UCLA men’s soccer ties with UC Irvine, amid claims of ‘missed calls’ by referee

In the 48th minute of regulation, coach Ryan Jorden was screaming at referee Jorge Luna Hernandez.

Junior forward Milan Iloski had been hit for the second time by an Anteater defender and collapsed on the pitch as he held his ankle in pain. Iloski sustained a challenge a few plays earlier that had not been called.

“(Iloski)’s got eight goals on the year which is great because it is a lot of goals, but the reality is that other teams play really close attention to him,” Jorden said. “If an official is not going to protect players … you want quality players to affect games. And if you’re not going to protect players like that, then they’re not doing their job.”

Iloski’s eighth goal of the season was UCLA men’s soccer’s (3-4-1) lone score against UC Irvine (2-4-3) on Thursday, as the two finished level at one goal apiece after two overtime periods. Thursday’s result was the Bruins’ first tie in nearly two years.

The Bruins took the lead first with Iloski’s goal in the 25th minute. It was only their second shot of the night as Iloski pounced on a failed pass in the Anteater’s penalty box.

He slotted his left footed shot into the bottom left corner, making his way onto the score sheet after failing to register goals in his previous two games.

Iloski said although he knows the game was hard to call from the referees’ standpoint, he felt they missed a few calls.

“It was pretty intense and there were a lot of tackles going both ways,” Iloski said. “I think (Hernandez) missed a penalty kick on me right at the beginning of the second half. It’s a hard game to referee, but there were a few missed calls that could have changed the outcome of the game.”

In the 28th minute, UC Irvine tied the game on a counter attacking chance. Off an assist from midfielder Eder Oliva, Anteater forward Alvaro Quezada cut into the box, slotting home his first goal of the season.

Jorden said he expected the Bruins to come away with a clean sheet at home and finish with a 1-0 victory.

“We scored first and we weren’t good enough to keep them out,” Jorden said. “We should have been able to win 1-0 and that’s on us for not doing a good enough job defensively to be tight enough to win like that. The referee didn’t do that to us.”

By the 58th minute, UC Irvine had tallied quadruple the amount of shots as UCLA.

On at least three separate occasions in the second half, the Bruins were unable to link up with their forwards for a chance on goal.

In the 47th minute, junior midfielder Marcony Pimentel failed to find redshirt senior forward Blayne Martinez on a pass through the Anteater backline. Martinez was again missed by a Bruin midfielder in the 55th and 63rd minute, while sophomore midfielder Riley Ferch and redshirt junior midfielder Carlos Rincon were unable to find each other for a potential shot in the 60th minute.

“Because of the physicality and all the running (for) a lot of guys, maybe some guys were not as sharp or fast with the passes,” Iloski said. “There were a lot of mistimed balls, but that will get better as the season goes on.”

Redshirt senior defender Matthew Powell said Irvine’s physicality was jarring, especially for some of the younger players on the squad.

“It was more like the (contact) between plays where they are giving you a little nudge in the ribcage,” Powell said. “That’s more of a mental thing so it’s not something we can’t deal with but we have a lot of young guys this year and they have to adapt, because that is college soccer.”

The Bruins will take to the pitch at Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Tuesday for their final nonconference slate before they return to Pac-12 play against San Diego State on Oct. 6.