UCLA men’s soccer ends season with 4-0 loss to San Diego State
The Bruins suffered their fifth shutout loss of the year against San Diego State on Saturday. Both teams won’t make the NCAA soccer tournament in 2017. (Aubrey Yeo/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Edwin Kim
Nov. 12, 2017 11:54 p.m.
The Bruins crawled to the finish line.
The San Diego State Aztecs, losers of four straight, and the Bruins, losers of three straight, have both experienced tumultuous seasons.
In their Saturday night clash, UCLA (7-10-1, 4-6-0 Pac-12) dropped its final regular season game in a 4-0 shutout loss against hosts San Diego State (6-13-0, 1-9-0).
With the win, SDSU secured its very first win of conference play while UCLA ends its 2017 campaign on a season-worst four-game losing streak.
The Aztecs have had difficulty registering even one goal per game with their 184th ranked offense that averaged .83 goals scored per game.
Tonight, however, the Aztecs showed up and logged four scores on 16 attempts, shooting 25 percent compared to their season average of 9.6 percent.
SDSU’s seniors were heavily involved in the attack, scoring all of their goals.
In the sixth minute, midfielder Dallin Cutler opened up the scoring with his shot from the top of the 18-yard box.
He then doubled his team’s lead in the 29th minute after notching another goal off a well-placed cross into the area.
With a two-goal lead in hand, the Aztecs doubled down in the second half, logging two more goals.
In the 66th minute, immediately after SDSU’s third goal, UCLA freshman striker Milan Iloski was ejected from the game with a red card following an aggressive foul.
The aggressiveness did not carry over on the offense for the Bruins as they were doubled in shot attempts 16-8 by SDSU.
UCLA has struggled to produce goals on a consistent basis this season as the 88th-ranked offense has averaged 1.41 goals per game coming into Saturday night. The loss also marks the team’s fourth shutout in conference play.
On the other hand, the defense of both teams have been nearly identical in terms of allowing goals.
Prior to Saturday night’s tilt, only six spots separated the average goals per game allowed ranking between the two sides.
UCLA finished the season with 1.74 goals allowed per game, which is 170th in the nation. SDSU’s mark of 1.56 was good for 150th.
The Bruins finished their season with an even 4-6 conference split and tied for fourth in the Pac-12 standings with the Oregon State Beavers (7-11-0, 4-6-0) with 12 points.
Coach Jorge Salcedo and UCLA men’s soccer players were not immediately available for comment following Saturday’s game.
