The San Diego State men’s soccer team went into Friday’s match seeking its first Pacific-12 Conference win of the season. Unfortunately for the Aztecs, the Bruins proved too much, as SDSU lost to No. 4 ranked University of California, Los Angeles 4-3 on Friday to drop to 4-6-2 overall and 0-4-1 in conference play.
The Bruins wasted no time scoring the first goal of the game in the sixth minute. Bruin defender Joe Sofia took the assist from teammate Leo Stolz and headed the ball into the right side of the goal from three yards out. Stolz and Chris Cummings were credited with the assists as UCLA took an early 1-0 lead.
SDSU proved it wasn’t intimidated by UCLA by scoring a goal in the 26th minute to equalize the game. Junior forward Jordan Ongaro took the long cross into the box from junior defender Robbie Freise and headed the ball into the net from four yards out The goal was Ongaro’s seventh of the season, giving his team the lead.
“We realized within like 10 to 12 minutes that we could play against UCLA,” junior midfielder Blake Wise said. “In fact, not just play with them, but play better than them.”
UCLA junior forward Reed William broke the tie and scored UCLA’s second goal in the 40th minute, when he scored from five yards out on the counterattack.
The goal gave UCLA a 2-1 lead heading into halftime. Senior midfielder Ryan Hollingshead was credited with the assist.
The Aztecs quickly tied the game at 2-2 in the 51st minute, when senior forward Ata Ozbay shot the ball into the upper right corner of the net on a free kick just outside the box. The goal was Ozbay’s first of the season. Williams broke the tie again and gave UCLA a 3-2 lead in the 58th minute. Williams lofted the ball over SDSU junior goalkeeper Blake Hylen, who tipped the ball before it rolled into the goal for Williams’ second goal of the night.
Wise answered back to UCLA’s goal with a three yard header into the net in the 82nd minute of the game with a beautiful chip assistance against the defense from Ozbay. The game was tied for the third time, however this goal would be the Aztecs last.
Two minutes later, UCLA junior forward Victor Chavez scored the game-winning goal, when Hollingshead’s shot ricocheted off the post. Chavez then collected the ball in front of the net and knocked it in.
The Aztecs continued to apply pressure in the final minutes, but were unable to tie the game. After a long battle, the Bruins defeated the Aztecs 4-3.
“I’m pretty excited about the way we played,” Wise said. “But we can’t be too happy with the result because we still came away with a loss, which is unfortunate.”
SDSU outshot the Bruins 12-3 in the first half and 15-8 in the second half. Ozbay and junior midfielder Kody Duff led the team in shots with five apiece, while Ongaro had three shots on goal.
Defensively, Hylen had two saves, while UCLA redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Earl Edwards had eight.
“I think we are doing well,” Ongaro said. “We just need to capitalize and finish our games and start winning.”
