Cal Edged By UCLA 1-0

LOS ANGELES – The Cal men's soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss to UCLA on Thursday night at Annenberg Stadium, after playing a man down for most of the game.
 
With the conference setback, the Golden Bears' record fell to 3-6-4 (1-4-1 in the Pac-12). UCLA improved to 8-4-1 (3-2-1 Pac-12).
 
Cal could have taken the lead in the 21st minute, as Nonso Adimabua collected the ball deep in the UCLA box, but the Cal striker shot high.
 
The game changed in the 32nd minute when Cal freshman defender Cameron Robie was red carded for a foul.
 
In the 42nd minute, Jose Contell scored for the Bruins, who took the 1-0 lead into halftime.
 
At halftime, the Bruins honored the 20th anniversary of their 2002 NCAA championship, with Cal head coach Leonard Griffin, a key member of that team, spending a few minutes with his former teammates.
 
"It was great to see some old friends I hadn't seen in close to 20 years," he said.
 
In the second half, despite being a man down, the Bears pushed forward into the attack and still defended well against the Bruins.
 
In the 82nd minute, a Cal free kick led to senior Fahmi Ibrahim's header on goal, but UCLA goalie Nate Crockford made the save. Ibrahim took Cal's last shot in the 89th minute, but his shot ran high.
 
"I'm proud of the guys' effort in the second half," Griffin said. "We didn't sit back. We went for the game and tried to get a result. We'll take some positives out of the loss."
 
Cal plays another Pac-12 match at San Diego State on Sunday at 3 p.m.
 
Added Griffin, "We have a big game at San Diego State, so we have to learn from this game and then put it behind us. We have to focus on the next one and try to get a win."

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