UCLA Returns Home to Face No. 1 Washington and No. 17 Oregon State

#14/15 UCLA vs #1 Washington
Marshall Field at Drake Stadium
Thursday, Oct. 16 - 6:00 pm PT
TV - Pac-12 Networks (Christian Miles, Brian Dunseth)
Audio/Live Stats - www.UCLABruins.com
Twitter - @UCLAMsoccer | #WASHvsUCLA
Tickets: $8 adults/$5 youth (ages 3-16)

#14/15 UCLA vs #17 Oregon State
Marshall Field at Drake Stadium
Sunday, Oct. 19 - 5:00 pm PT
TV - Pac-12 Networks (Christian Miles, Cobi Jones)
Audio/Live Stats - www.UCLABruins.com
Twitter - @UCLAMsoccer | #OSUvsUCLA
Tickets: $8 adults/$5 youth (ages 3-16)

UCLA Returns Home to Face Conference Foes
The No. 14/15 UCLA Bruins return home this weekend to host their first conference games at Drake Stadium this season. UCLA will take on the No. 1 ranked Washington Huskies on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 6:00pm PT and the No. 17 ranked Oregon State Beavers on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 5:00pm PT. Both games will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks and tickets are available for each game at the the price of $8 for adults and $5 for youth.

Bruin/Husky Connections
**UCLA and Washington have two common opponents, Cal and Stanford, the Huskies defeated Cal, 3-2, on Oct. 2 and Stanford 3-1 on Oct. 5, while the Bruins lost to Cal, 2-3 (OT), on Oct. 10 and drew with Stanford, 1-1 (2OT), on Oct. 12.

**UCLA freshman forward Seyi Adekoya and Washington sophomore forward Dom Dismuke, junior midfielder Michael Gallagher, junior goalkeeper Ryan Herman, senior forward Darwin Jones, junior midfielder Ian Lange, junior midfielder Jim Oganga and freshman midfielder Henry Wingo all played for the Seattle Sounders FC Youth Academy.

Bruin/Beaver Connections
**UCLA and Oregon State have two common opponents, Cal and Stanford, the Beavers defeated Cal, 6-2, on Oct. 5 and lost to Stanford, 0-1, on Oct. 2, while the Bruins lost to Cal, 2-3 (OT), on Oct. 10 and drew with Stanford, 1-1 (2OT), on Oct. 12.

In the Rankings
The UCLA Bruins are currently ranked No. 14 in the NSCAA coaches poll and No. 15 in the Soccer America poll. Washington is ranked No. 1 across both major rankings while Oregon State is ranked No. 17 accross both major rankings.

Scouting the Huskies
No. 1 Washington enters the weekend with an overall record of 9-1-1 and 2-0-1 in the Pac-12 conference. They currently sit in first place in the conference standings. The Huskies recorded their first draw of the season in their only game last weekend against Oregon State. After netting the first score of the night with a 64th minute goal from Henry Wingo, the Beavers would answer with a goal of their own just nine minutes later to cause the 1-1 draw. The tie last weekend came after Washington opened Pac-12 play with two home victories over Cal and Stanford. The powerful Husky attack, led by Darwin Jones (20 points) totaled six goals in the two wins over the Bay Area schools.

UCLA holds a 24-12-4 all-time record against the Washington Huskies. The Bruins are unbeaten in their last three matches against the Huskies, coming away with a 2-1 victory in their last meeting on Oct. 27, 2013. Sophomore Gage Zerboni earned the game-winning header for UCLA in the 70th minute to claim the victory.

Scouting the Beavers
Oregon State enters the weekend with a record of 8-3-1 and 1-1-1 in the Pac-12 conference. They’re currently tied with UCLA for fourth place in the conference standings. Oregon State also recorded their first tie of the season in the 1-1 result at home versus Washington this past weekend. The Beavers goal came from Jordan Jones, his fourth, to avoid the defeat. Prior to the draw this past weekend, the Beavers split their previous two conference games, beating Cal, 6-2, on Oct. 5 and losing to Stanford, 0-1, on Oct. 2. The Beavers are known for their offensive prowess, with senior forward Khiry Shelton leading the conference in points (24) and freshman forward Timmy Meueller leading the conference in goals (9).

The Bruins hold a 26-4-3 all-time record against the Oregon State Beavers. UCLA is unbeaten in its’ last 17 matches versus Oregon State, posting a record of 14-0-3 over that span. Despite drawing with the Beavers in both matchups last season, the Bruins haven’t lost to Oregon State since Oct. 9, 2005. Over that span UCLA has outscored Oregon State 35-10.

The UCLA Bay Area Weekend in Review
UCLA continued conference play with a pair of road matches last weekend in the Bay Area. The first game of the weekend featured the Bruins facing off with the Cal Golden Bears on Oct. 10. UCLA found themselves down 1-0 at the half due to a goal from Stefano Bonomo on a set piece late in the opening frame. With the Bruins sending more players forward in an effort to create offensive chances, Cal exploited the soft defense of UCLA and delivered a second blow thanks to Paul Salcedo in the 79th minute. With the Bruins chances looking bleak, Larry Ndjock netted a header from inside the penalty area in the 86th minute and Javan Torre blasted a shot into the bottom right corner (his first career goal) with just 30 seconds remaining to tie the game and force extra time. However, the Bruins would concede a goal late in the first overtime to squash the cinderella ending.

In the second match of the weekend the Bruins traveled to Palo Alto, Calif. to take on the Stanford Cardinal. After a scoreless first half, UCLA midfielder Brian Illoski fed an impressive cross into the penalty area which found a streaking Aaron Simmons to put the Bruins on top 1-0 early in the second half. However, Stanford bounced back immediately with a tally of their own from Zach Batteer to even the score at one. Despite two extra periods, neither team inevitably broke the 1-1 draw.

UCLA Happy to be Home at Drake
The UCLA Bruins are unbeaten in their three games at Drake Stadium this season, including a 3-0 win over the Cal State Northridge Matadors in their last match. UCLA has not conceded a goal at home this season and went 6-2-1 in their nine regular season home matches last year. The Bruins will finish out their conference schedule this season with five of their final seven games on home turf.

Lucky Number Seven
UCLA finished out the 2013 season going unbeaten in their final seven games, posting a record of 4-0-3 over that span. The unblemished close to the year propelled the Bruins into the number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. In 2012, UCLA also finished their last seven games strong, totaling a 5-1-1 record over that final stretch, helping them claim the number six seed in the NCAA Tournament. With seven games left to play this season, UCLA will look to repeat that magic as they move towards the NCAA Tournament with five of their final seven games set to be played at home.

Amick, Contreras & Stolz the ‘Iron Men’
Redshirt junior defender Edgar Contreras, senior midfielder Leo Stolz and sophomore defender Michael Amick have been the ‘Iron Men’ for the Bruins this season. The two centerbacks and attacking midfielder have started every game for UCLA, with Amick playing all but 45 minutes, Contreras playing all but 75 minutes and Stolz playing all but 138 minutes this year. Thei centerbacks’ strong play has been a major reason why Earl Edwards Jr. has recorded six shutouts, while Stolz has been the main engine for the offense, leading the team in goals and points. Although Stolz played in 20 matches and Amick played in 18 matches last year, this is Contreras’ first year playing for the program after redshirting last year following a transfer from Taft College.

Freshmen Continue to Contribute
UCLA’s freshman class has proven to be valuable this season with five of the seven true freshmen contributing minutes in the first twelve games. The rookie class is led by Seyi Adekoya, Abu Danladi and Christian Chavez who have all scored a goal this season. In addition, leftback Chase Gasper leads the first-year players in starts with five. Rounding out the freshman contributers is midfielder William Cline with nine appearances and one start.

Everyone Loves Variety
The Bruins have had eight different players score goals so far this season. The leading goal scorer for UCLA is reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year, Leo Stolz, who has amassed five goals so far. Scoring in back-to-back weekends, Larry Ndjock has totaled three goals for UCLA, while Andrew Tusaazemajja, Abu Danladi, Seyi Adekoya, Christian Chavez, Javan Torre and Aaron Simmons have each scored one goal.

Looking Ahead
The Bruins will face the same two teams next weekend in UCLA’s final two road matches of the season. UCLA will first face off with Washington on Oct. 23 at 7:30pm PT and follow that up with a match against Oregon State on Oct. 26 at 11am PT. Both games will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks.