Finding momentum is crucial, and even more so near the end of a season.
No. 19 UCLA men’s soccer (8-2-5, 3-2-3 Big Ten) took down the University of San Diego (8-4-3, 3-1-2 West Coast Conference) 3-1 on Sunday at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. With three different Bruins finding the back of the net, the team’s success hinged on offensive depth.
UCLA opened the game with immediate pressure.
Four minutes into the match, fifth-year forward Diego Castano received a through ball that he slotted into the back of the net before it was called back as offside – the first of two disallowed goals on the night.
The Toreros countered with a wave of their own attacks, including a shot from midfielder Iain Wagner that was batted down by freshman goalkeeper Tristan Shaw, who was playing in his first game since Sept. 11. The game was Shaw’s second start of the season, and he recorded a career-high three saves through the match.
“We expect anybody that we put on the field to be at a standard that we have in our team, and so (we) expected him to do a good job tonight and by and large he did,” said coach Ryan Jorden. “I’m just happy that we got the results, and he played his part for sure.”
Another offside call – this one on San Diego – gave the ball back to UCLA, which switched the momentum once more.
Continuous attacks led to a corner kick for the Bruin side, a place where they have proved to be particularly dangerous. Junior midfielder Jaime Amaro sent the ball into the box, where sophomore midfielder Ander Marticorena volleyed it past Bruin-turned-Torero goalkeeper Lucca Adams for his first goal and Amaro’s fifth assist of the season.
“I’m not a guy that scores so many goals,” Marticorena said. “It was such a nice feeling when I saw the ball was going inside the goal. So that’s why when I score a goal, I try to enjoy it. And now let’s see if I can keep scoring, and it’s not the last of the season.”
UCLA continued to pressure the visiting backline, forcing errors from Adams, including a pass that junior midfielder Tamir Ratoviz deflected out of bounds.
Ratoviz last saw field time in August after coming back from a knee injury that took him out for the entirety of 2025. In UCLA’s 3-0 win against Denver on Aug. 28, Ratoviz scored his first goal since 2024 before getting hurt again and coming out of the match.
“We’re just really happy for him because when he got injured a couple months ago, you worried about him, but we know he’s a really good player and he can help us, and so we’re glad to have him back,” Jorden said.
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Entering the second half, the Bruins continued their attack – and 11 minutes into the frame, the lead was doubled.
Junior defender Shakir Nixon had the ball on the sideline before sending it into the box where he connected with fellow junior defender Mathis Richter, who got on the end of the pass and tapped it past the far post for his first goal as a Bruin.
Extending the lead by one proved to not be enough for the home squad, so senior forward Oliver Roche did it again.
Senior midfielder Philip Naef sent the ball inside the six-yard box, where Roche backheeled it into the back of the net just four minutes after one of his shot attempts deflected off the crossbar.
“It’s (scoring has) been a main topic for me this season, personally, being injured and then coming back,” Roche said. “It’s about not thinking too much about the goals while still wanting them, of course, but not getting too attached to them because then they start to hurt when you don’t get them.”
And that was not the last time the announcers would say Oliver’s name, but this time it was for the Torero side, when midfielder Oliver Rhoades finished a set piece sent in by midfielder Matteo Salcedo, preventing Shaw’s shutout.
Although the score did not change in the final 23 minutes of the match, neither side weakened their pressure. Four yellow cards were handed out in the last third of the game, including three on the Bruins.
The score stood at 3-1 when the final whistle blew, giving UCLA a victory in its final non-conference game of the season. Jorden’s squad is preparing to face No. 4 Indiana and No. 7 Washington to close out the regular season.
“Michigan State’s on top of the conference right now (second in the Big Ten),” Jorden said. “We beat them three-nil here. We know that at home, especially, our capacity to play anybody in the country is good, and so we’re excited about those games and getting to play top teams.”
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