Men’s soccer preps to play UC Irvine in first of eight consecutive home games
Junior defender Ben Reveno spent two seasons with UC Irvine before transferring to UCLA at the start of the 2019 season. Reveno has started in the Bruins’ backline for each of UCLA’s first seven games and has logged one clean sheet on the year. (MacKenzie Coffman/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Men's soccer
UC Irvine
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Wallis Annenberg Stadium
Pac-12 Networks
By Jared Tay
Sept. 26, 2019 1:13 a.m.
The Bruins will start their longest home stretch of the past four decades.
UCLA men’s soccer (3-4-0, 0-2 Pac-12) is set to face off against UC Irvine (2-4-2, 0-0 Big West) to kick off an eight-game homestand. It will be the most consecutive home games for the Bruins since 1980. Prior to that, no home and away distinctions were kept in records.
Over the month of October, the Bruins will see five opponents for the first time this season, including Pac-12 rivals California and Stanford. UCLA will also have the chance at rematches against Washington and Oregon State after getting shut out by both schools on the road last weekend.
“We’re going to continue to work on educating our guys and understanding the triggers and moments that will be important for us to identify,” said coach Ryan Jorden. “(We will) work to reinforce the decision making that we want to have but also avoid.”
UCLA has a chance to rebound at home with its nonconference matchup against UC Irvine.
Junior defender Ben Reveno, who spent two seasons with the Anteaters before transferring to UCLA, will face his old squad in Thursday’s midweek match.
“(UC Irvine) will definitely come out firing,” Reveno said. “Their record isn’t what they want it to be. They (are strong) in transition. Like (Washington), they look to win the ball high up the pitch, and we shouldn’t be letting our guard down when they come on the counter.”
The Anteaters’ last three games have resulted in a win, loss and tie, with each game going to overtime. UC Irvine has finished above .500 in its last two seasons.
Like the Bruins, the Anteaters have faced multiple ranked teams in nonconference play. UC Irvine is 0-3 against ranked teams, including losses to then-No. 11 Saint Mary’s, then-No. 6 Georgetown and then-No. 4 Stanford. UCLA enters Thursday 1-3 against ranked teams.
After scoring 10 goals in their first five games, UCLA failed to notch a goal in its conference openers against both Oregon State and Washington. Meanwhile, UC Irvine hasn’t tallied a clean sheet in 2019, conceding an average of 1.25 goals per game.
Freshman forward Jefferson Alade – who has come off the bench in four of the Bruins’ seven games – said the start of UCLA’s home stretch will be a turning point for the team.
“Even though we’ve had two back-to-back losses, we’ve learned a lot from these two games,” Alade said. “When we come back to training and look at the game film, it will be clear and obvious what we have to do.”
Jorden said he won’t be making many changes in practice this week, despite the Bruins having conceding five goals against Washington on Sunday – the second time UCLA has allowed five scores this season.
“We know we have guys that can score goals,” Jorden said. “We got off to a pretty decent start on that front. (But) chasing games is hard when the team becomes compact against you. We’ve got to try and avoid that situation and (give ourselves) opportunities to score.”
UCLA found itself trailing two minutes into the Oregon State and Washington games, forcing the Bruins to play full games from behind on both occasions. Alade said if the Bruins trust Jorden’s coaching and style of play, UCLA will bounce back during the month of October.
“If we keep trusting (Jorden’s) system and playing the way we can … we beat the defending champions (Maryland) at home,” Alade said. “If we can trust the system, Irvine will be a really great game for us and turning point in our season.”
Kickoff against UC Irvine is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday.
