Bruins Score Four Goals in Second Half For 4-1 Win Against Cal Poly
Soccer News: The UCLA Bruins erupted for a four-goal second half to take down the Cal Poly Mustangs, 4-1, on Friday evening at Drake Stadium. Seyi Adekoya, Michael Amick and Jackson Yueill supplied the offensive punch for the Bruins in the home victory.
“You learn in the game of soccer that you can’t get too high or too low,” said UCLA Head Coach Jorge Salcedo. “Obviously, losing three matches in-a-row was never what we planned or hoped for, but tonight was a good first step towards us becoming a good team. The second half showed glimpses of quality that, hopefully, we can continue to build on and take into our match on Monday against UC Santa Barbara.”
The first half proved to be an evenly played opening 45 minutes, with both teams garnering good looks on net. UCLA (2-3-0) earned the game’s first excellent chance in the 29th minute when Adekoya took a dangerous strike on net. The sophomore let a hard shot fly between a pair of defenders at the top of the penalty area towards the far side of the net, but an acrobatic diving save from Wade Hamilton deflected the ball off of the post and back towards a Mustang defender. The ball was then cleared to safety and the Bruins were left without the opening tally.
Cal Poly (3-2-1) answered three minutes later with a goal to give them the first half lead over UCLA. Chase Minter took a free-kick from 20 yards out and chipped it over the wall into a crowded box. Bruin goalkeeper Juan Cervantes came forward in an attempt to clear the ball, but his second attempt at a clear was deflected back over his head towards Cal Poly’s George Grote. The Mustang forward then made a subtle touch to Adam Olsen whose shot went just over the goal line to give Cal Poly the one-goal advantage.
At the half, UCLA was out-shooting Cal Poly, 6-4, while both team’s goalkeeper had one save.
Down by a score, the UCLA offense came to life in the second half. Just five minutes into the second period, Amick netted his first career goal to equalize for the Bruins. A precise pass from Jose Hernandez led Yueill into the penalty area where he slid a pass towards the middle of the box. Amick then took a quick touch toward the net where the ball deflected off of a defender and into the goal.
With the game tied, UCLA wasted no time jumping out to the lead. Three minutes later, Abu Danladi, who was a spark off of the bench in the second half, found Yueill in the center of the pitch with plenty of space from 20 yards out. The freshman midfielder let a strong right-footed shot fly directly into the upper left corner to put the Bruins ahead, 2-1.
Proving a one-goal lead wasn’t enough for the Bruins, the UCLA offense continued to pour it on later in the second half. In the 63rd minute, it was Danladi again on the assist, this time to the foot of Adekoya, for the third tally. The Ghanaian striker, Danladi, streaked down the right side of the field and fed a perfect diagonal ball into the box where a sliding Adekoya was there to punch it into the back of the net.
Adekoya was at it again for the final goal of the night, this time doing the work on his own. After a long ball was played to him near midfield, Adekoya turned and kicked it into high gear, speeding by the left back to put himself in alone on net. The preseason All-Pac-12 selection then showed his maturity and poise on the ball, patiently taking two touches around the keeper and then burying the ball into the net for the final goal of the evening, securing the 4-1 win.
The Bruins’ four-goal output is the most they’ve scored in a game this season and the first time they’ve scored four in a game since November 24, 2013, when they took out Elon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This also marks the first time since November 21, 2010 that UCLA has scored four goals in one half.
In total, UCLA out-shot Cal Poly, 12-8, on the night. Cervantes finished with one save, while Hamilton came up with two for the Mustangs.
The Bruins are back in action on Monday, September 21 when they take on the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at 7:00pm PT at Drake Stadium. The game can be seen live on the Pac-12 Networks and listened to live on uclabruins.com. Tickets for all home matches are available and can be purchased online or by calling 310-UCLA-WIN.
