Short-Handed Bruins Lose, 4-3, at California
Soccer News: Playing a man down for the final 33 minutes of action, UCLA fell to the Cal Golden Bears, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at Edwards Stadium. Jose Hernandez scored twice and added a goal of his own in the loss.
Cal (7-5-2, 2-3-2 in Pac-12) scored the game’s first goal, just three minutes in, off of a long-distance strike from Trevor Haberkorn. The junior midfielder gathered a loose ball and hit a hard right-footed shot from 25 yards out past Juan Cervantes and into the top-right corner. The early tally had the Golden Bears ahead, 1-0.
However, UCLA (7-7-1, 3-3-1 in Pac-12) wasted no time responding, and got a goal of its own just six minutes later. A deflected ball was gathered quickly by a charging Hernandez who fed Jackson Yueill at the top of the box. Yueill then turned and chipped the ball over the Cal defense and onto the left foot of Hernandez, who continued his run. Hernandez then struck the ball firmly into the lower right corner to equalize for the Bruins.
A set piece led to UCLA’s second goal late in the first half to take the lead. Chase Gasper bent a free kick from just above the top left corner of the penalty area towards the far post. Javan Torre got on the end of the service and banged a sliding shot off of the crossbar. The ball then rebounded to the left of the net where Jordan Vale gathered and sent the ball back into the mix in front. Abu Danladi took a touch with his chest down to his feet and promptly finished a left-footed shot from point-blank to give the Bruins the 2-1 edge.
At the half, UCLA and Cal had seven shots apiece, while the Golden Bears had earned three corners to the Bruins’ none.
As UCLA was starting to impose its will on Cal in the second half, the game got turned upside down in the 57th minute. Bruin goalkeeper Cervantes was assessed a red card after he tackled a Cal attacker in the box, leaving UCLA to play a man down. Jose Carrera-Garcia scored on the subsequent penalty kick and tied the game at two.
Three minutes later, Cal took the lead on a goal from Spencer Held. Carrera-Garcia sent a well-placed ball into the box off of a set piece and found Held unmarked. The Golden Bear midfielder got his head on the end of the cross and scored to give Cal the 3-2 advantage.
With UCLA playing desperate, the Bruins got caught on a counter-attack in the 83rd minute. Carrera-Garcia chipped goalkeeper Cole Martinez for his second goal of the game, extending the Cal lead to two.
The Bruins would add one more goal from the penalty spot in the 87th minute, but Hernandez’s second goal of the match stood as the final tally as UCLA was beaten, 4-3.
Overall, UCLA was out-shot by Cal, 14-12, but earned five corners to the Golden Bears’ three. After replacing Cervantes, Martinez made one save in the loss for UCLA, while Jonathan Klinsmann also came on as a sub, making one save in the victory for Cal.
The Bruins take a break from Pac-12 Conference play to travel east for their next match to take on the Akron Zips next Sunday, November 1 at 10:00am PT.
