Bruins love to hold and move the ball.
“For most of our games this year, we’ve had somewhere between 100 and 300 more passes than the opponents,” said coach Ryan Jorden. “What it means is, you move the opponent, you ask the questions and if your positioning and movements and rotations are good, you end up in situations where you can find the space.”
UCLA men’s soccer often tries to dominate possession and control the tempo of games. Ironically, though, the Bruins have taken the third-fewest shots in the Big Ten and are in the top half of teams in goalscoring, displaying the team’s possession-based approach.
Jorden said one important aspect of how his team sets up is ensuring his midfielders have good passing range so they can move opponents around the pitch.
“It requires all the central midfielders to be able to do it, because it’s not just one guy who sits there and does it,” Jorden said. “It’s the combination of the group that allows for us to pick up the spots between the lines that ask them to bring additional players so that we can go into the additional space.”
The sixth-year head honcho added that being able to go direct as well as passing around the back makes it difficult for the Bruins’ opponents to decide when to press.
“Are they wanting to commit six and seven guys to that pressing to be able to suffocate the spaces that we’re trying to get to?” Jorden said. “And if they are, then you’re only leaving two or three at the back, and you’re opening spaces for us to be able to get into it in a more direct manner.”
Sophomore defender Philip Naef said UCLA’s composure on the ball also allows the team to stretch opposing defenses, with cross field passes adding options for their midfielders.
Naef – who has played more recently as an attacking winger – has clocked a team-leading six assists in his last seven appearances.
“Suffocating the opponent makes the jobs on the wide side a lot easier because the opponent is a lot more tired,” Naef said. “And those switches from side to side just makes you attacking their weak points a lot easier.”
Junior midfielder Tarun Karumanchi has started 13 of the Bruins’ 14 games so far this season, clocking 1,055 minutes, the fourth-highest on the team. The only players with more time on the field have been senior defender and captain Pietro Grassi, graduate student defender Nicholas Cavallo and senior forward Andre Ochoa.
This season is the second-straight in which Karumanchi has been consistently selected, after completing a full 90 minutes five times in 2023. Karumanchi also appeared in 11 games as a true freshman, despite Jorden usually having a preference for more seasoned players.
Ochoa said keeping the ball through Karumanchi’s passing allows the Bruins to patiently make dents on the scoresheet, as UCLA has scored each of its last seven goals in the second half of games.
“A lot of our game plan is keeping the ball,” Ochoa said. “It tires opponents, and that’s when we can find the right moment to break a team down like we have been recently.”
One critical aspect of Karumanchi’s game is his ability to win the ball back, often intercepting to stop counterattacks.
“He’s a great defender,” said graduate student midfielder Edrey Caceres, who often plays at the attacking tip of midfield. “He’s all over the place, winning the ball, being scrappy in the middle, and there we need him.”
Ochoa added that Karumanchi’s versatility offers the team more options across the field.
“Tarun has been amazing this year,” Ochoa said. “He’s great offense, offensively and defensively, but, he’s just in there the pivot, making things go and breaking things up.”
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