The Bruins went scoreless to open Pac-12 play with a draw.

No. 25 UCLA men’s soccer (3-2-1, 0-0-1 Pac-12) recorded its first tie of the season against No. 2 Stanford (4-0-2, 0-0-1). In 2021, the Bruins recorded only one tie all season, also against the Cardinal.

Junior defender Grayson Doody said that trust in the team is the key to success in away games.

“You have different routines, getting into the rhythm of things and getting mentally prepared,” Doody said. “We just have to trust each other because you’re a little bit out of your own element, traveling and just being away from what you are used to.”

The Bruins entered this match-up off of a two game losing streak. After winning the first three matches of the season, UCLA dropped consecutive games against Grand Canyon and Portland. However, coach Ryan Jorden said the Bruins were not concerned with the results of the past few games, and instead were solely focused on the match in front of them.

“I don’t know that the losses have an effect on us one way or another,” Jorden said. “I think the guys know the rivalry with Stanford and just were focused on the competitiveness of that game.”

Both teams showed a slow start offensively at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium in Palo Alto. In the first 45 minutes, UCLA recorded only two shots, while Stanford did slightly better with four. The two teams combined for nine fouls in the first half however – three from the Bruins and six from the Cardinal.

While Stanford came back more aggressive in the second half of the game by recording 11 more shots – including four shots on goal – UCLA was unable to record a single shot in the second half of the match.

The Bruins, who have been averaging 9.0 shots per game this season, only managed two this game. Jorden said that while UCLA put the ball into positions that would have allowed them to get shots off, the team just wasn’t able to execute.

“We put some balls in some dangerous areas that didn’t have a shot on the end of them,” Jorden said. “We got into some good positions but, obviously we didn’t actually get balls on frame at the end of it so we have to look at it and go, ‘Why were we not more effective at creating a few more chances?’”

The 15 shots by Stanford were also the most that UCLA has allowed so far this season. The past two games both saw the Bruins allow 13 shots each, but this time around UCLA was able to stop all of the Cardinal’s scoring attempts.

Doody said that while the game was challenging on the defensive end, the entire team worked together to make sure that Stanford was unable to score.

“It was tough defensively but at the end of the day we kept a clean sheet,” Doody said. “It was a team effort in terms of defending, it worked from the front to the back and at the end of the day, no shots went in so, we’re happy with the shutout for sure.”

UCLA continues on the road against California Sunday at 4 p.m..