UCLA continues its trip to the Pacific Northwest with a game against the Washington Huskies. The Bruins are looking for a second win in conference play after getting their first win on Thursday.

The opening games for the Pac-12 conference for the Bruins could not have gone worse. Having lost their first two conference games to UC Berkeley and Stanford, a lot was riding on Thursday’s game against Oregon State. Thankfully, things went UCLA’s way as they defeated the Beavers, 1-0.

The first half was difficult for the Beavers after Oregon State fell short a man in the first couple of minutes of the game. As a result, Oregon State relied heavily on their defense and the Bruins could not breakthrough to score.

That changed in the 68th minute when freshman Milan Iloski scored his first career goal to give UCLA the lead. Oregon State fought for an equalizer, but, thanks to goalkeeper Kevin Silva, the Beavers were unable to tie it up. Silva recorded six saves and picked up his second shutout of the season.

It might be a little difficult for the Bruins to pick up their second straight win today. As has happened in the past, UCLA has struggled against ranked teams and defeat unranked teams and Washington is ranked #22. While defeating Oregon State was a given, defeating Washington will not be. If UCLA continues to struggle and, ultimately, lose to ranked teams, then they will not make it into the postseason. And if they do, they may not make it past the first round. For a team with as much talent as the Bruins have, that should not be acceptable.

This is your men’s soccer vs Washington Open Thread!


Go Bruins!