UCLA men’s soccer is just days away from embarking on its 2025 campaign, and after an offseason full of transfer portal rotation and freshmen additions, the Bruins look different. Prior to UCLA’s first official affair, Daily Bruin Sports senior staff Felicia Keller previews how the team’s roster has changed.
2024 record: (7-6-6, 3-4-3 Big Ten)
Coach: Ryan Jorden
Just 36% of this year’s Bruin roster was in Westwood last season. They couldn’t even field a full starting 11 out of returners to Wallis Annenberg Stadium.
Getting the 18 new players acclimated will be a key task for coach Ryan Jorden and UCLA men’s soccer as they officially kick off their season this week.
“We have less newcomers than it looks like on paper because we did have a handful of them here early,” Jorden said. “We’ve got a very talented freshman group, and a couple of those guys have started games for us already in the preseason. We’ve got a very talented group of transfers – also started games for us in the preseason.”
And the Bruins’ starting 11 in preseason exhibition games already showcased the new talent, with three fresh faces at forward for the team – transfers redshirt sophomore Sergi Solans Ormo and junior Oliver Roche, alongside freshman Francis Bonsu.
“All three of those guys have shown good quality and qualities that will ask questions of the opponent, so we’re excited about the attacking potential that comes from their additions,” Jorden said.
Senior midfielder Tarun Karumanchi said the Bruins headed to Palm Springs together to get away from UCLA and bond before the start of the season.
Karumanchi added that the preseason exhibition games were an opportunity for the team to begin to come together as a unit.
“The biggest thing out of those preseason games was just to get familiar with everybody,” Karumanchi said. “The biggest thing was making sure that everybody was on the same page. Everyone got to play with each other and see the good relationships that we could build. And I feel like as every game went on, everyone got more and more comfortable with each other, and you can start to see those connections and relationships formed by that third game.”
Leadership from the few returning players, as well as the experience from the transfers will be needed for Jorden’s team to emerge as a unit come Thursday when UCLA plays UC Irvine.
The Returners
It’s safe to say there aren’t a lot of returners.
Karumanchi headlines the roster as the only true senior, while he and redshirt junior midfielder Sebastian Rincon are the only fourth-year members of the team.
The other five members of their original freshman class have all transferred away from Westwood – goalkeeper Sam Joseph, midfielders Amjot Narang and Cam Wilkerson and defender JC Cortez all left ahead of this season.
Juniors defender Mateo Pinilla and forward Jacob Diaz are no longer listed on the roster, and sophomore goalkeeper Lucca Adams transferred to San Diego, marking seven Bruins lost to the portal.
That leaves just eight other players who have appeared in a blue and gold jersey before 2025.
Junior Wyatt Nelson likely has the goaltending position on lock following Joseph’s departure, while midfielder Philip Naef may see an increased role on the wing this year, where he featured as a super-sub last season.
Junior Tre Wright – who was injured for much of the season – and Sam Scott didn’t see many minutes last year, but could be used more this campaign.
The sophomores all look to play key roles again this season.
Defenders Shakir Nixon and Allan Legaspi will likely further cement their roles from last year in the starting lineup, while forward Artem Vovk and midfielder Tamir Ratoviz hope to continue goalscoring successes from last season with three and two goals, respectively. Ratoviz was named to the Big Ten’s Players To Watch list ahead of the season opener.
The Transfers
Jorden has reigned in strong talent from the transfer portal before – from offensive attackers like Jack Sarkos, who led the Bruins in goals scored, to defenders Nico Cavallo, who now plays in Major League Soccer, or Youri Senden.
So it stands to reason he’d continue his trend of bringing in solid transfer classes from the last two seasons.
And Jorden did just that with a transfer class that includes five graduate students, a junior and a redshirt sophomore.
Solans Ormo transferred from Oregon State – where he scored 14 goals in 16 games in 2024. He was drafted 30th overall by Real Salt Lake in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft in December but did not sign a contract, instead opting to pursue collegiate soccer in Westwood.
Solans Ormo and graduate student defender Drew Brown – a transfer from Wisconsin – were also named to the Big Ten Players to Watch list.
Overall, the group brings experience – even if not at Wallis Annenberg – to Jorden’s locker room. And in the college soccer game, where age can be a major factor – with such big differences in the size and experience between an 18-year-old and a 23-year-old – this tenure can prove crucial.
The Freshmen
UCLA’s 2025 recruiting class was the No. 1 overall group in the country according to TopDrawerSoccer.
And they’ll have high expectations of them because of it.
Of Jorden’s 11-player freshmen squad this season, four players sit in the top-100 nationwide in this year’s class, according to TopDrawerSoccer.
Defender Ethan Pendleton leads the way at No. 57, closely followed by fellow defender Kian Concepcion at No. 60.
It’s a massive incoming class for Jorden to mentor as the group finds its feet in the collegiate game, as well as in a new academic environment.
UCLA men’s soccer will have plenty of new challenges to overcome throughout the year after an offseason of turnover.
But Jorden is excited about his squad for what they bring both on the field and off of it.
“We’ve got just fantastic humans that happen to be really talented soccer players,” Jorden said. “So we’re excited about, obviously, the potential for the season, but as a coach, I’m really excited about the potential for these guys’ development and relationships together, and then the byproduct and output of that is just their engagement on campus.”
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