This post was updated Nov. 8 at 2:46 p.m.

The Seattle wind swept away any chances of a repeat Cinderella Story for the Bruin side.

No. 6 seed UCLA men’s soccer (9-4-5, 4-3-3 Big Ten) fell to No. 3 seed Rutgers (9-6-2, 6-3-1) 2-0 on Sunday at the Husky Soccer Stadium in the Big Ten quarterfinals. The Bruins will not advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament.

Coach Ryan Jorden’s squad opened the match with a focus on possession, controlling the ball almost 70% of the first frame. 

UCLA’s first attacking efforts came in the 10th minute, when senior forward Oliver Roche received a pass in the air. Roche flicked the ball on with his head, past the Scarlet Knights’ backline, but a 1v1 against goalkeeper Ponce de Leon proved unsuccessful, leaving the squad scoreless.

Four minutes later, junior midfielder Jaime Amaro lined up to take a corner to the Bruins. The ball inside found the feet of junior midfielder Zach Neuls, who was unable to find the back of the net, allowing Ponce de Leon to pick up the second of his two saves through the first frame.

The Bruins recorded three corners through the first half, a number matched by their opponents. One of Rutgers’ corners came in the 33rd minute, after a cross led to defender Simon Gorczowski taking a shot in the backpost, where freshman goalkeeper Tristan Shaw made a full-extension save, knocking the ball out of bounds.

The Scarlet Knights sent the corner into the box, where the Bruins were able to clear it. But Rutgers was able to find midfielder Joshua Jerome at the top of the 18-yard box, who then ripped a shot past the hands of Shaw and into the back of the net, giving his squad a 1-0 lead.

Efforts from the Bruins, including a shot from Amaro that flew over the crossbar, remained unsuccessful, and the half concluded with the Scarlet Knights’ one-goal lead. Coming out into the second half, UCLA looked to find momentum, pressuring Rutgers’ backline.

But any momentum gained by the attacking efforts was shut down three minutes into the frame, when a turnover on the UCLA backline gave midfielder Francesco Di Ponzio the ball. Di Ponzio found forward Matty Lynch, who took on senior defender Tre Wright and Shaw, slotting the ball into the goal to double his team’s lead.

Through the next six minutes, Shaw came up big with saves against Di Ponzio and Lynch to keep the Bruins in the game. Shaw, who has started in four games for the Bruins, finished the night with four saves, his career high. 

With a spot in the Big Ten semifinals on the line, tensions were high – UCLA finished the game with eight fouls, while Rutgers had 13. Both squads were also issued yellow cards – two on the Bruins and one on the Scarlet Knights – two of which were given during the final fifteen minutes of the second half.

The Bruins were not quitting, though, and junior defender David de la Vibora tried his luck, forcing Ponce De Leon to make a big save. Ponce De Leon finished the match with five saves against the Bruin side.

In the 74th minute, fifth-year forward Diego Castano received a cross that he attempted to redirect to the goal with a bicycle kick. Although this one effort was unsuccessful, Castano leads the squad with eight goals, including the game-winning goal against Washington from behind half-field.

The final fifteen minutes of play saw more attacking attempts from the Westwood side, but to no avail, and Rutgers was able to walk away with the two-goal victory, eliminating UCLA from the tournament.

This is the first time since joining the Big Ten that the Bruins were unable to advance to the Big Ten finals. With a spot in the NCAA Tournament not guaranteed, UCLA will wait until the selection show Monday, Nov. 16 to hear if its season continues.