Stanford men's soccer advances to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament

Two-time defending NCAA Champion STANFORD continues its journey in the 2017 NCAA Tournament to vie for a spot to play in the 2017 NCAA College Cup, to be held December 8 and 10 at Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pa.

The Cardinal bested Coastal Carolina on Sunday, 2-0, to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, making this the fifth-straight year a Pac-12 team has advanced to the quarterfinals. No. 9-seed Stanford travels to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face No. 1-seed Wake Forest on Saturday, December 2 at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN3. The winner of the game solidifies its berth in the 2017 Men’s College Cup.

Stanford and Wake Forest meet for first time since last year’s NCAA Championship game. After battling through a scoreless draw, the Cardinal beat the Deacons in penalty kicks, 5-4, to become the 2016 NCAA Champion.

Three teams earned NCAA Tournament bids. Along with Stanford, CALFIORNIA and WASHINGTON earned berths. The Golden Bears and Huskies fell in the first round. California lost to San Francisco, 2-1, while Seattle bested Washington, 3-2.

IN THE RANKINGS: Stanford is No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, while California is No. 21. Washington received votes. Stanford was in the top-10 for 12 weeks of the season, including being ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll and the first two weeks of the season.

NCAA HISTORY: The Pac-12 has a combined record of 128-98-13 (.563) in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA has won four NCAA Championships and Stanford has won the last two (2015-16). A record tying four Pac-12 teams earned berths to the NCAA Tournament in 2016, followed by three this year. Along with Stanford’s two NCAA Championships in 2015 and 2016, UCLA was second in 2014, making three years with a Pac-12 team in the national title match.

MAC HERMANN WATCH LIST: Stanford’s Tomas Hilliard-Arce and Foster Langsdorf represented the Pac-12 on the 15-player semifinalist list for the MAC Hermann trophy. San Diego State’s Pablo Pelaez joined the two Cardinal on the preseason watch list. Twenty-eight players from NCAA Division I schools around the country have been marked as potential contenders for the 2017 Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer, presented annually to one male and one female athlete at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. This year's trophy presentation and banquet will take place Friday, Jan. 5.

PAC-12 ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: For the second-straight year, Stanford’s Foster Langsdorf was voted Pac-12 Player of the Year and his teammate Tomas Hilliard-Arce was tabbed Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Washington’s Blake Bodily was voted Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Cardinal head coach Jeremy Gunn was voted Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the fourth-straight year. The All-Pac-12 teams were also announced. Full release and the All-Conference teams can be found here.

PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: The Pac-12 has named California’s Aravind Sivakumar the Pac-12 Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The senior midfielder from Cupertino, Calif., maintains a 3.90 grade point average (GPA) in computer science and is a two-time first team Pac-12 All-Academic selection. Sivakumar is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and was named to the first team this year. The senior spent this past summer interning at Twitter coding for the ad targeting team. Sivakumar has started all 16 games of the season, has recorded a pair of assists and 14 shots, four of them on goal. The full release can be found here.

COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISCTRICT: Five student-athletes appear on the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team for District 8: Washington’s Kasey French, California’s Aravind Sivakumar and Halil Beqaj, Oregon State’s Nathan Braaten, and San Diego State’s Dallin Cutler.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Four Pac-12 student-athletes appeared on the Senior CLASS Award candidate list: Stanford’s Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Foster Langsdorf, Drew Skundrich, and Oregon State’s Timmy Mueller. Stanford’s Langsdorf and Hilliard-Arce are among the finalists for the award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of NCAA Division I senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring.

TOPDRAWERSOCCER.COM PRESEASON BEST XI: Seven Pac-12 student-athletes appear on the TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Best XI. Stanford tied for the most of any school with four players featured on the teams. Stanford’s Tomas Hilliard-Arce was selected for the first team; San Diego State’s Pablo Pelaez and Stanford’s Foster Langsdorf are on the second team; Stanford’s Drew Skundrich is on the third team; and UCLA’s Brandon Terwege, Stanford’s Logan Panchot, and Washington’s Blake Bodily are on the freshman team.

PRESEASON COACHES POLL: Breaking a seven-year streak, the Pac-12 coaches tabbed Stanford as the 2017 favorite over rival UCLA, which is ranked second in the preseason coaches poll. Washington followed in third, San Diego State is fourth, and Oregon State edged out California for fifth and sixth, respectively.

PRESEASON ALL-PAC-12: Stanford’s 2016 co-Pac-12 Player of the Year Foster Langsdorf and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Tomas Hilliard-Arce highlighted the star-studded 2017 Preseason All-Pac-12 team. 2016 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Washington’s Handwalla Bwana, UCLA’s junior Erik Holt, and SDSU’s senior Adam Allmaras also appeared on the team.

2016 PAC-12 MEN’S SOCCER IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Four Pac-12 men’s soccer teams were selected to participate in the 2016 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship, tied for the second-most conference representatives in the field-Stanford, Washington, San Diego State, and UCLA. Stanford went on to win its second consecutive NCAA title after defeating Wake Forest, becoming the first repeat champion since Indiana in 2003-04.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (all times pacific)

2017 PAC-12 MEN'S SOCCER PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

 NATIONAL HONORS

MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist List
Tomas Hilliard-Arce, STAN; Foster Langsdorf, STAN

Senior CLASS Award Finalists
Tomas Hilliard-Arce, STAN; Foster Langsdorf, STAN

IN THE PRESEASON

Pac-12 Preseason Poll | United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll