UC Merced soccer can’t overcome early goal in season-opening loss

It wasn’t quite the start to the season that Albert Martins had drawn up.

His UC Merced men’s soccer team found itself behind just four minutes into its season opener at Lake Field on Tuesday afternoon. Despite going down a pair of men with 14 minutes to play, visiting Menlo held off a wild push in the game’s closing minutes to defeat the Bobcats 1-0. It was the Oaks’ second straight 1-0 victory over UCM after beating it in Atherton to open the 2015 season.

The good news for the Bobcats is they bounced back from that and dropped just four more games the rest of the season.

Tuesday’s tilt will feel like one that got away after conceding the game’s only goal against the run of play. Menlo (3-0) had barely had a sniff of the ball in the game’s first five minutes, but a turnover put Eli Bunton in alone on the left wing. Not much effort was made to close Bunton out, allowing him to pick out an unmarked David Beary inside the 18-yard box. Beary headed the cross home and the Oaks led 1-0 before the bulk of the crowd had completely settled in.

The Bobcats (0-1) answered back with a handful of quality chances to close the half, but failed to get anything on goal.

UC Merced kept the pressure on in the second half, but the equalizer proved elusive. Things got interesting in the 76th minute when Menlo had a pair of players sent off with red cards. UC Merced closed with a fury, practically doubling Menlo’s shots 13-7 and forcing five saves. The best chance to pull level may have come in the 79th minute when senior winger Cody Golbad struck the crossbar.

Merced goalkeeper Alan Ochoa made three saves in the loss.

The Bobcats will next travel to Southern California to take on the Master’s College on Sept. 2.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 9:50 PM with the headline "UC Merced soccer can’t overcome early goal in season-opening loss."