After upsetting Washington in Seattle on Friday night, UCLA men’s soccer (6-6-4, 5-3-2 Big Ten) earned a berth to the abbreviated Big Ten Tournament, which features only four teams this year. The No. 4 seeded Bruins face No. 1 seed Maryland (12-0-3, 8-0-2) in the semifinal at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland, on Wednesday night. The Terrapins have won every game since tying the Bruins on Oct. 3 in Westwood – and boast the most points per game in the nation. The Daily Bruin’s men’s soccer beat predicts how far UCLA will go in the conference tournament.
Chloe Agas
Daily Bruin staff
Prediction: Tournament champions
I’m not one to believe in miracles.
But UCLA men’s soccer reaching the Big Ten tournament after a 6-6-4 season is one I’ll put faith in.
After spending most of the fall finding their rhythm, the pieces finally coming together at the end feels like divine timing.
And with a three-match winning streak to close the regular season– including an upset against No. 15 Washington – the Bruins are coming in hot.
Although they were outshot 45-to-39 by their opponents in their final three games, the Bruins converted on 35.9% of their shots compared to their opponents’ 11.1%. Graduate student goalkeeper Kevin Box has been the backbone of the Bruins’ defense, boasting a .742 save percentage, three shutouts and 23 saves in seven starts – 10 of those saves came at the latter end of the regular season.
Redshirt sophomore forward Sergi Solans Ormo scored eight goals in the Bruins’ last three matches. With 16 goals across 16 matches, Solans Ormo stands as the conference’s second top goal scorer – just two goals short of Indiana forward Palmer Ault’s 18.
But the path to the Big Ten crown won’t be easy. UCLA will face No. 1 seed Maryland – who has only been defeated once on its home turf – in the semifinal round out east. Should they advance, the Bruins will face either No. 2 seed Washington or No. 3 seed Michigan – the same team that ended the Bruins’ fairytale run in the tournament last season.
But if there’s something Jorden’s squad has proven, it’s that it is intent on rewriting the script.
Turns out that this team is showing me that miracles do exist.
And maybe, just maybe, Christmas will come early when it lifts the Big Ten trophy on Sunday.
Willa Campion
Assistant Sports editor
Prediction: Tournament champions
Watching UCLA lose to Ohio State on Sep. 29 despite having a player advantage for almost the entire game made me want to chuck my laptop out the window.
So when a red card against the Huskies on Friday night sent their leading scorer to the bench in the 63rd minute, I did not have much confidence that the Bruins would convert yet another 11-on-10 edge into an upset.
My instinct was wrong.
Jorden called his players over to the bench during an injury break to talk them through how to adjust the game plan for the new on-field dynamic. And UCLA subsequently scored three goals while allowing none.
Solans Ormo – who has two hat tricks across his last three performances – paved the way with two scores after the red card. Junior forward Oliver Roche netted a goal in that time too, proving once again that the transfer forwards can be a lethal pair.
Moreover, different athletes – graduate student defender Schinieder Mimy, along with midfielders graduate student Konstantinos Georgallides and junior Philip Naef – assisted all three goals. If the Bruins struggled to forge connections among returners and newcomers on the field at one point in the season – and their three goals across their first six matches certainly suggest so – then Friday proved that a lack of chemistry is an issue of the past.
It is unlikely that forward Sadam Masereka – who earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring Maryland’s sole first-half hat trick since 2005 in its last regular season game – will let UCLA take his team down without a fight.
But the Bruins’ ability to grow past early season blunders – largely thanks to newfound chemistry – makes them an underdog threat. And the talent that has been on display in consecutive five goal outings, followed by a four goal performance over a ranked team, demonstrates the Bruins’ bite.
Felicia Keller
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: Tournament champions
Dare I say, peaking at the right time?
UCLA is on a hot streak of epic proportions – especially its strikers.
In the last three games, the Bruins have scored 14 goals – including eight for Solans Ormo and three for Roche.
In addition to the forwards, it took assist-king Naef a while to get going this season. After a 10-assist year last year, he’s hit fine form again with seven assists in the last three games.
Three weeks ago, UCLA had just 11 goals on the season. It’d had success in important games – most important of which was its monumental scoreless tie with now-No. 1 Maryland. But until this recent stretch, the Bruins hadn’t unlocked goal scoring.
Now that they’ve figured out that crucial piece, the Bruins appear unstoppable.
In short, everything is going well offensively for UCLA.
And defensively, the Bruins have found a structure and format that works well enough for them to stay in games and let the offense do its thing. Junior defender Tre Wright’s work at center back to hold off quick attackers has been crucial, while the arrival of Mimy – after an injury kept him out to start the season – has done the same on the wing.
So yes, the Bruins are peaking at the right time. And that success – earned through a long season of improving slowly but surely – is going to provide them a very well-deserved spot in the tournament final, earned by beating out the undefeated Terrapins.
And then from there, the tournament win will be smooth sailing, paving their way into the NCAA tournament – a feat that would have been shocking at the beginning of the season.
Zach King
Daily Bruin contributor
Prediction: Tournament champions
One could use the roller coaster analogy to describe the play and form of UCLA this season – with all of its ups, downs and inconsistencies. I, however, view this season more as a toboggan ride: steering a strong base through bumpy waters, never quite sure when you’re going to be splashed with joy or drenched in heartbreak.
For the first time all season I can gladly say I am strapped into this blue-and-yellow ship of destiny. After a campaign full of offensive inconsistencies, heartbreaking last minute losses and a turnstile of starters in net, the Bruins’ ride is finally flowing through the rapids of opposition with fantastic pace and play.
Across the last three games, Solans Ormo has not just been on a tear, he’s been on a mission – netting eight goals and logging two assists. And Naef hasn’t just found a groove, he’s playing and dancing to the music simultaneously – his seven assists in the same three games have imbued rhythm into the UCLA offense.
Box, who was only given the nod to start seven matches ago, has amassed the fourth-best save percentage among Big Ten goalkeepers with at least that many starts under their belt.
What fuels the pace of a tumbling toboggan if not momentum?
While you may respond to such a question with another: Does Maryland not have the second-best scoring offense in the NCAA with the best statistical goalkeeper in the Big Ten – the answer to that quandary being yes – momentum fuels strikers to drive shots to the back of the net in ways that statistics can sometimes never understand.
Maryland is undoubtedly an offensive juggernaut with an even stronger defensive core. However the last three Bruin matches have instilled the greatest thing a sports fan can possess: Hope.
I trust that this ride will stray away from the tide of disappointment and end with the wave of excitement and joy that a Big Ten Tournament title will bring back to Westwood.
Mika McCaffrey
Daily Bruin staff
Prediction: Semifinal loss to Maryland
The Bruins have impressively earned a .500 record at the culmination of regular season play despite possessing a losing record for most of the year.
The three-game winning streak that secured an even record for UCLA is the longest winning streak of its 2025 season. And while the team is hot right now, this recent success may not be enough to beat a strong Maryland team in Terrapin territory.
For one, the Bruins have struggled on the road all season. While two of their most recent three wins were away games, both are the team’s only visiting victories on the year.
Moreover, UCLA struggled against the strong Maryland team when the two played each other at Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Oct. 3. If the Bruins can barely muster a 0-0 tie at home, they will be hard-pressed to earn a win in College Park.
Aside from the Bruins’ past trouble in away games, the Terrapins are a major threat regardless of the location. Maryland is one of two teams – and the only Power Four program – in the nation to still be undefeated at the end of the 2025 regular season with an overall record of 12-0-3.
The most recent win for Maryland was a 4-3 victory over Michigan State on the Spartans’ home field. Despite the one-point differential, this victory still demonstrates why the Terrapins are such a threat — they can win close games.
Maryland’s undefeated success is partially thanks to Masereka, who had a hat trick against Michigan State. While the Bruins’ offense may be finally heating up, the Terrapins’ offense has been on all season and shows no signs of stopping.
So despite the impressive win streak to end the season, UCLA may be looking at a first round tournament exit.
Dylan Winward
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: Semifinal loss to Maryland
All the gear. No idea.
UCLA had every reason to be optimistic this year. With a No. 1 ranked recruiting class and the addition of Solans Ormo – a proven goalscorer at Oregon State – the Bruins were considered to have Big Ten championship aspirations.
But with so many offensive weapons at their disposal, UCLA has flattered to deceive.
Losing games against UC Irvine and California – both teams Jorden likely expected to beat – marked a disappointing start to the season and damaged the team’s RPI. Conceding a last-minute game-winning goal to Loyola Marymount and getting battered in Michigan also did the team no favors.
Naef was forced to resurrect his assists record this season, opening with an uninspiring three in his first 13 appearances, despite having the second-best creative record in the Big Ten last season. And although he comes into the tournament with a hot streak off the bench, his record hardly shows the consistency that indicates development.
And with the team conceding the most goals per game since 2021 while scoring the fewest since 2022, this year’s class does not spark inspiration.
The Bruins’ other problem is that the Terrapins are out for revenge.
Maryland averages 2.67 goals per game and are unbeaten in conference play this year after having lost 6-0 to UCLA in last year’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinal. However, what the box score of that game doesn’t show is that the Terrapins were widely believed to be disadvantaged by food poisoning.
They won’t have the same difficulty on home turf this year, and that’s why I’m backing them to knock the Bruins out.
Comments are closed.