No. 18 Maryland men’s soccer heads west to face UCLA; hopes to avenge last season’s blowout loss

On Friday night, No. 18 Maryland men’s soccer (6-0-2, 2-0-1 Big Ten) will go on the road to Wallis Annenberg Stadium to face UCLA (2-5-2, 2-2-0 Big Ten). This will mark the third conference match between the two teams since the Bruins joined the Big Ten. The most recent matchup between the two came in last year’s Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals, where UCLA trounced Maryland 6-0.

The Terps are hoping to stay unbeaten after a 4-1 win over Northwestern without sophomore forward Stephane Njike, their leading goal scorer. 

Junior Leon Koehl scored the first goal of the match with his second successful penalty kick of the season. In the  2024 season, the midfielder led the NCAA with seven penalty kick goals. 

Senior midfielder Albi Ndrenika extended the Terps’ lead to 2-0, but soon after, Northwestern cut into Maryland’s advantage with a goal from junior Peter Riesz.

In the 64th minute, senior Sadam Masereka padded Maryland’s lead with a next-level bicycle kick for his fourth goal of the season. The forward now leads the Terps with nine points.

UCLA is currently facing a two-game losing streak, most recently dropping a game against Ohio State. The Bruins fell to the Buckeyes 2-1 with 19 shots and seven on goal. Sophomore Artem Vovk scored his first goal of the season.

During the 2024 season, Vovk was tied for the second-most goals on the team with graduate student Sveinn Hauksson and junior Nikolai Rojel, who are both no longer on the team. 

Maryland should be on the lookout for redshirt sophomore Sergi Solans Ormo, who is leading the Bruins in several statistics this season. The forward has a team-best three goals, eight points, and 21 shots with 13 on goal. Solans Ormo was ranked No. 13 on Top Drawer Soccer’s rankings of the top-100 players to watch in the country.

Junior Philip Naef netted one out of the six goals scored against the Terps last season for his first and only career goal. Naef has eight shots so far this season, including four on goal.

Despite UCLA no longer having a majority of its top-scoring players from last season, the Terps should be on alert for Naef and Vovk, two of the Bruins who scored against Maryland during the two teams’ last encounter. 

Maryland’s sophomore goalkeeper Laurin Mack has more saves and a higher save percentage than UCLA’s two goalkeepers combined. 

Mack has recorded 29 saves this season following Maryland’s match against Northwestern with a 0.806 save percentage. Bruins junior goalkeeper Wyatt Nelson and freshman Ryan Tiltack have a combined total of 20 saves and a 0.606 save percentage.