The UCLA men’s soccer team is set to face Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, August 28, at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. PT and tickets are available through the team’s official website. Adult tickets are priced at $17, youth tickets at $9, and UCLA students can attend for free with a BruinCard.
UCLA leads the all-time series against Cal State Fullerton with a record of 31-9-3. In their most recent meeting during the 2024 season, Cal State Fullerton won 3-1 at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.
Last season, UCLA finished sixth in its first year as part of the Big Ten Conference and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The Bruins posted an overall record of 7-6-6 and went 3-4-3 in conference play. Nicholas Cavallo was selected in the third round (88th overall) by New York City FC in the MLS SuperDraft, marking four straight years that a Bruin has been drafted or signed a homegrown contract in Major League Soccer.
One highlight from last season was a comeback victory over then No. 2 Ohio State on October 11, where Edrey Caceres and Artem Vovk scored to secure a 2-1 win—Ohio State’s only regular-season loss. Senior midfielder Andre Ochoa received second team All-North region honors while Ochoa, Cavallo, and Allan Legaspi were named to Big Ten teams. UCLA faced ten ranked opponents during the year and recorded a 4-2-4 mark in those matches.
So far this season, eleven newcomers have made either their collegiate or UCLA debuts across two matches. These include freshmen Francis Bonsu, Ian Charles, Kian Concepcion, Ander Marticorena (season opener vs UC Irvine), Drew Brown, Oliver Roche, Sean Sent, Sergi Solans Ormo (UCLA debuts), as well as Dylan Cantafio, Zach Mastrodimos, and Ryan Tiltack (matchup with Cal).
Drew Brown (graduate defender), Tamir Ratoviz (sophomore midfielder), and Sergi Solans Ormo (forward) were named to the Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch list for their performances and previous achievements. Brown transferred from Wisconsin after three seasons; Ratoviz led all freshmen on last year’s roster with nine points; Solans Ormo joined from Oregon State where he scored fourteen goals last season before being drafted by Real Salt Lake.
In preseason polling by Big Ten coaches, UCLA was picked to finish fourth behind Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio State.
Sergi Solans Ormo also appeared on Top Drawer Soccer’s national top-100 players list at number thirteen and was named to their Best XI Preseason second team.
Head Coach Ryan Jorden welcomes eighteen newcomers this season—a group ranked No. 1 nationally by TopDrawerSoccer—including eleven freshmen and seven transfers from various academies and colleges across North America and Europe.
The program will honor its 1985 NCAA National Championship team during halftime on Sunday night’s game. That squad won UCLA’s first men’s soccer title under coach Sigi Schmidt after defeating American University in what remains the longest championship match in NCAA history.
Eight current players were born or have lived abroad—representing Denmark (Philip Naef, Oliver Roche), Spain (Ander Marticorena, Sergi Solans Ormo), Canada (Ryan Tiltack), Cyprus (Konstantinos Georgallides), Ghana (Francis Bonsu), and Ukraine (Artem Vovk).
This week marks UCLA’s second season competing in the Big Ten Conference; they hold winning records against five current members of that league. Their first conference match is scheduled for September 12 against Northwestern.
Six games will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network this year—including home matches versus Wisconsin on September 19 and Maryland on October 3—with additional contests available via B1G+ streaming service.
In February, assistant coach Sergi Nus joined from Oregon State where he helped guide that program to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances including a College Cup run in 2023.
UCLA recently earned a team academic award from United Soccer Coaches after posting a collective GPA of 3.36 for the eighth consecutive year under head coach Ryan Jorden.
Nine former Bruins started this MLS season with professional clubs including Frankie Amaya (LAFC), Ryan Hollingshead (LAFC), Reggie Cannon (Colorado Rapids), Nicholas Cavallo (New York City FC), Earl Edwards Jr. (San Jose Earthquakes), Milan Iloski (Philadelphia Union), Tucker Lepley (LA Galaxy—2024 MLS Cup winner), Tommy Silva (Real Salt Lake) and Jackson Yueill (New England Revolution).
Fans can follow updates about UCLA men’s soccer through @UCLAMSoccer on Instagram and Twitter; currently ranking second among college men’s soccer programs nationwide for Instagram followers.
