The reigning Pac-12 champions are back on the pitch preparing for the regular season.

But this time around the Bruins are in unfamiliar territory – the Big Ten.

After competing in the Pac-12 since 2000, the inaugural year for men’s soccer in the conference, UCLA men’s soccer will be pit against arguably finer talent in the Big Ten, most notably Penn State and Indiana. In addition to its new faces, the Big Ten introduces a novel playoff format.

In the Pac-12, each program played the five others twice through conference contention, with the ultimate standing leader being crowned Pac-12 champions and automatically advancing to the postseason. In contrast, the 11-team Big Ten field hosts an end-of-season tournament to determine the conference winner that earns a playoff bid.

“I don’t think that the conference tournament is advantageous for the conference with regards to tournament selections and getting the maximum number of schools into the NCAA tournament,” said coach Ryan Jorden. “But it’s the nature of the history of the conference, and it’s what the conference coaches have wanted to retain.”

On top of navigating new territory in the Big Ten, the Bruins also face immense roster turnover. Following its 2023 campaign, UCLA added 10 new additions and saw seven depart.

Chief among the Bruin newcomers is graduate student midfielder Edrey Caceres. The Houston local played 50 games at Marquette across three seasons, notching 11 goals, 14 assists and 36 points before transferring to UCLA.

He garnered three All-Big East Second Team selections and could be what the Bruins need to replace the production of former midfielders Ryan Becher and Tucker Lepley.

“Tucker was very dynamic and could do just about everything on the field, and Becher has that element of physicality and height,” said junior midfielder Cam Wilkerson. “This year, we don’t have that 6-foot-5 midfielder, but the quality is still there, it’s just a little different.

While UCLA’s coaching staff bolstered the midfield with Caceres, it simultaneously fortified the attack with graduate student midfielder/forward Sveinn Hauksson and junior forward Nikolai Rojel.

The former accumulated 20 goals and 11 assists through 130 games with the Icelandic Premier League soccer club KA Akureyri, while the latter scored 20 goals during his two seasons at Wofford College. Rojel etched his name in the Southern Conference’s history after being named the conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2022 and Player of the Year in 2023.

Amid Rojel and Hauksson’s proven talent and production, freshman forward Artem Vovk may be the wildcard for the Bruins’ offensive scheme. The Rivne, Ukraine, local contributed 100 goals and more than 30 assists at the club level with Elk Grove Sporting.

“Sveinn is a baller,” said senior forward Andre Ochoa. “He is an absolute unit with skills, so I’m very excited to link up with him and hopefully provide some assists and get some assists from him as well.”

Before UCLA officially starts its 2024 season against Loyola Marymount – the same team that squashed the Bruins’ postseason hopes in November – it began preseason play with two exhibition matches against CSU Bakersfield and CSUN.

The first exhibition match against CSU Bakersfield resulted in a 3-1 defeat for UCLA as CSU Bakersfield forward Connor Mautino notched a hat trick. Mautino scored his third goal of the match in the 80th minute, putting the Roadrunners up 3-0.

UCLA finished its preseason with a 1-1 draw against CSUN. The match went scoreless into the 81st minute until CSUN midfielder/forward Eyifehn Forfor broke the silence after rebounding his own saved shot. Despite the late game goal from CSUN, junior midfielder Amjot Narang tied the game for UCLA in the final moments of the game.

“You can’t be solely dependent on the result, because that’s not our primary focus,” Jorden said. “If our primary focus was to win both of our exhibitions then we could have done that.”