Men’s soccer beats UC Riverside 2-1 in overtime

The UCLA men’s soccer team needed extra time against UC Riverside in the Bruins’ home opener on Thursday night, but a critical strike from a freshman mere moments into the golden goal period ensured that they didn’t need much of it.

Freshman forward Victor Chavez scored the winning goal from a backpass by the UC Riverside defense in the 92nd minute to clinch the win for the Bruins (2-1). UCLA freshman striker Reed Williams opened the scoring in the 80th minute, but sophomore midfielder Alex Racca scored the equalizer for the Highlanders (1-3) just three minutes after that.

The match was a tale of two halves; neither team came all that close to scoring in the first 45 minutes, save for a chance by freshman striker Zack Foxhoven to open the scoring in the 11th minute. However, the freshman, who found himself alone in front of UC Riverside junior goalkeeper Nick Goldreich after a pass by sophomore Bruin midfielder Ryan Hollingshead, sent the ball wide of the far post. The two teams went into halftime having taken a combined three shots, none of them on goal.

The No. 17 Bruins dominated possession in the first half but seemed content to keep the ball amongst their back line, rarely venturing forward into the Highlanders’ half.

In the second half, the Bruins started to show some aggression. Substitute sophomore forward Evan Raynr served as a catalyst for many of the Bruins’ attacks, but it was Chavez who provided the first goal for his team. He received a pass from junior right back Zack Zerrenner on the right sideline and proceeded to dribble past two Highlander defenders before firing in a low shot that was saved by a diving Goldreich. The rebound fell right to Williams’s feet, and he buried the ball into the top right corner.

Williams had missed a much easier chance 20 minutes prior to his goal but found a way to capitalize on that particular opportunity, something the rest of the Bruins were not able to do. Freshman midfielder Kelyn Rowe suffered two near misses within five minutes of each other early in the second half, both on shots that beat Goldreich but rolled wide of the goal, and freshman center back Joe Sofia’s header off of a corner kick was saved by the UC Riverside keeper.

UCLA’s lead did not last very long; not two minutes later, the referee called a handball on the Bruins just outside the penalty area, and Racca fired a powerful free kick that beat redshirt junior goalkeeper Brian Rowe and nestled into the left corner of the goal to tie the match at 1-1.

UCLA dominated possession in what little of an overtime period there was, and pressure by the Bruins’ attackers on the Highlanders’ back line forced a shaky backpass that Chavez was able to chase down, flick over Goldreich and slide it into the net.

The Bruins will round out their homestand on Sunday against the Davidson Wildcats (2-0-1).