UCLA men’s soccer (3-1-4, 0-1-2 Big Ten) will travel to University Park on Monday to face Penn State (2-5, 0-3) for its fourth Big Ten match of the season.
Since starting conference play this season, the Bruins have yet to capture a victory. After a 3-1 loss to Rutgers on Sept. 11, the team found draws against Michigan and No. 4 Maryland.
UCLA walked away with a 2-2 tie against Maryland despite a red card issued to fifth-year midfielder Diego Martinez, which forced the squad to play with a man down for 60 minutes on Friday.
Coach Ryan Jorden said he believes his players will continue to move past their disappointment and will regroup for Monday’s away game.
“When you’ve got guys who are good soccer players who compete, they’ll be ready to play on Monday,” Jorden said. “They’re working on recovery right now. They’re working on trying to take care of their bodies and position us to be able to further the recovery stuff tomorrow, and then we’ll start transitioning our thinking to the opponent that’s upcoming for Monday night.”
The Bruins have yet to capture a Big Ten win after opening the season undefeated opposite to last season, when the team found its first conference win in their first conference game.
Despite struggling to find a victory in Big Ten play, senior forward Oliver Roche said he believes the team’s consistency will bring it success.
“We all felt a ton of pressure given our first two games in the Big Ten, but as a group (we) focused on the details of the gameplay we had laid out and tried focusing on that,” Roche said. “We knew if we followed that, eventually a win would come out after.”
The Bruins are not the only squad facing Big Ten difficulties.
The Nittany Lions’ 2025 season resulted in an overall record of 5-8-4 and the squad lost a majority of its players following the season, forcing a large change to their team dynamic.
Among those who left was former midfielder Ben Madore – who led the team in goals in 2025 with five – and 2025 second-highest scorer forward Van Danielson, leaving the team without some of the players responsible for its wins.
And if a multitude of transfers leaving and joining between 2025 and 2026 was not enough to change team dynamics, the squad also introduced a new head coach in Rob Dow in December.
Under Dow, the squad has captured just two wins and enters the Monday match on a three-game losing streak.
While Penn State may be struggling through this season, it has the opportunity to salvage what is left this year.
Forward Amadou Kone is the only player on the team that is approaching Madore’s previous scoring title from last season, having already reached three goals across seven games.
In addition to Kone, Nittany Lions goalkeeper Daniel Peluffo-Wiese has been working to fill the shoes of former goalkeeper Jonathan Evans, who left the squad after the 2025 season.
Peluffo-Wiese has already secured 19 saves this year, proving early in his career his value to Penn State as he tails Evans’ stint in University Park.
Last year, the Bruins took home a 2-0 win against the Nittany Lions. Junior midfielder Jaime Amaro said Penn State may be the team’s shot to jumpstart a successful season.
“Inside the locker room and inside the team, we feel that we can beat any team that face us,” Amaro said. “We are all in one direction, and we are excited, and hopefully we can bring back that three points in Penn State.”
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