UCLA Men's Soccer Makes Final Road Trip of the Season

#6/3 UCLA at #4/2 Washington
Husky Soccer Field
Thursday, Oct. 23 - 7:30 pm PT
TV - Pac-12 Networks (Christian Miles, Cobi Jones)
Live Stats - www.GoHuskies.com
Twitter - @UCLAMsoccer | #UCLAvsUW

#6/3 UCLA at Oregon State
Paul Lorenz Field
Sunday, Oct. 26 - 11:00 am PT
TV - Pac-12 Networks (Rich Cellini, Kelly Gray)
Live Stats - www.OSUBeavers.com
Twitter - @UCLAMsoccer | #UCLAvsOSU

Bruins Look for Season Sweep of UW & OSU
The No. 6/3 UCLA Bruins will head on their final road trip of the regular season this weekend when they travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on the No. 4/2 Washington Huskies and the Oregon State Beavers. The Bruins will face the Huskies on Oct. 23 at 7:30pm PT and the Beavers on Oct. 26 at 11:00am PT. Both games will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks.

Bruin/Husky Connections
**UCLA and Washington have four common opponents, Cal, Oregon State, San Diego State and Stanford, the Huskies defeated Cal, 3-2, tied OSU 1-1 (2OT), defeated SDSU, 3-2, and defeated Stanford 3-1, while the Bruins lost to Cal, 2-3 (OT), defeated OSU 3-0, defeated SDSU 1-0, and tied Stanford, 1-1 (2OT).

**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 four common opponents, Cal, San Diego State, Stanford and Washington, the Beavers defeated Cal, 6-2, lost to SDSU 0-1, lost to Stanford, 0-1, and tied Washington 1-1 (2OT), while the Bruins lost to Cal, 2-3 (OT), defeated SDSU 1-0, tied Stanford, 1-1 (2OT), and defeated Washington 2-1.

In the Rankings
The UCLA Bruins are currently ranked No. 6 in the NSCAA coaches poll and No. 3 in the Soccer America poll. Washington is ranked No. 4 in the NSCAA coaches poll and No. 2 in the Soccer America poll while Oregon State is now unranked accross all major polls.

Scouting the Huskies
No. 4/2 Washington enters the weekend with an overall record of 10-2-1 and 3-1-1 in the Pac-12 conference. They currently sit in a tie for first place in the conference standings with the Bruins and are 5-1 in their six home games so far this season. The Huskies split a pair of road games against San Diego State and UCLA over the weekend. On Thursday, Oct. 16, Washington took on UCLA at Drake Stadium. In a back-and-forth first half, Washington conceded the first goal of the game to Leo Stolz in the 15th minute. It didn’t take the Huskies long to answer as Josh Heard netted his sixth goal of the year just six minutes later to bring the game level. However, the Huskies would concede again near the end of the first half. Despite playing much of the second half up a man, thanks to a UCLA red card, Washington was unable to capitalize and fell to the Bruins 1-2. In their second game on Sunday, Oct. 19 at SDSU, the Huskies reversed their fortunes with a 3-2 victory. Justin Fiddes (1), Ian Lange (1) and Justin Schmidt (3) earned goals for Washington to stay atop the Pac-12 conference.

UCLA holds a 25-12-4 all-time record against the Washington Huskies. The Bruins are unbeaten in their last four matches against the Huskies, coming away with a 2-1 victory in their last meeting on Oct. 16, 2014. Freshman Seyi Adekoya earned the game-winner late in the first half to keep the Bruins streak alive.

Scouting the Beavers
Oregon State enters the weekend with a record of 8-5-1 and 1-3-1 in the Pac-12 conference. They’re currently in fifth place in the conference standings. The Beavers are 7-1-1 in their nine home games so far this season. OSU went scoreless and lost both road matches last weekend to San Diego State and UCLA. In the first game on Thursday, Oct. 16 against SDSU, the Beavers outshot the Aztecs 12-9, however an early second half goal from David Olsen off a corner kick was enough to shut down Oregon State. In the second game on Sunday, Oct. 19, the Beavers were defeated by the Bruins 3-0. OSU was out-shot 15-5 and only directed one shot on net in the game. Beaver goalkeeper Matt Bersano did make six saves in the game however.

The Bruins hold a 27-4-3 all-time record against the Oregon State Beavers. UCLA is unbeaten in its’ last 18 matches versus Oregon State, posting a record of 15-0-3 over that span. The Bruins defeated OSU, 3-0, in their last match on Oct. 19, 2014 and haven’t lost to the Beavers since Oct. 9, 2005. Over that span UCLA has outscored Oregon State 38-10.

Freshman Abu Danladi Named Pac-12 POW
UCLA freshman striker Abu Danladi was named Pac-12 Player of the Week (Oct. 13-19) for his performance last weekend against Washington and Oregon State. The Ghanaian scored two goals and recorded an assist while helping the Bruins earn back-to-back wins. His assist came in the take down of then No. 1 Washington when he fed a pass to leading scorer Leo Stolz for the first goal of the game. However, it was the Oregon State game where he stole the show, scoring two incredible goals both coming off of long range passes. Being hampered by injury, Danladi has played just six games (four starts) for UCLA, racking up seven points; good for third on the team. Danladi joins Seyi Adekoya as the second Bruins player to earn the weekly award this season.

Weekend to Remember for the Bruins
UCLA earned two home victories over the weekend including a 2-1 win over the then No. 1 Washington Huskies. On Thursday, Oct. 16, the Bruins took down the Huskies and moved into a tie for first in the conference. The first half was played at a frenentic pace by both sides with UCLA striking first off of the foot of Leo Stolz. In the 15th minute, Abu Danladi fed Stolz at the top of the box where the German proceeded to lean back and bury it in the top of the net. Following an answer from Washington just minutes later, Seyi Adekoya scored in the 24th minute on a wonderful one-on-one move in the box, putting UCLA up 2-1. Adekoya would proceed to get sent off with his second yellow early in the second half, but the Bruins defense held up playing 36 minutes with a man down to preserve the win.

The Bruins offense shined in the second game of the weekend on Sunday, Oct. 19 against Oregon State. After a relatively slow start to the game, freshman Abu Danladi showed a flash of brilliance when he corralled a long ball from Chase Gasper and slid it past the goalkeeper while shielding off the defender. Once in the clear, Danladi stroked it into the empty net to put the Bruins ahead 1-0. Nine minutes later, it was a long ball again that got the play started from Edgar Contreras to Leo Stolz who proceeded to lead Danladi into the box. Danladi once again finished with class to put UCLA up 2-0 at the half. Larry Ndjock would add another goal for the Bruins on a tap in off of a rebound to give UCLA the 3-0 victory.

Seven Bruins Named as TDS Top Players
Three Bruins were recently named to the midseason Top Drawer Soccer Top 100 players list along with four more named to the midseason Top Drawer Soccer Top 100 freshmen list. Leo Stolz retained the No. 1 spot on the Top 100 players list while being joined by Michael Amick at No. 21 and Earl Edwards Jr. at No. 94. On the top 100 freshmen list, Abu Danladi came in at No. 2 overall (was also named to the TDS team of the week for Oct. 13-19) while Chase Gasper came in at No. 17, Seyi Adekoya came in at No. 31 and Christian Chavez rounded out the group at No. 51.

UCLA Happy to be Home at Drake
The UCLA Bruins are unbeaten in their five games at Drake Stadium this season, including a 2-1 win over Washington and a 3-0 win over Oregon State last weekend. UCLA has conceded just one 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 three straight games on home turf leading into postseason play.

Freshmen Continue to Contribute
UCLA’s freshman class has proven to be valuable this season with five true freshmen contributing substantial minutes in the first 14 games. The rookie attackers have been sensational with Abu Danladi leading the way with three goals and one assist followed by Seyi Adekoya with two goals and three assists. Also pitching in a goal, Christian Chavez has been a dangerous member of the Bruins frontline as well. Left back Chase Gasper has proven to be a stalwart in the defensive group, playing 10 games (seven starts), while pitching in an assist and William Cline has been an important player in the midfield playing 10 games (one start) as well.

Looking Ahead
UCLA will return home for the remainder of their regular season schedule with two games slated for next weekend. The Bruins will take on the Stanford Cardinal on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 8:00 pm PT and the California Golden Bears on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 5:00pm PT. Both games will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks and tickets are available for $8 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 3-16).