Pac-12 Men's Soccer kicks off 2019 season this weekend

MEN’S SOCCER IS BACK: The 2019 Pac-12 men’s soccer season kicks off this weekend with all six teams in action on opening night (Friday, Aug. 30). The start of the regular season will continue with additional matches on Sunday, Sept. 1 and Monday, Sept. 2.

PAC-12 IN NATIONAL RANKS: Reigning Conference Champion STANFORD enters the 2019 campaign at No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, while a resurgent 2018 campaign from OREGON STATE lands the Beavers at 22nd in the national ranks. WASHINGTON and UCLA both received votes in the poll to land just outside the preseason top 25.

PREVIEWING THE WEEK: Pac-12 teams will each play a pair of matches this week, with the Conference’s slate of opponents highlighted by three nationally ranked programs and five respective league champions. The Bruins open their 2019 season in Bloomington, Ind., for the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic, with scheduled matches against Northwestern (Friday, 2:00 p.m. PT) and reigning Big Ten Champion Indiana, the No. 2 team in the country (Sunday, 5:00 p.m. PT). Stanford also hits the road for a pair, heading to Penn State (Friday, 4:00 p.m. PT) for its opener before a marquee matchup against No. 3 Akron (Monday, 4:00 p.m. PT), the 2018 Mid-American Conference Champion and NCAA Tournament runner-up.

CALIFORNIA opens its season with two straight at home, as Goldman Field at Edwards Stadium plays host to Omaha on Friday at 5:00 p.m. PT and No. 25 UC Irvine on Sunday (12:00 p.m. PT). The Anteaters won the Big West Conference Championship in 2018 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Following an opening-night home match against Coastal Carolina (Friday, 7:30 p.m. PT), the Beavers welcome three-time defending Patriot League Title winners Colgate (Sunday, 5:30 p.m. PT) with the game broadcast on Pac-12 Oregon.

Washington takes on Denver (Friday, 7:30 p.m. PT) in its first match of the season as the Huskies face an immediate test against the reigning Summit League champs. UW then plays host to San Francisco on Sunday (1:00 p.m. PT). SAN DIEGO STATE kicks off its 2019 campaign with a local derby, as the Aztecs welcome San Diego (Friday, 7:00 p.m. PT) to the SDSU Sports Deck before traveling to Las Vegas for a matchup with UNLV on Monday evening (8:00 p.m. PT).

RETURNING PRODUCTION: Stanford is the only team to return its top two scorers from 2018, as redshirt sophomore forward Zach Ryan (10) and redshirt senior defender Tanner Beason (eight) combined for 18 goals last season. Oregon State goalkeeper Adrian Fernandez returns for his sophomore campaign after starting all 20 games in 2018 and recording 68 saves, while Washington’s second-highest assister a year ago, junior midfielder Blake Bodily, is back for the Huskies. Pablo Pelaez’s six goals were good for eighth-best in the Conference last year, with the redshirt senior returning for his final season with SDSU. Second team All-Pac-12 goalkeeper Drake Callender is back for his senior season with the Golden Bears after recording 38 saves and four shutouts in 2018. UCLA junior forward Milan Iloski was third on the team in points with eight in 2018, while sophomore goalkeeper Justin Garces returns after posting the most wins (seven) and lowest goals-against average (1.24) by a Bruin freshman keeper since 2000.

MAKING THE JUMP: The 2018 season saw Pac-12 teams make marked improvements in various statistical categories. In Terry Boss’ first year at the helm, Oregon State finished third in the Conference in goals (29) and assists (28) after finishing fifth (22) and sixth (15) in the categories, respectively, in 2017. UCLA shored up its back line in 2018, as the Bruins allowed just 22 goals after letting in 32 the previous year. After converting 23 goals in 229 shots (.100 shooting percentage) in 2017, the Golden Bears were much more efficient in 2018 with 24 goals in 192 shot attempts. Cal’s .125 shooting percentage was the most efficient mark in the Conference.

LONGEVITY AT THE HELM: A pair of Pac-12 men’s soccer head coaches, Kevin Grimes (California) and Lev Kirshner (San Diego State), enter their 20th seasons at the helm of their respective programs. Grimes has won a Conference-record five Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards, compiling 196 wins and across his tenure. Grimes needs just six wins to eclipse Bob DiGrazia and become Cal’s all-time winningest head coach. Kirshner, meanwhile, is the longest tenured head coach in San Diego State history and has amassed 138 wins and three NCAA Tournament appearances with the Aztecs. He also helped guide SDSU into Pac-12 competition in 2005.

NEW FACE IN WESTWOOD: The Pac-12 features a new face in the head coaching ranks this season as Ryan Jorden enters his first year at the helm of a UCLA team that finished fourth in the Conference in 2018. Jorden was most recently the head coach at Pacific, where he revived a then dormant men’s soccer program in 2013 and compiled a 38-13-6 record and three NCAA Tournament victories in his final three years with the Tigers from 2016-18.

PRESEASON COACHES POLL: Stanford was picked to win the 2019 Men’s Soccer Conference title by the league’s head coaches for the third-consecutive year, earning five-of-six possible first-place votes. Washington took second place in the poll following a 12-4-5 record in 2018, good for the eighth-straight top-3 Conference finish for the Huskies under head coach Jamie Clark. Oregon State received the final first-place vote and finished third in the preseason poll, as the Beavers posted a 6-3-1 Conference record to finish second in league play and secure their highest Pac-12 finish since 2009. A 7-9-2 record in 2018 landed the Cal fourth in the poll, while UCLA took fifth ahead of Jorden’s first year as the Bruins’ head coach. San Diego State was picked to finish sixth.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Pac-12 men’s soccer head coaches selected the Preseason All-Conference Team, a squad fully composed of 2018 All-Pac-12 honorees. Reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year Tanner Beason headlines the team as the anchor of the Cardinal back four, while Stanford’s redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Thomas was selected following a Conference-best 82 saves in 2018. Two-time first team All-Pac-12 honoree Blake Bodily leads the Huskies’ trio of representatives, while reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Sofiane Djeffal was voted to the team along with sophomore forward Gloire Amanda for Oregon State. A pair of redshirt seniors, forward Pablo Pelaez (SDSU) and defender Matthew Powell (UCLA), round out the Preseason All-Conference team after All-Pac-12 second team honors in 2018.

NATIONAL HONORS: Beason and Bodily were named to the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious honor in collegiate soccer and is awarded annual to the most outstanding male and female players. The winners of the Trophy will be announced in January in St. Louis, Mo., at the Missouri Athletic Club’s annual banquet.

PAC-12 POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Pac-12 placed at least four programs into the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the past six seasons and the eighth time since it began sponsoring the sport with just five teams in 2000 (San Diego State added as sixth member in 2005). UCLA (four) and Stanford (three) have combined for seven NCAA Men’s Soccer titles, highlighted by the Cardinal’s recent streak of three-consecutive crowns from 2015-17. The Bruins and Cardinal have accounted for 17 of the Conference’s all-time top-4 finishes at the NCAA Tournament, including nine College Cup appearances between the two programs (Stanford 5, UCLA 4) over the past 18 seasons.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (All Times PT)

P12O -- Pac-12 Oregon

NATIONAL HONORS
MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List
Tanner Beason, Stanford; Blake Bodily, Washington

IN THE PRESEASON
Pac-12 Preseason Poll | Pac-12 Presesaon All-Conference Team