

UCLA Hits The Road to Face Kentucky
The UCLA men's soccer team returns to action on Monday morning on the road at No. 18 Kentucky. The Bruins and Wildcats have never played each other, and Monday's game will be the first time the two squads face off.  

2024 In Review
  • The Bruins finished sixth in their first year in the Big Ten, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row.
  • UCLA went7-6-6 overall on the year, and 3-4-3 in conference play
  • After the season Nicholas Cavallo was drafted in the third round, 88th overall, by New York City FC in the MLS SuperDraft. It marks the fourth year in a row that a Bruin has been drafted or signed a homegrown contract in MLS.
  • The Bruins' best result of the season came in a come-from-behind 2-1 win over then No. 2 Ohio State on October 11th. Edrey Caceres and Artem Vovk scored the goals as the Bruins went a goal down before coming back to earn the win, handing OSU it's only loss during the regular season.
  • To close the season senior midfielder Andre Ochoa earned second team All-North region honors, while Ochoa, Cavallo, and Allan Legaspi were all named to Big Ten teams. 
  • UCLA played one of the hardest schedules in the nation in 2024. The schedule featured matches against 10 ranked teams throughout the year, with the Bruins going 4-2-4 in those matches. 

Bruins Draw With CSUF
The UCLA men's soccer program tied Cal State Fullerton 1-1 on Thursday evening at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The Titans opened the scoring before Oliver Roche tied the game in the 67th minute with his first goal of the year, his first as a Bruin after transferring from Virginia Tech.
  • Cal State Fullerton (1-0-2) cashed in first as Jose de la Torre volleyed in a bicycle kick from the penalty spot off a cross from Jorge Quintero to fire CSUF in front in the 66:06 mark.
  • However, the Bruins (0-2-1) responded almost instantly. Philip Naef picked up the ball in midfield before dribbling wide and finding the run of Roche. Roche then dribbled past his defender and fired his shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle to tie the game at 1-1.

On Debut
Over the first two matches of the season the Bruins have had 11 newcomers make either their collegiate or UCLA debuts.
• In UCLA's season opener at UC Irvine, freshman Francis Bonsu, Ian Charles, Kian Concepcion, and Ander Marticorena all made their collegiate debuts, while Drew Brown, Oliver Roche, Sean Sent, and Sergi Solans Ormo all made their UCLA debuts.
• As for UCLA's matchup with Cal, freshman Dylan Cantafio, Zach Mastrodimos, and Ryan Tiltack all made their collegiate debuts.

Brown, Ratoviz, Solans Ormo Selected to Big Ten Preseason players to watch list
Drew Brown enters his fourth season of college soccer in 2025, and his first in Westwood after transferring from Wisconsin. The graduate defender totaled 48 appearances and 42 starts across three seasons at Wisconsin. Brown made 11 appearances and five starts for the Badgers in 2024 while in 2023 he started in all 16 games he played, and played 90 minutes in all but three of them. He was a key member of a Wisconsin defense that collected seven shutouts, and was named to TopDrawerSoccer's National Team of the Week after a shutout of No. 2 Kentucky in 2023. Brown played every minute of the season as a freshman in 2022, where he scored his first career goal against Maryland on Oct. 10, 2022.

Tamir Ratoviz enters his second season at UCLA in 2025. The Oak Park, California native played in 18 games, making two starts as a true freshman in 2024. He tallied nine points (2G, 5A) on the year, the fourth most on the team and the most of any freshman on the roster. His five assists were the second most on the team in 2024. Ratoviz recorded his first collegiate goal and collegiate assist in UCLA's 2-0 win over No. 8 Portland on Aug. 30, scored UCLA's equalizer in the Bruin's 1-1 draw at No. 6 Maryland on Oct. 21, and dished out his third assist of the year in the game against No. 25 Indiana. He then recorded a season-high two assists in UCLA's 6-0 win over Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals. 

Sergi Solans Ormo is UCLA's third player on the watch list. He was recently named to the United Soccer Coaches Forwards to Watch list for 2025 after being named a third-team All-America honoree while playing at Oregon State in 2024. He led the Beavers with 14 goals and three assists in 2024 over 16 appearances, and after the year was drafted in the first round, 30th overall by Real Salt Lake in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. Solans Ormo had one of the best offensive seasons in Oregon State men's soccer history, earning third-team All-America honors, WCC Offensive Player of the Year and United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors in 2024.

UCLA Picked Fourth in Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll
UCLA was tabbed to finish fourth in a preseason poll of the Big Ten coaches.
1. Indiana
2. Maryland
3. Ohio State
4. UCLA
5. Washington
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Wisconsin
9. Rutgers
10. Penn State
11. Northwestern

Bruins in TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Player Rankings
UCLA's Sergi Solans Ormo was named to Top Drawer Soccer's rankings of the top-100 players to watch in the country. The sophomore forward was ranked 13th on the list and was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Preseason second team.

Welcome to Westwood No. 1 Recruiting Class
Head Coach Ryan Jorden welcomes 18 newcomers to the squad for the 2025 season, ranked No. 1 by TopDrawerSoccer. The newcomers includes 11 freshman and seven transfers. 
New Blood
The Bruins brought in 18 newcomers to augment the roster for the 2025 season:
Adrian Aguilar (LAFC Academy) – A product of the LAFC Academy, Aguilar will be a freshman with the Bruins in 2025. Scored the game-winning goal in UCLA's exhibition win over UC Riverside.
Bridger Baltes (Santa Barbara SC) – Center Forward from Santa Barbara Soccer Club (MLS Next)… Ranked #155 in TDS top-200.
Blake Bayless, D (FC Cincinnati Academy) – Center Back from FC Cincinnati U-18 Academy…Has been training with FC Cincinnati's second team at MLS Next Pro ... Ranked #125 in TDS top-200. l.
Francis Bonsu, F (Milbrook HS, N.Y.) – Forward/Winger for the Millbrook School in New York... Named Gatorade High School Player of the Year for the state of New York in 2025 ... Played in USL2 with the Hudson Valley Hammers during the summer in 2024 and 2025.
Kevin Box, GK (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps) – Spent four seasons at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Claremont, California, where he was a three-time SIAC All-Academic team honoree, and earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors in 2023 ... Box appeared in 27 total matches over four seasons for the Stags.
Drew Brown, D (Wisconsin) – Totaled 48 appearances and 42 starts across three seasons at Wisconsin … Brown made 11 appearances and five starts for the Badgers in 2024 while in 2023 Brown started in all 16 games he played, and played 90 minutes in all but three of them.
Dylan Cantafio, MF (Real Salt Lake Academy) – Central Midfielder/Winger for Real Salt Lake U-18 Academy... Prior to Real Salt Lake, played for Strikers FC Academy in Irvine, CA (MLS Next).
Ian Charles, D (FC Dallas Academy) - Centerback for the FC Dallas U-18 Academy… He has captained his academy age group for the past two seasons… Ranked #116 in TDS top-200.   
Kian Concepction, D (Austin FC Academy) – Left Back for Austin FC's U-18 Academy... He has been training regularly with the MLS Next Pro team during this past season… Ranked #60 in TDS top-200.
Konstantinos Georgallides, MF (UNC Greensboro) – Played in 15 matches and made four starts UNC Greensboro in 2024 where he played a total of 463 minutes and helped lead the Spartans to a SOCON Regular Season title ... Prior to UNC Greensboro, Georgallides spent two years at Louisville in the ACC where he played a total of 39 matches and made 26 starts, producing eight goals and six assists.
Ander Marticorena, MF (CA Osasuna) – Joins the Bruins after a standout club youth career in Spain … Marticorena first came through the CA Osasuna youth system before playing for CD Subiza this past season in the third tier of Spanish soccer … He made 15 appearances for CD Subiza during the 2024-25 season.
Zach Mastrodimos. MF (Philadelphia Union Academy) – Central Midfielder from Philadelphia Union's U-18 MLS Next Academy… Regularly playing with Philadelphia's MLS Next Pro team... Led the Philadelphia Union U-17 squad to the MLS GA Cup Championship in 2024… Ranked #48 in TDS top-200.
Schinieder Mimy, D (Oral Roberts) – played in 34 matches and made 33 starts over the last three seasons at Oral Roberts University … Scored one goal and added four more assists over three seasons … Started all 16 matches as a senior and helped the Owls post a 7-6-3 record.
Ethan Pendleton, D (DC United Academy) – Previously played for DC United Academy and most recently with Louden United FC of the USL Championship, where he has played with and against former top college players at the professional level... Ranked #57 in TDS top-200.
Oliver Roche, F (Virginia Tech) – Played in 34 matches and made 23 starts for Virginia Tech over the past two seasons … Scored nine goals with three game-winning goals for the Hokies … As a freshman in 2023, Roche made 12 starts and 17 appearances, scoring four goals, and played a total of 710 minutes … In 2024 Roche had 11 starts and 17 total appearances, while tallying a career-high five goals.
Sean Sent, MF (Washington) – Part of the Washington men's soccer team for the past four seasons … Made 39 appearances and started in 21 matches for the Huskies between 2022 and 2024 … Tallied two goals and played a total of 1,699 minutes.
Sergi Solans Ormo, F (Oregon State) – Recorded 16 appearances and 14 starts for Oregon State in 2024 … Led the team with 14 goals and three assists on the year … After the year was drafted in the first round 30th overall by Real Salt Lake in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft … Earned Third Team All-America honors, WCC Offensive Player of the Year and United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors ... Seventh most goals in the country in 2024.
Ryan Tiltack, GK (Toronto FC Academy) – Goalkeeper for the U18 MLS Next Academy of Toronto FC… Has trained with both the Toronto FC First and Second Teams and has been invited to train with the Senior Canadian National Team.  

Honoring the 1985 Bruins
The UCLA men's soccer program will be honoring the 1985 NCAA National Championship team at halftime on Sunday night. The 1985 Bruins won the program's first of four national titles to date, and won it in dramatic fashion. Led by the late-great Sigi Schmidt, the Bruins went 20-1-4 on the year en route to their first NCAA Championship title. In the final, the Bruins beat American University in what is to this date the longest ever NCAA Men's Soccer National Championship match. The game, which took place in Seattle, went into eight overtime periods and lasted 167 minutes before Andy Burke scored the game-winning goal for the Bruins. 

International Flair
UCLA's current crop of players boasts eight student-athletes who were born or have lived abroad. UCLA's roster features two from Denmark (Philip Naef, Oliver Roche), two from Spain (Ander Marticorena, Sergi Solans Ormo), and one from Canada (Ryan Tiltack), Cyprus (Konstantinos Georgallides), and Ghana (Francis Bonsu), while Artem Vovk was born in Ukraine before coming to the United States as a kid.
Bring on the Big Ten
UCLA men's soccer begins its second season as a member of the Big Ten Conference on Thursday evening. The Bruins boast winning records against five current Big Ten schools. UCLA's first conference match will be on Sept. 12 when UCLA hosts Northwestern.

Bruins on The Big Ten Network
UCLA will have six games broadcast on the Big Ten Network in 2025. UCLA's home matches against Wisconsin on Sept. 19, and Maryland on Oct. 3 will be broadcast on the network, while the squad's matches at Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State will be broadcast on the network as well.

Bruins on B1G+
Five of UCLA's matches will be broadcast on B1G+ ($) in 2025, including UCLA's home opener on August 24 at 7 pm PT against California.

Sergi Nus Added to the Staff
The UCLA men's soccer program hired Sergi Nus as an assistant coach in February. Most recently, Nus served as an assistant coach at Oregon State for three seasons before coming to Westwood. During his three seasons at OSU, the Beavers made the NCAA Tournament three times, including a College Cup appearance in 2023. During his final season in Corvallis, Nus coached three MLS SuperDraft picks in Enzo Newman, Sergi Solans, and Armau Farnos, with Newman highlighting the group after being drafted 11th overall. Solans and Farnos were both named United Soccer Coaches All-Americans, while Nus coached nine All-WCC honorees during the 2024 season, which culminated in a third trip in three years to the NCAA Tournament.

His second season on the OSU bench saw the Beavers' best season in program history as Oregon State made its first-ever run to the College Cup in 2023. Overall, OSU went 11-6-5 on the year, and one four NCAA Tournament games before falling to Notre Dame in the semi-finals. Oregon State ended the season ranked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, the highest end-of-season mark in program history.

UCLA Earns Team Academic Award From United Soccer Coaches
Just before the start of the new campaign, UCLA earned a team academic award from United Soccer Coaches for the 2024-25 season. The Bruins posted a strong 3.36 team GPA, marking the eighth consecutive year that the program has qualified for the honor (teams must post a collective GPA of 3.00 or higher). UCLA has picked up the honor every season under seventh-year head coach Ryan Jorden.
Bruins in Professional Soccer    
The Bruins had nine alumni in the MLS ranks at the start of the 2025 season. Frankie Amaya is on loan from Toluca to LAFC, where he is joined by Ryan Hollingshead, Reggie Cannon is with the Colorado Rapids, Nicholas Cavallo was drafted by New York City FC, Earl Edwards Jr. plays for the San Jose Earthquakes, Milan Iloski started the year with San Diego FC and is now with the Philadelphia Union, Tucker Lepley is with the LA Galaxy where he won the MLS Cup in 2024, Tommy Silva is at Real Salt Lake, while Jackson Yueill is with the New England Revolution. 

Follow Along on Social
Stay up-to-date on all things UCLA men's soccer by following @UCLAMSoccer on Instagram and Twitter. The Bruins rank second in the country among men's soccer programs in Instagram followers.

Players Mentioned

MF
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
UCLA Men's Soccer vs. Rutgers Recap
Monday, September 11
UCLA Men's Soccer vs. Rutgers Recap
Sunday, September 10
Jose Contell’s goal lifts UCLA past California in Los Angeles
Friday, October 21
Jose Contell, UCLA ’really happy’ after defeating Cal on special night
Friday, October 21