UCLA men’s soccer bests top-10 Michigan State

This post was updated Oct. 4 at 10:21 p.m.

As temperatures skyrocketed in Los Angeles this weekend, the Bruins brought the heat in a highly anticipated matchup against a top-10 opponent.

No. 23 UCLA men’s soccer (5-1-4, 2-1-2 Big Ten) upset then-No. 8 Michigan State (7-2-1, 3-1-0) 3-0 on Saturday evening at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The match marks the Spartans’ first outright defeat this season.

Despite the extreme heat, the stands had significant turnout, with many UCLA fans excitedly watching the matchup on UCLA’s home field. The stands were lined with fans, as well as local elementary student “All Stars,” soccer players with posters of the Bruins and sheer enthusiasm and love for the game.

Senior forward Oliver Roche – an Odense, Denmark, local – found the heat challenging but proactively prepared for battle.

“I was drinking water two days ago,” Roche said. “We all did so much and tried to hydrate as much as possible, and every little detail. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect you in the game. It still will. You try to limit that, but I definitely felt it. But in the end, we still got to work through it, and that’s just the circumstances sometimes.”

The game opened with Michigan State asserting pressure in UCLA’s half of the field and dominating early play. The Spartans immediately launched shots on goal within the first 15 minutes, prompting strategic collaboration between UCLA’s strong back line and Ryan Tiltack. The sophomore goalkeeper quickly made three saves in the first 15 minutes, blocking the Spartans’ early attempts at shots on goal.

While Michigan State maintained possession in the earlier part of the first half, junior defender Shakir Nixon blocked several attempts in UCLA’s box and helped ensure no ball made it past Tiltack.

Nixon was recently one of 30 players named to the midseason watch list for the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top player, and is a key player on UCLA’s powerful defensive line. Bruin defenders often doubled as midfielders throughout the match and applied pressure to Michigan State’s side of the field.

UCLA and Michigan State engaged in a tug-of-war, fighting for possession in the box and attempting to put a number on the scoreboard early in the first half.

In the 19th minute, junior midfielder Jaime Amaro made his first of many breakaways into Michigan State’s box and created an opportunity resulting in a corner kick for UCLA. The corner kick soared into the box, where Roche jumped up and headed the ball, nearly missing the goal and leaving UCLA fans on the edge of their seats. Amaro had several other breakaways and contributed to UCLA’s total of eight shots in the first half.

Tensions rose in the few minutes leading up to halftime, and Amaro fired off another shot on goal and missed the post ever so slightly, closing the first half with intensity from the Bruins.

After halftime, UCLA hit the ground running with fifth-year forward Diego Castano launching the ball into the back of Michigan State’s net in the 48th minute, securing UCLA’s lead at 1-0. This marked Castano’s third goal of the year and was the result of an assist from junior midfielder Zach Neuls.

Coach Ryan Jorden strategically substituted players to create new opportunities and said he was proud of the Bruins’ ability to gain momentum in the second half.

“I thought across the board the guys worked tremendously hard together,” Jorden said. “Every guy we put on, I thought, brought something as an impact. It’s not substitutions. It’s impact players. In the second half, we made one change to start, but then we made a couple changes 15, 20 minutes in, and all those guys who came on increased the energy, the tempo. The tactical execution got sharper because they were fresher, and so, as a result, they came on and made an impact for us.”

UCLA prevailed and was determined to secure the win over Michigan State. The Bruins posted 10 total shots in the second half. In the 85th minute, Amaro blasted past Michigan State’s defensive line and, with an agile assist from senior midfielder Philip Naef, Amaro found the back of the net, setting the score to 2-0.

Roche quickly followed in the 86th minute with a fast breakaway past the defensive line and an open field before lobbing the ball into the back of the net, securing the final score at 3-0. Roche recently recovered from an injury and was hunting for an opportunity to score throughout the game.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for that goal,” Roche said. “Funny enough, I was talking with Kendall – our sports staff – right before, because I’ve been telling him the last few games after my injury and coming back, had a couple chances, didn’t score and it was really frustrating. I said, ‘Maybe I’ll just try not to go for the goal every time.’ I went back in and got the goal. Ironically, it’s just a relief in some way, but still also a hunger to get more. That’s the life of a striker.”

Michigan State persisted and continued to put up a fight against UCLA, but with only a few minutes remaining on the clock, their attempts were unsuccessful, and UCLA secured the win over the top-10 team.

“We’ve shown that we can be the number one team in the country – we’re UCLA,” Naef said. “Obviously, we don’t want to be arrogant, but at the same time, we have the confidence, and we should be the best team in the country. That’s always a goal for me.”

After the Bruins’ successful takedown, they will host Westmont on Oct. 6.

The Tuesday affair will also be UCLA’s annual Senior Night.

“There’s not a team that we shouldn’t be able to beat,” Naef said. “Other than that, we should just take every game as it comes. Like Oliver said, we have a game on Tuesday. We need to win that. We have a game next week. We need to win that. We will continue to have elite preparation and look forward to the next opportunity to win.”