For a few gleeful seconds, Friday night was yet another stunning comeback for the UCLA men’s soccer team. Until it wasn’t. The Bruins, down 2-1 in the 85th minute, finally broke through when freshman midfielder Jose Hernandez rocketed a shot past Cardinal goalie Andrew Epstein for what most Bruin fans believed to be the equalizer. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore forward Abu Danladi scored UCLA’s lone goal in a 2-1 loss to No. 3 Stanford. The Bruins dropped their second Pac-12 game of the season. (Max Himmelrich/Daily Bruin staff)

It took UCLA men’s soccer only 92 seconds to score a trio of goals in its Pac-12 home opener Monday, but – if the Stanford defense shows up as advertised – things won’t be so easy for the home team Friday night. Read more...

Photo: Senior midfielder Jordan Vale said Bruins will have to look to get around Cardinal’s hard-pressing defense. Stanford has only allowed five goals the whole season. (Hannah Ye/Daily Bruin senior staff)

For 60 minutes, the shots sailed around the goal, hitting the crossbar or being swatted away by swarming Aztec defenders. Then the floodgates opened. After an hour of watching its chances narrowly miss, the UCLA men’s soccer team (6-5-0, 2-1-0) finally capitalized – not just once, but four times – and routed San Diego State (5-4-2, 0-3-0) 4-0 for its second straight conference win. Read more...

Photo: Freshman forward Stephen Payne converted a 75th-minute penalty kick – which he earned himself – on Monday night for the first goal of his UCLA career in the Bruins’ 4-0 victory over San Diego State. (Hannah Ye/Daily Bruin senior staff)

The UCLA men’s soccer team completed its double overtime upset of then-No. 15 Washington on Oct. 4 and boarded a flight to Los Angeles for its longest-remaining homestand of the 2015 schedule. Read more...

Photo: Freshmen midfielder Jackson Yueill and and defender Malcolm Jones will miss the Bruins’ Monday match. Instead, they will join the United States U-20 Men’s National Team to play in the Four Nations Tournament. (Hannah Ye/Daily Bruin senior staff)

Pressure and a waning second-half clock have continually brought out the best of UCLA’s soccer. In an upset of then-No. 15 Washington, freshmen midfielders Jose Hernandez and Jackson Yueill scored three combined goals in the second half and overtime to propel the unranked Bruins past the Huskies. Read more...

Photo: Freshman midfielder Jose Hernandez is one of two rookies anchoring the Bruin offense thus season. (Hannah Ye/Daily Bruin senior staff)

The jacket came off in the 80th minute. The celebration came in in the 107th. With the Bruins losing 2-1 midway through the second half, junior midfielder Felix Vobejda was brought down in the box and – much to the dissatisfaction of UCLA men’s soccer coach Jorge Salcedo – the referee’s’ whistle remained silent. Read more...

Photo: Freshman midfielder Jose Hernandez scored the game winning goal in overtime against Washington Sunday. The goal was off a penalty kick caused by hand ball inside the box. (Hannah Ye/Daily Bruin senior staff)

UCLA men’s soccer enters Pac-12 play this weekend trending in the opposite direction of its first conference opponents. Having lost four of their last five games and mired in their worst start in the past decade, the unranked Bruins (4-4-0) rebounded with a pair of comeback wins last week. Read more...

Photo: Freshman midfielder Jackson Yueill said that UCLA will need to get its footing early on against Oregon State and Washington. Yueill has seven points so far in 2015. (Hannah Ye/Daily Bruin senior staff)