Friday, March 29, 2024

AdvertiseDonateSubmit
NewsSportsArtsOpinionThe QuadPhotoVideoIllustrationsCartoonsGraphicsThe StackPRIMEEnterpriseInteractivesPodcastsBruinwalkClassifieds

Men’s soccer on target for strong season with shutout exhibition against Omaha

Junior midfielder Eric Iloski tallied UCLA men’s soccer’s only goal in its exhibition win over Omaha on Saturday. The Bruins will kick off their regular season Aug. 30 versus Northwestern. (MacKenzie Coffman/Daily Bruin senior staff)

Men's soccer


UCLA1
Omaha0

By Marcus Veal

Aug. 26, 2019 12:17 a.m.

In 180 minutes of exhibition action, the Bruins didn’t allow a single goal.

UCLA men’s soccer will begin its regular season without suffering a loss in the preseason after its 1-0 exhibition win on the road against Omaha on Saturday night.

“I was really pleased with the progress we made from our last performance,” said coach Ryan Jorden. “I thought that our attention to detail on both sides of the ball were better and we clued into some of the areas that we focused on in practice this past week.”

Junior midfielder Eric Iloski accounted for the lone goal of the game in the 35th minute. Attacking the box from the left side, he created space from a defender and took his shot from about 15 yards out. The strike chipped the inside of the left post and found the back of the Mavericks’ net – good for Iloski’s first goal of the season.

“The play was developing and the ball swung out wide to (junior defender Ben Reveno), who saw me making a run,” Iloski said. “He played it to me and I was able to cut inside and as soon as that happened, I knew I had the shot.”

UCLA had multiple chances to extend its lead, but offside calls and a missed penalty shot prevented the Bruins from converting another goal.

Omaha had seven shots in the game, including three on target. Most of the Mavericks’ potential scoring opportunities ended with the ball being dribbled out of bounds or a save by sophomore goalkeeper Justin Garces.

The Bruins finished the preseason with a 4-0 aggregate scoreline. Even though the Bruins tallied a 3-0 win against Westmont on Tuesday, junior midfielder Andrew Paoli said his team did a better job of staying in front of Omaha’s attack, something he thought was lacking versus the Warriors.

“We want to pride ourselves on being really good defensively, and I thought we controlled the pace of the game throughout,” Paoli said. “We’re still looking into certain ideas and figuring out our style of play, but I think we’ve been progressing well after every game so far.”

The Bruins will kick off the regular season on Friday in Bloomington, Indiana, in the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic, where they will square off against Northwestern and No. 2 Indiana.

Share this story:FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Marcus Veal | Alumnus
Veal joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2016 and contributed until he graduated in 2020. He spent time on the baseball, softball, women's water polo, men's soccer and cross country beats.
Veal joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2016 and contributed until he graduated in 2020. He spent time on the baseball, softball, women's water polo, men's soccer and cross country beats.
COMMENTS
Featured Classifieds
More classifieds »
Related Posts