UCLA hosted the Scarlet Knights on Friday night at Wallis Annenberg Stadium during their senior night and last home game of the regular season. UCLA men’s soccer outscored Rutgers with a 5–2 victory. Redshirt sophomore forward #9 Sergi Solans Ormo had three goals and junior forward #11 Oliver Roche had two.
The Bruins took control early in the first half, keeping the Scarlet Knights busy with multiple corner kicks and quick offensive transitions. After several early fouls and blocked shots from both sides, Solans came through in the 39th minute with a goal to the bottom center of the net off an assist from #7 Philip Naef. Less than a minute later, Roche scored his first goal of the night with a laser to the bottom left corner, giving the Bruins a 2–0 advantage heading into halftime. UCLA outshot Rutgers 8–6 in the first half, maintaining steady possession while UCLA’s goalkeeper #18 Kevin Box blocked several shots from the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers came out strong in the second half, quickly getting rid of UCLA’s lead. Rutgers’ midfielder #22 Francesco Di Ponzio scored off a corner kick to put Rutgers on the board, and just a minute later, Rutgers defender #4 Nick Collins scored another goal to tie the game at 2–2.
But the tie did not last long. Less than a minute later, Solans acted fast with his second goal of the night, assisted by Naef and midfielder #20 Ander Marticorena, to reclaim the lead for UCLA. UCLA’s momentum continued when Solans got his third goal of the night just two minutes later, once again finding the bottom center of the goal with help from Roche and Marticorena.
A VAR review was called following the goal from Solans, but the goal stood, extending UCLA’s lead to 4–2. Rutgers continued to play strong; Rutgers forward #24 Matty Lynch had a close shot but Box had an incredible save to maintain the lead for UCLA.
With just about 20 minutes remaining, Roche scored his second goal of the match, kicking to the bottom right corner to extend the Bruins’ lead even more. While UCLA finished with 15 total shots and Rutgers finished with 19, they were able to be more efficient when it came to scoring. Solans led the Bruins’ with three goals, while Roche had two and Naef recorded four assists.
With their win at their last home game of the regular season, the Bruins hope to keep this up to finish their last two games strong. They go on the road to face off Omaha next Saturday and then they’ll finish off the season in Seattle to face off Washington.
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Featured Image Photographed by Catherine Rodriguez/BruinLife
