This Year in Pac-12 Men's Soccer

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STANFORD: The Cardinal finished the season 14-3-5 and reached the NCAA College Cup for the fourth time in five years. Stanford earned the No. 7 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced past Seattle U (1-1, 2-1 PKs), Virginia Tech (2-1), and Clemson (1-1, 5-4 PKs) before falling in the national semifinal to eventual champion Georgetown. The Cardinal posted a Conference record of 6-2-2, good for 20 points and second in the final league standings. Stanford checked in at No. 4 in the final United Soccer Coaches national poll, securing a place in the top 10 in each edition of the poll this season. Defender Tanner Beason and goalkeeper Andrew Thomas earned United Soccer Coaches All-America acclaim, garnering first-team and third-team honors, respectively. Freshman forward/midfielder Ousseni Bouda was named the Pac-12 men’s soccer Freshman of the Year after a debut campaign that saw him notch five goals and five assists to finish second on the team in points with 15. Head coach Jeremy Gunn earned his 100th-career victory on The Farm in the Cardinal’s 2-0 victory over Denver on Sept. 13.

WASHINGTON: The Huskies (17-4-0) posted an 8-2-0 Conference record this season, good for 24 points and UW’s first Pac-12 men’s soccer title since 2013. UW’s 17 victories were the second-most in program history and the team’s eight league wins were the most for the Huskies since the Pac-12 began sponsoring men’s soccer in 2000. Washington earned the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and picked up postseason victories over Boston College (2-0) and Marshall (4-1) before bowing out to eventual champion Georgetown in the quarterfinals. Junior midfielder Blake Bodily bagged 12 goals and six assists this season and earned Pac-12 Player of the Year honors and United Soccer Coaches All-America acclaim. Sophomore defender Ethan Bartlow was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and a second team All-American. Head coach Jamie Clark picked up his 100th victory with the Huskies in UW’s opening-night win over Denver (Aug. 30) and capped his season with Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. Washington finished the season at No. 6 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll, spending the final 10 weeks in the top 10, including three-consecutive weeks at No. 1.

OREGON STATE: The Beavers finished 8-6-2 overall and 5-3-2 in Conference play to finish third in the league. Head coach Terry Boss’ first two years at the helm have seen the Beavers record consecutive seasons of at least five league wins (2018: 6-3-1) for the first time since the Pac-12 began sponsoring men’s soccer in 2000. Midfielders Sofiane Djeffal and Joel Walker and defender Joe Hafferty earned All-Pac-12 First Team accolades as Oregon State tied with Stanford for the most first-team All-Conference honorees. Djeffal, the 2018 Pac-12 men’s soccer Freshman of the Year, tallied three goals and six assists in his sophomore campaign while Walker led the team with six goals in his junior campaign. Hafferty played every minute of the 15 games he played this season, bagging three goals and an assist.

CALIFORNIA: The Golden Bears finished the year 8-7-3 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 20th time in program history. Cal came on strong down the stretch, securing road victories against then-No. 1 Washington (Nov. 7) and then-No. 4 Stanford (Nov. 14) ahead of postseason play. The Bears’ upset win over Washington was historic for head coach Kevin Grimes as he passed the late Bob DiGrazia and became Cal’s all-time winningest head coach in men’s soccer with 203 wins. Senior defender Simon Lekressner led the Golden Bear back line and earned First Team All-Pac-12 honors and was also named the Pac-12 Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year for success in his economics coursework at Cal. The Bears finished the year 4-4-2 in Conference play, compiling 14 points to finish fourth in the league.

UCLA: The Bruins finished 6-9-3 overall in head coach Ryan Jorden’s first year at the helm. UCLA picked up a big early-season victory (Sept. 6) over 2018 national champion Maryland as the Bruins downed the Terrapins, 3-2, behind junior midfielder Milan Iloski’s hat trick. Iloski, a First Team All-Pac-12 honoree, led the Conference with 17 goals, the most a Bruin has scored in a single-season since Chandler Hoffman bagged 18 in 2011. Iloski went on to score a UCLA single-game record five goals against San Diego State (Oct. 6), tied for the most goals scored in a game this season by any player in the nation. Sophomore transfer Riley Ferch tied for the league lead in assists with nine, earning Second Team All-Pac-12 accolades. The Bruins went 2-6-2 in Conference play to finish fifth in the Pac-12.

SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs posted a 4-12-2 overall and 1-9-0 Conference record, finishing sixth in the Pac-12 this season. SDSU was solid on the road this year, recording victories against UNLV (Sept. 2), Brown (Sept. 29), and NCAA Tournament participant California (Nov. 3). Senior midfielder Pablo Pelaez notched four goals and four assists and earned Second Team All-Pac-12 honors for the second-consecutive season. Freshman Hunter George earned Third Team All-Pac-12 acclaim after a debut campaign that saw him lead the Aztecs in goals with five.

PAC-12 POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Pac-12 sent at least three teams to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight year. UCLA and Stanford have combined to win seven national titles for the Conference, highlighted by the Cardinal’s three-consecutive national titles from 2015-17. The Conference owns a 137-106-17 (.560) postseason record and the Cardinal’s appearance in the national semifinal marked the 21st all-time appearance for current Conference programs in the College Cup. This was the Conference’s 10th College Cup appearance since the Pac-12 began sponsoring men’s soccer in 2000, including its sixth in the last nine seasons.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: The Pac-12 Conference announced the All-Pac-12 honors for the 2019 men’s soccer season, as selected by a polling of Conference head coaches. Washington midfielder Blake Bodily was voted Pac-12 Player of the Year while Husky defender Ethan Bartlow earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. Stanford’s Ousseni Bouda was tabbed Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. Washington head coach Jamie Clark earned his second-career Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors after leading the Huskies to the Conference title. The All-Conference teams were also announced.

PAC-12 IN NATIONAL RANKS: Stanford checked in at No. 4 in the final edition of the United Soccer Coaches national poll. The Cardinal ranked in the top 10 in each of the 13 editions of the poll this season. Washington finished the year at No. 6 in the national ranks after a 17-4-0 season, the most wins for the program since 1983.

PAC-12 IN NCAA RPI RANKINGS: Washington and Stanford led the way in the final NCAA RPI rankings of the year, checking in at No. 8 and No. 10, respectively. Oregon State finished at No. 51 with California following at No. 52. UCLA cracked the top 60 in the final ranks, checking in at No. 59.

NON-CONFERENCE PROWESS: Pac-12 men’s soccer compiled a 31-15-8 record in non-conference play in the regular season. The league’s .648 non-conference winning percentage is good for the third-best mark across all conferences, trailing only the ACC (94-32-18, .707) and BIG EAST 66-30-6 (.683).

NATIONAL HONORS: Stanford’s Tanner Beason and Washington’s Blake Bodily were named among 15 semifinalists for the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy on Dec. 3. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious honor in collegiate soccer and is awarded annually 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 AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS: Included in the Pac-12’s 31-15-8 non-conference record are six victories and three draws against Top 25 non-conference opponents.
• Stanford at then-No. 3 Akron (W, 2-1) – Monday, Sept. 2
• UCLA vs. then-No. 3 Maryland (W, 3-2) – Friday, Sept. 6
• Washington vs. then-No. 11 Marshall (W, 4-1) – Sunday, Dec. 1
• Washington at then-No. 16 Michigan State (W, 1-0) – Friday, Sept. 6
• Washington vs. then-No. 18 Denver (W, 2-1) – Friday, Aug. 30
• Stanford vs. then-No. 23 Virginia Tech (W, 2-1) – Sunday, Dec. 1
• Stanford vs. then-N0. 3 Clemson (D, 1-1 (STAN on PKs, 5-4))
• Stanford vs. then-No. 20 Seattle U (D, 1-1 (STAN on PKs, 2-1)) – Sunday, Nov. 24
• California vs. then-No. 25 UC Irvine (D, 1-1) – Sunday, Sept. 1

STAT CENTRAL: UCLA forward Milan Iloski tied for fourth in the nation with 17 goals on the year. Iloski led the country in goals per game (1.06) and his five goals against San Diego State (Oct. 6) are tied for the most goals scored in a game this season. Washington goalkeeper Sam Fowler posted a 0.620 goals against average, good for the fifth-best mark in the nation and the second-lowest average among freshmen. Stanford goalkeeper Andrew Thomas was 14th in the country in goals against average (0.724) and tied for 16th in shutouts (8).

Washington (17-4-0, 0.810) and Stanford (14-3-5, 0.750) were tied for ninth and 16th, respectively, in winning percentage this year. The Huskies had the fifth-best shutout percentage in the nation at 0.571. Washington (0.662) and Stanford (0.668) ranked eighth and 10th in the nation, respectively, in team goals against average. The Cardinal posted the sixth-best save percentage this season at 0.820. The Huskies compiled 133 total points on the year, good for a ninth in the country. UCLA played the 12th-hardest schedule in the country this year with a combined opponent record of 176-105-44 (.609).

FRESHMAN PHENOMS: Pac-12 men’s soccer freshmen impressed in their debut collegiate seasons. Stanford freshman forward/midfielder Ousseni Bouda earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors with five goals and five assists on the year. Fellow Stanford first-year forward Gabe Segal tied for the team lead with six goals on the year. The Bethesda, Md., native bagged the game-winner (42’) against then-No. 1 Washington (Nov. 10) and also scored in three straight matches from Sept. 15 – Sept. 24, including the game-winner in his first Big Clásico against Cal. San Diego State freshman Hunter George led the team with five goals this season, scoring in three-straight matches from Sept. 22 – Oct. 6. Freshman goalkeeper Sam Fowler recorded 13 starts for Washington this year and posted seven shutouts, compiling 21 total saves on the year. His 0.620 goals against average is the second-best mark in the country and the second-lowest average among freshmen. The Huskies finished 11-2-0 and outscored opponents 38-6 in the games he played.

COACHING MILESTONES ACHIEVED: Cal head coach Kevin Grimes (204-138-45) notched his 203rd-career victory in the Golden Bears’ 3-2 victory over then-No. 1 Washington. The victory made Grimes Cal’s all-time winningest men’s soccer head coach, eclipsing Bob DiGrazia’s 202 career wins.

Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn (110-31-28) recorded his 100th-career victory at Stanford with the team’s 2-0 win over Denver (Sept. 13). Gunn is just the second to reach the 100-win milestone at Stanford as Fred Priddle went 133-119-23 from 1954-75. In just seven full seasons at the helm, Gunn has guided the Cardinal to five-straight Pac-12 titles (2014-18) and three NCAA Championships (2015-17). Washington’s Jamie Clark (116-46-20) also reached the 100-win milestone earlier this season in the Huskies’ season-opening win over then No. 18 Denver (Aug. 30). He became only the third coach in program history to achieve the milestone and has since moved into second place on the all-time wins list with UW’s victory over UCLA (Sept. 22).

FINAL STANDINGS: