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Men’s soccer records back-to-back shutout losses in conference play

Redshirt sophomore forward Jose Contell pursues the ball. Contell logged two shots in UCLA’s contest against Washington but was unable to convert and lift the Bruins above the Huskies. (Anika Chakrabarti/Photo editor)

men's soccer


No. 2 Washington1
No. 21 UCLA0

By Lexi Grimes

Oct. 3, 2022 2:00 p.m.

Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly referred to Washington forward Nick Scardina as Nate Scardina.

This post was updated Oct. 4 at 3:21 p.m.

The Bruins suffered a shutout for the second game in a row.

No. 21 UCLA men’s soccer (5-4-1, 1-2-1 Pac-12) endured its second 0-1 loss of the weekend, this time against No. 2 Washington (9-0-1, 2-0). The Bruins’ first loss came at the hands of Oregon State on Thursday evening.

Although the two straight conference losses are not ideal, redshirt sophomore forward Jose Contell said the Bruins recognize that they were outplayed by two very strong squads.

“Although Oregon State right now does not have a very good ranking, we know that last year they won the Pac-12, so they have an amazing team,” Contell said. “Washington is No. 2 in the country right now, and after Wake Forest lost I think they will probably be No. 1 in the country next week, so at the end of the day we are playing against some of the best teams in the nation.”

The game got off to a promising start for the Bruins, with the first shot of the match coming from Contell in the eighth minute, a shot that outpaced the Huskies’ first attempt by four minutes. However, Washington recorded six more first-half shots and just two minutes before the end of the half, forward Nick Scardina netted the ball in the top right corner, giving the Huskies the lead.

The first-half action was also accompanied by physicality on both sides. Washington opened with two fouls in less than two minutes, and UCLA committed its first foul around the two-minute marker as well. The Huskies logged one additional foul in the first frame for a total of three, while the Bruins notched a total of six fouls throughout the half.

For the second 45 minutes of the match, UCLA was able to stop all of Washington’s attempts to score, but only recorded one shot on goal which failed to find the back of the net.

Sophomore goalkeeper Nate Crockford said that if the team can be more disciplined on defense, it will be able to change the outcomes of some of these close games.

“We need to be a little more clinical in the box,” Crockford said. “Defending wise we need to be more organized, but I think if we’re more clinical we can put teams away.”

The game clock also saw a lot of action during the game, with multiple stoppages because of injuries. The Bruins and Huskies were constantly bumping heads and no more than five minutes seemed to go by without a player on the ground.

Just eight minutes before the game ended, UCLA was down by the Washington goal and was looking to score when the match had to be paused after Husky goalkeeper Sam Fowler collided with multiple Bruin players and exited the field with a suspected broken arm.

The match concluded with both a UCLA and a Washington foul in the last minute of the game, while Husky head coach Jamie Clark was heard shouting taunts and obscenities at the Bruins’ players and coaching staff.

Coach Ryan Jorden said the extremely physical nature of the game was due mainly to the competitiveness of the two teams.

“In these games it’s going to be competitive and it’s going to be physical,” Jorden said. “We’re trying to play so we’re going to get fouled. I thought we fouled a few times unnecessarily and we gave free kicks away, so we’ve got to be more disciplined in those moments, because obviously it disrupts the flow of the game when you’re the team that’s trying to make the ball move.”

The Bruins will have the opportunity to move to .500 in Pac-12 play as they continue their conference homestand with a matchup against San Diego State on Friday at 7 p.m.

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Lexi Grimes | Sports reporter
Grimes is currently a Sports reporter on the men's soccer beat. She was previously a contributor on the beach volleyball, men's soccer and women's volleyball beats.
Grimes is currently a Sports reporter on the men's soccer beat. She was previously a contributor on the beach volleyball, men's soccer and women's volleyball beats.
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