#19 UCLA Notches Third-Straight Win
Soccer News: The 19th-ranked UCLA Bruins earned their third consecutive victory with a 2-1 comeback win over the Washington Huskies on Sunday evening at Drake Stadium. Freshman midfielder Jackson Yueill netted both goals in the regular season home finale.
“Tonight was a good win for us,” said UCLA Head Coach Jorge Salcedo. “We were down 1-0 and tied the game in the first half. Then, we score a fantastic game-winner; Jackson Yueill showed his quality and pure ball striking ability to finish off a good combination. We look forward to our last game at San Diego State to see if we can finish the year with four consecutive wins.”
Washington (7-5-6, 3-3-3 in Pac-12) got the scoring started with a goal from Kyle Coffee in the 12th minute. After earning a throw from left of the box, Justin Fiddes launched a long throw into the penalty area where Justin Schmidt headed it towards the middle. Coffee then rose up and got his head on the ball to re-direct it into an empty net, giving the Huskies the early one-goal edge.
A physical start to the match proved prosperous for UCLA later in the half when Washington’s Michael Gallagher, who had been assessed a yellow card earlier in the half, was booked once again for a reckless challenge on Yueill. In the 31st minute, Gallagher’s second yellow sent the midfielder off and gave the Bruins a man advantage for the rest of the evening.
Wasting no time, UCLA (10-7-1, 5-3-1 in Pac-12) capitalized by burying the ensuing free-kick from just outside the box. The freshman Yueill, who had been taken down, stepped up and curled a wonderful ball around the wall and into the bottom right portion of the net. The strike brought the Bruins even with Washington at one late in the first half.
At the half, UCLA was out-shooting the Huskies, 10-4, but Washington had earned four corners to the Bruins’ one.
With the Bruins beginning to exploit the man advantage in the second half, a brilliant bit of passing eventually put UCLA on top in the 60th minute. The combination of Abu Danladi, Jose Hernandez and Yueill got the play started, ending with Yueill chipping a ball into the box to Larry Ndjock. The German striker reached out his right leg and poked it back to the oncoming Yueill who proceeded to blast a strike to the top left corner for the go-ahead goal.
Yueill’s second goal of the match proved to be the winner as UCLA held on for the final 30 minutes of action to win, 2-1. The rookie had a successful weekend, netting three goals in the team’s two victories.
Overall, UCLA out-shot Washington, 20-7. Coming in as a second-half substitute, Juan Cervantes made one save in 45 minutes to earn the win, while fellow second-half substitute Auden Schilder made one save in the defeat.
UCLA closes out the regular season next weekend when they travel south to take on the San Diego State Aztecs. The game is set to begin at 7:00pm PT on Saturday, November 14.
