Pac-12 Men's Soccer Weekly Rundown - Oct. 19, 2022

by Pac-12 Conference

Oct 19, 2022

Week 9 Fixtures

Conference play resumes this week in Pac-12 Men's Soccer with the Bay Area sides visiting SoCal and a meeting between preseason Pac-12 favorites with No. 1 WASHINGTON (12-0-1, 4-0-0) traveling to OREGON STATE (5-3-3, 1-1-2). Three of the six matches will be televised by Pac-12 Network.
Friday night will feature a Pac-12 Network showdown in Corvallis between Pac-12 co-favorites Washington and defending league champion Oregon State. The Beavers will be facing a ranked opponent for the fifth time in their last seven matches, having gone 3-0-1 in their recent such contests.
On Thursday, SAN DIEGO STATE (5-6-2, 1-3-1) welcomes No. 5 STANFORD (7-1-4, 1-1-3) and UCLA (7-4-1, 2-2-1) hosts CALIFORNIA (3-5-4, 1-3-1) with the Bruins/Golden Bears matchup airing on Pac-12 Network. The venues flip on Sunday with the Bruins/Cardinal contest airing on Pac-12 Network.

Week 8 Results

Pac-12 programs enjoyed a solid week of non-conference results last week, going 5-1-0 against six opponents from the WCC.
The league's best win went to Oregon State, which handed then-No. 6 Portland its first loss of the season with a 3-2 victory.
Stanford and UCLA both pitched 2-0 road shutouts at Saint Mary's and LMU, respectively. The Bruins' win snapped a seven-match unbeaten streak for the Lions.
San Diego State erupted for four second-half goals to earn a 4-2 come-from-behind win against San Diego.
No. 1 Washington extended its regular season non-conference unbeaten streak to 23 matches (22-0-1 dating to Sept. 2019) with a 3-0 rout of Gonzaga. The Huskies continue to own the nation's best overall record as 1-of-5 unbeaten teams remaining in NCAA Division I (Dayton, Duke, Kentucky, Xavier). UW is now unbeaten through 13 matches for the third time in program history (1984 - 11-0-2, 2013 - 11-0-4).

National Rankings & NCAA RPI

Washington holds at No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 for the third straight week, matching the program record of consecutive weeks atop the national poll from 2019 (Oct. 22-Nov. 5). After a week hiatus, Stanford returned to the top 5 at No. 5.
The Huskies have now made 41 consecutive top-10 poll appearances, a streak dating to Sept. 24, 2019.
The Pac-12's collective strong performances last week boosted its postseason prospects in the latest NCAA RPI update as five teams improved their position. It also helped the Pac-12 ascend to the nation's top-rated league in both the Conference and Non-Conference reports.
Four Pac-12 teams are in postseason position in No. 2 Washington (up from 5), No. 8 Stanford (up from 13), No. 24 Oregon State (up from 51) and No. 34 UCLA (up from 43). No. 52 San Diego State and No. 79 California complete the rankings.
The Pac-12 is the only league to have all of its programs ranked inside the NCAA RPI Top 80.

In the Non-Conference

With the 5-1-0 mark last week, the Pac-12's non-conference record currently sits at 29-9-7, for a .722 non-conference win percentage that leads all NCAA Division I leagues (ACC .700). The Conference has two non-league matchups remaining this season - UCLA at Rutgers on Oct. 29, and Pacific at Stanford on Nov. 7.
The Pac-12 is unbeaten (3-0-1) in ranked non-league matches so far this season (ranked at time of meeting), with Oregon State defeating Denver and Portland, and San Diego State knocking off Denver and drawing with Creighton. That record is 4-1-0 against teams currently in the Top 25 with Stanford's early win over now-ranked SMU.
The 29-9-7 mark includes an 8-2-3 record against leagues based in the eastern half of the country, 3-1-3 against teams from the ACC, Big East and Big Ten.

Top Performers

A trio of Pac-12 players, including two freshmen, were rewarded for their performances last week, headlined by Pac-12 Player of the Week Clarence Awoudor, a rookie from France, of Oregon State being named to both the College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer National Teams of the Week. Awoudor had a foot in all three Beaver goals in the 3-2 upset of Portland.
Washington's Nick Scardina bagged a brace to pace the Huskies in their 3-0 win over Gonzaga and join Awoudor on the College Soccer News team.
San Diego State freshman CJ Fodrey was honored by Top Drawer Soccer after scoring the Aztecs' opener and assisting the game-winner in the 4-2 win versus San Diego.
UW's Imanol Rosales recorded a Pac-12 season single-match high three assists in the Gonzaga victory.
A trio of goalkeepers kept clean sheets last week - Stanford's Matt Frank (two saves), UCLA's Nate Crockford (six saves), and Washington's Jadon Bowton (two saves). Crockford continues to lead the Pac-12 with six shutouts, while Bowton is yet to allow a goal as UW's starter the past three matches.
To illustrate Washington's No. 1 ranking to date, the Huskies lead NCAA Division I in both goal differential (+30) and goals-against average (0.385) while also ranking in the top 5 nationally in total points (4th, 112), total goals (T-3rd, 35) and total assists (3rd, 42).

National Teams/Players of Week

College Soccer News National Teams of the Week
Aug. 29 - Christian Soto, Washington
Sept. 5 - Riley Ferch, UCLA; Ilijah Paul, Washington
Sept. 12 - Elias Katsaros, San Diego State
Sept. 19 - Tommy Silva, UCLA
Sept. 26 - Javier Armas, Oregon State (POTW), Keegan Hughes, Stanford
Oct. 3 - Will Reilly, Stanford
Oct. 10 - Lucas Meek, Washington (POTW)
Oct. 17 - Clarence Awoudor, Oregon State, Nick Scardina, Washington

Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week
Aug. 30 - Tommy Silva, UCLA
Sept. 6 - Riley Ferch, UCLA; Ilijah Paul, Washington (POTW)
Sept. 13 - Elias Katsaros, San Diego State
Sept. 27 - Keegan Hughes, Stanford; Lucas Meek, Washington (POTW)
Oct. 4 - Will Reilly, Stanford; Nicholas Scardina, Washington
Oct. 11 - Gio Miglietti, Washington
Oct. 18 - Clarence Awoudor, Oregon State, CJ Fodrey, San Diego State

United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week
Sept. 7 - Ilijah Paul, Washington
Sept. 14 - Elias Katsaros, San Diego State

Notes and Nuggets

The Pac-12 sent three teams - Oregon State, Washington, UCLA - to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, marking the sixth consecutive year and eighth time in the past nine seasons the league advanced at least three teams to the postseason.
The nation’s top RPI conference in 2021 also had the nation’s top two teams in the RPI (#1 Washington, #2 Oregon State) and the top two seeds in the NCAA Tournament (#1 Oregon State, #2 Washington). It was the second time in Conference history the Pac-12 had the NCAA Tournament's top two overall national seeds along with 2013 (#1 UCLA, #2 California). The Pac-12 and ACC (nine times since seeding began in 1994) are the only leagues to have the top two overall national seeds.
Over the past nine years, Pac-12 men's soccer has earned 31 out of a possible 54 NCAA Tournament bids across its six members, a 57 percent success rate bettered only by the 12-team ACC (65%, 70-108).
The six-team Pac-12 has had a College Cup representative in six of the last eight seasons (UCLA 2014; Stanford 2015-17, 2019; Washington 2021). Only the 12-team ACC has had more total appearances (12) than the Pac-12's six over that span.
The Pac-12 boasts two of the top seven (Jeremy Gunn, Jamie Clark) winningest active coaches by percentage in NCAA Division I, while a third is a two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year (Terry Boss).
The Pac-12 has produced three of the last eight MAC Hermann Trophy winners - Oregon State’s Gloire Amanda (2020), Stanford’s Jordan Morris (2015) and UCLA’s Leo Stolz (2014) - as well as six finalists in the past nine years (2021 Dylan Teves, WASH; 2017 Tomas Hilliard-Arce, STAN; 2013 Leo Stolz, UCLA).
The Pac-12 has produced 20 First Team All-Americans in the nine seasons since 2013 after amassing only 15 from 2000-2012.
Since expanding beyond two rounds in 2014, 72 Pac-12 student-athletes have been selected in the MLS SuperDraft, including four years of double-digit selections (2014, 2015, 2019, 2022).

Pac-12 Men's Soccer Weekly Rundown - Oct. 19, 2022

Related News & Videos