Players Mentioned
Team Stats

Tamir Ratoviz (1)
Assisted By: Shakir Nixon , Diego Castano
GOAL by UCLA Ratoviz, Tamir Assist by Nixon, Shakir and Castano, Diego.
43:12

Shakir Nixon
UCLA Shakir Nixon PENALTY KICK GOAL.
69:00

Diego Castano (1)
Assisted By: Adrian Aguilar , Mathis Richter
GOAL by UCLA Castano, Diego Assist by Aguilar, Adrian and Richter, Mathis.
77:20
Game Leaders
Denver Drops Road Result at [17/22] UCLA
8/28/2026 10:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer
The Pioneers will wrap-up a three-match road swing on Monday night at Cal Baptist
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The University of Denver men's soccer program fell to its second-consecutive nationally-ranked opponent in a 3-0 loss at [17/22] UCLA on Friday night at Wallis Anneberg Stadium.
Scoring Summary:
Denver:
[17] UCLA: Ratoviz 44', Nixon 70' (pen), Castano 78'
"We knew playing at Stanford and at UCLA would be challenging games," Jack and Sheila Weinberg Head Men's Soccer Coach Jamie Franks said. "We believe that finding adversity helps build resiliency within the student athletes and team culture. Through competition we've got a better idea of who we are and who we're not. Most teams are not willing to put themselves out there and play tough games on the road. We believe it's necessary. For our underclassmen, this is game three of 85 in their careers. Even though it's hard now, these lessons will serve us in the future. This is a program and performance environment that breeds development through these tough moments. I have faith that these games will make us tougher and get us closer to being a better version of ourselves."
Key Moments:
11' |The first clear attempt on target came from a cross from the Bruins right channel that Diego Castano was the first to get a head to. The header didn't come with enough pace on it to trouble Denver freshmen keeper Alex Hohl.
31' | Zachary Neuls got on the end of UCLA's fourth corner of the night, but his header was right at Hohl's chest for his second save of the night.
44' |The Bruins opened the scoring when Tamir Ratoviz got free in the Denver penalty area and struck his first attempt of the night hard and low into the middle of the Denver net.
58' | Denver's first real threat came just shy of the hour mark. Ethan Orchard began the sequence with a shot that was blocked in front by the UCLA defense. Ryan Mackay got on the end of the rebound 25 yards outside the box, and uncorked Denver's first real shot on target of the night, but his bullet heading to the right corner stayed out, and UCLA cleared the danger.
65 | Denver's Lund and Dominic Kallay both cleared shots off the line to prevent a UCLA second and keep the Pioneers deficit to just one.
70'| Keegan Kelly was whistled for a foul in the area, the referee pointed to the spot, and after video review, the call stood. Shakir Nixon converted from the spot to double the home side's advantage.
74'| Zachary Neuls had a look at a UCLA third, but his shot rattled the crossbar, and the Pioneers cleared their lines.
78' | UCLA got its third minutes later off its seventh corner kick of the night. Mathis Richter served the ball to the near post, and had it headed by Adrian Aguilar to the center of the area. Diego Castano volleyed it into the roof of the net to make it 3-0 with just over 10 minutes to play.
UP NEXT:
Denver will stay out in California for the weekend before taking on Cal Baptist on Monday night. Opening kickoff on ESPN+ is set for 8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT. The Pioneers will return home on September 4 to take on Tulsa at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. MT.
TICKETS:
Tickets for the remainder of Denver's 2026 home matches are on sale now and can be purchased here.
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