Men's Soccer Lands OT Win Over San Francisco

LOS ANGELES – Sophomore defender Tommy Silva scored a golden goal less than three minutes into overtime to power the UCLA men's soccer team to a 2-1 win over visiting San Francisco on Sunday afternoon at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.

The overtime decision moved both teams' records to 1-1-0 on the season. For Silva, it was his second golden goal in his last three collegiate games (dating back to this spring's season finale against Cal).

Silva's tally came at the 92:36 mark of the game. Redshirt freshman Tucker Lepley set up the goal by lobbing a ball about 20 yards over the USF back line and into the box. Some miscommunication allowed Silva to streak in from the left and force a 50-50 ball with the USF keeper Charlie McKay. The keeper tried to sweep the ball aside, but it instead caromed off Silva's shins and back towards the empty net, allowing Silva to easily finish for the game-winner.

Tommy Silva is golden! 🏅#GoBruins | @derricksilvaa pic.twitter.com/vx4lV6Gw17

— UCLA Men's Soccer (@UCLAMSoccer) August 30, 2021

The Bruins dominated possession for the majority of the contest, and outshot the visitors by a margin of 10-3.

USF leveled the score late off a set piece, with Shayan Charalaghi finding the back of the net in the 86th minute. Dominic Valdivia started the play with a free kick into the box, which bounced off a UCLA defender and popped into the air, allowing Charalaghi to head the ball in from about three yards out.

The Bruins opened the game's scoring in the 53rd minute, with some solid build-up leading to redshirt freshman forward Jose Contell playing in a cross from deep down the left wing. Multiple Bruins were making runs into the area where the pass was played, but junior midfielder Riley Ferch connected with a close-range shot from inside the six-yard box and blasted it past McKay for his first goal of the season.

The two teams battled to a scoreless draw over the game's first 45 minutes, but the Bruins had the entirety of the half's scoring chances, limiting the Dons to just one shot attempt, a long-range effort that was easily stopped by senior Justin Garces for his lone save of the afternoon.

The Bruins return to action on Friday night with a road contest at UC Irvine starting at 7:00 p.m. PT. The matchup with the Anteaters is UCLA's lone away game over the first eight games of the regular season.