UCLA Men’s Soccer Faces #2 Indiana After Beating Northwestern in OT

Editor’s Note: This game has been postponed until 7:30 am PT on Monday, September 2, 2019.

This evening, the UCLA men’s soccer team will face the host Indiana Hoosiers in the final game of the IU/Adidas Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Indiana.

Last Time Out

On Friday, the Bruins took on the Northwestern Wildcats in the first game of this weekend’s event. UCLA managed to eek out an overtime win after both teams went scoreless in regulation. While the Bruins led in shots on goal in the first half, 5-3, Northwestern went on the attack in the second and managed 12 shots on goal in the second compared to UCLA’s seven.

To make matters worse, more of Northwestern’s shots needed to be saved. Bruin goalkeeper Justin Garces needed to save seven shots to make up for UCLA’s inability to score.

The Bruins’ offensive woes were compounded by the fact that only four of their total 14 shots on goal were on target enough to require a save.

Thankfully, UCLA’s Milan Iloski was able to get that fourth shot past Wildcat goalkeeper Miha Miskovic to win the game 1-0 in overtime.

Indiana Hoosiers

Today’s opponent looks to be tougher than Friday’s. That’s because the Hoosiers are ranked second in the nation. Despite that, Indiana had a tough time on Friday against Pitt and they had to go to double overtime before they could pick up a 3-2 win.

Outlook

Overall, it would be surprising if the Bruins are able to play well enough to pull this one out. UCLA’s offense just doesn’t seem to have the firepower to compete against the #2 team in the country.

I think Indiana wins this one, 3-1, but I’m hoping that the Bruins can find a way to prove me wrong.


Go Bruins!!