This post was updated Oct. 3 at 10:42 p.m.

Offense and defense can operate as two distinct units – acting almost foreign to one another.

In a season where the Bruins’ defense has shone, their offense has consistently faltered.

After falling to Michigan State for its second loss in Big Ten play, UCLA men’s soccer (4-3-3, 1-2-1 Big Ten) will take on Penn State (4-5-1, 1-2-1) on Friday night in State College, Pennsylvania. The Bruins stumbled out of the gates in the Big Ten – last seeing a conference win Sept. 13 – something the team said is due to a lack of discipline.

“This one hurts. To be at home, we try to defend our home and try to get the result every time,” said senior forward Andre Ochoa after losing to the Spartans. “I guess the only thing we can improve on is not getting scored on in the first two minutes. That puts us in a hole that we have to dig out of, and it’s hard to chase the game for the full 90 (minutes) when a team is very compact.”

Despite their distribution of production – boasting nine different goal scorers so far this season – the team lacks a true apex scorer.

The Bruins’ two leading scorers are graduate student midfielder Edrey Caceres and junior forward Nikolai Rojel – who have both notched three goals in 2024 – though two of the former’s goals came in the first game of the season.

Success last season came from hefty goal-production efforts by former Bruin Jack Sarkos and Ochoa – the attacking tandem combined to record 13 goals and nine assists in 2023.

Now, Sarkos – who is in his first season for the MLS’ Charlotte FC – has departed from Westwood, while Ochoa has failed to record a goal or assist through 10 contests this season.

“We’re searching for somebody that scores goals and so at the end of it, you’d like to find somebody who can hit the back of the net,” said coach Ryan Jorden. “We have not found that yet.”

The biggest X-factor for Penn State could be who stands between the posts. Throughout the season, the Nittany Lions have sporadically alternated between goalkeepers Andrew Cooke and Fredrick Grundin.

In the seven affairs Cooke has started in, he has a record of 1-5-1, conceded 17 goals and logged a GAA of 2.43. In contrast, in the three contests Grundin has started in, he holds a 3-0 record along with two conceded goals and a 0.67 GAA.

If Grundin starts Friday, he may serve as the wall to impede the Bruins’ offensive progress.

“I think our main issue now is just turning those chances and the goals,” said sophomore forward Jacob Diaz. “I think it’s been getting better, like five today, three against Michigan the other day. I think that’s our main focus right now – is just putting the ball in the back of the net.”

Fortunately for the Bruins, the Nittany Lions have also struggled to find the back of the net in 2024. Their leading point scorers, midfielder Caden Grabfelder and defender Matthew Henderson, combined for just six goals and three assists this season.

The Bruin defensive line – a group that has logged five clean sheets – should be able to handle the bulk of the Nittany Lions’ offensive production. However, preventing costly goals could be vital to progress forward – avoiding a repeat of Michigan State’s first-minute winner or Michigan’s 80th-minute equalizer.

“We are just going to go back into film and learn, learn from this game and put it behind us,” Ochoa said. “There’s still a long way to go and try to make the tournament, and you know, win the conference.”