Santa Cruz’s John Mel was eliminated in the Round of 80 at the World Surf League’s EDP Ericeira Pro, event No. 5 on the Challenger Series, in Ribeira D’Ilhas, Ericeira, Portugal, on Monday.

Mel, No. 89 on the CS rankings after competing in just one of the four previous events, tied for 65th place overall after finishing third in Heat 2.

Mel counted wave scores of 5.70 and 6.03 for a 11.73 total in 4- to 6-foot waves. His second wave came with 4 minutes remaining in the 30-minute heat, but it wasn’t enough to overtake No. 84 Jorgann Couzinet of France, who secured the second advancing spot.

No. 64 Luke Thompson (15.43) of South Africa opened with an 8.00 wave early in the heat and coasted to the heat win. Couzinet posted a 12.33 total for second.

No. 65 Kian Martin (9.80) of Sweden took fourth and was also eliminated. He tied for 73rd overall.

Santa Cruz’s Nat Young, ranked No. 45, goes against a pair of Hawaiians, No. 7 Jackson Bunch and No. 26 Ian Gentil, and No. 58 Owen Moss of Wilmington, North Carolina, in Heat 5 of the Round of 64.

France’s Kauli Vaast (10.70), the 2024 Summer Olympics gold medalist in Paris, was eliminated in Heat 1 of the Round of 80.

The competition window runs through Sunday.

Men’s soccer

UC Merced 2, at UC Santa Cruz 1 >> The NCAA Division III Banana Slugs suffered the loss to their NAIA opponent and fell from the unbeaten ranks on Sunday.

The Bobcats (5-0-2), ranked No. 26 in the NAIA, scored both of their goals in the opening 23 minutes. Daniel Borges scored his second goal of the season on a pass from Kevin Capetill in the sixth minute, and Andres Alonso made it 2-0 when he finished off a pass from Omar Garcia in the 22nd minute.

Nico Herrera-Land got UCSC on the board in the 36th minute, when he converted a penalty kick.

Eight players were given yellow cards for unsafe or unsportsmanlike play. Six of them came in the final 30 minutes of the competitive contest.

Goalie Tobias Jacobson-Bell made one save for the Banana Slugs. Angel Joaquin made four saves for the Bobcats.

UCSC (4-1-5) plays at Chapman (2-6-1) in Orange on Saturday at 11 a.m.