CORVALLIS – The No. 13 Oregon State men’s soccer team topped UCLA 2-1 Saturday afternoon to move to 5-0 on the season.

 

The Beavers fell behind early, but were able to battle back behind second-half goals from Sofiane Djeffal and Javier Armas. The perfect record through five games matches the best start in Oregon State men’s soccer history, tying the 2015 squad.

 

“This sport has a way of giving you exactly what you need when you need it and this is exactly what our group needed,” said Oregon State head coach Terry Boss. “We needed a little bit of adversity – we needed to see how we would handle difficult moments. Credit to UCLA – the came in and put some pressure on us early, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way the team responded.”

 

Oregon State controlled the majority of the possession in the match, and dominated the scoring chances, out-shooting UCLA 15-2 on the afternoon.

 

Gloire Amanda nearly put the Beavers in front nine minutes in when Joel Walker found him six yards from goal off a nice piece of build-up play by the Beavers. The UCLA keeper made a nice save on the header from close range. The Bruins took the lead just minutes later.

 

The Beavers controlled the possession and the bulk of the scoring chances in the first 45 minutes, but headed to the break trailing by a goal.

 

Oregon State earned a penalty kick in the 58^th minute, but the UCLA keeper moved quickly to preserve the Bruin advantage.

 

Djeffal converted on a curling free kick from 23 yards out to level the score in the 74^th. The tally was the midfielder’s third of the season. UCLA was reduced to 10 men in the 78^th minute, after Luke Bone was issued a red card.

 

Armas came through with an absolute strike from 30 yards out in the 85^th minute to lift the Beavers to victory.

 

The Beavers will be back in action next weekend when California visits Lorenz Field. That match has been moved to Saturday at 6 p.m., after being previously scheduled for Sunday.

 

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