UCLA Faces Louisville in NCAA Second Round

Jackson Yueill (photo by Jose Lopez)

Photo by: Jose Lopez

UCLA Faces Louisville in NCAA Second Round

November 19, 2016 | Men's Soccer

Game Notes (PDF)2016 NCAA Tournament Bracket

UCLA vs. #4 seed Louisville
NCAA Tournament - Second Round
Louisville, Ky. (Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium)
Sunday, Nov. 20 - 2:00 pm PT
Live Stream - ACC Network Extra (WatchESPN)
Live Stats - NCAA.com
Twitter - @UCLAMSoccer

UCLA Faces Louisville in NCAA Second Round
The UCLA Bruins (10-7-2) will be on the road for the second round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament on Sunday when they face No. 4 seed Louisville (12-5-2) at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium starting at 2 pm ET. The match will be live streamed on ACC Network Extra or WatchESPN. The winner of the match will face the winner of No. 13 seed Notre Dame and Loyola-Chicago for in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

UCLA in NCAA Tournament
The Bruins are making their 34th consecutive appearance and 44th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA has a 70-32-3 all-time NCAA Tournament record and have won four National Championships (1985, '90, '97, 2002). The Bruins has reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in eight consecutive season and have advanced to the third round or beyond in three of the last five seasons.

Bruins Against the Field
UCLA posted a 4-4-2 record against members of the 48-team NCAA Tournament field this season. The Bruins have wins over Akron (6-0), Coastal Carolina (3-1), CSUN (4-0) and San Diego State (1-0). UCLA recorded a 1-1 tie against No. 1 overall seed Maryland in August.

Last Time Out
The Bruins won their opening round match of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, 4-2, against Patriot League Champion Colgate from Drake Stadium. UCLA took a 3-2 lead at half, with goals from Jose Hernandez, Willie Raygoza and Abu Danladi. The Bruins sealed the win in the 89th minute when Kike Poleo scored his first goal of the season. UCLA improved to 15-5 all-time in first round matches in the NCAA Tournament.

UCLA vs. Top 20
UCLA has played one of the toughest schedules in the country as the Bruins have played nine teams ranked inside the Top 20. With wins over No. 1 Akron (6-1), No. 13 UCSB (2-1 in OT) and No. 13 San Diego State (1-0), a tie against No. 4 Maryland (1-1) and No. 16 San Diego State (0-0) and losses to No. 11 Washington (1-0), No. 12 Stanford (3-2), No. 16 Washington (4-0) and No. 16 Stanford (3-0), the Bruins are 3-4-1 this year against Top 20 teams and 17-10-7 since 2013.

In the Rankings
The Bruins continue to receive votes in the Top 25 NSCAA rankings, but slipped from out of the Top 25 in the Soccer America poll but climbed from 24th to 19th in the Top Drawer Soccer poll.

Hernandez Tabbed Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year
Sophomore midfielder Jose Hernandez was named the Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year. He is the first UCLA player to earn conference Player of the Year honors since Leo Stolz in 2013. Last season's Pac-12 Freshman of the Year shares the award with Stanford's Foster Langsdorf.

Eight Bruins Earn All-Pac-12 Honors
A total of eight Bruins received Pac-12 men's soccer postseason awards, led by Pac-12 first team selections Jose Hernandez and Jackson Yueill. Seyi Adekoya, Brian Iloski and Felix Vobejda were named to the all-conference second team, while Michael Amick, Abu Danladi and Erik Holt earned honorable mention.

Bruins Named to TDS Midseason List
A total of eight UCLA players were named to Top Drawer Soccer Midseason lists of Top 100 players in the nation, including three in the top 30. Jackson Yueill is no. 7, Jose Hernandez is ranked No. 27 and Brian Iloski is tabbed at No. 30. Seyi Adekoya ranks no. 45 and Michael Amick was pegged at No. 100. In addition, three Bruins were ranked on the TDS Midseason Top 100 Freshman as Reggie Cannon is No. 8, Matthew Powell was ranked No. 11 and Kevin Silva was tabbed No. 53.

National Leaders
Jackson Yueill ranks third in the nation in assists per game (0.58) and fourth in total assists (11). Kevin Silva is now ranked 23rd in the NCAA in saves per game among qualifying goalkeepers at 4.73. As a team, UCLA ranked 10th in assists per game (1.95), 12th in points per game (5.63) and 20th in scoring offense (1.85).

Scouting the Cardinals
The Cardinals are the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament after finishing the regular season with a 12-5-2 record and are ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA poll. The Cardinals finished second in the ACC Atlantic Division with a 5-2-1 conference mark. Junior Mohamed Thiaw ranks in the top 20 nationally with 11 goals, including an NCAA best seven game-winners. Junior Tim Kubel is eighth in the nation and No. 1 in the ACC with nine assists, while graduate goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland has registered 10 shutouts this season.

The Series with Louisville
UCLA is 1-2 all-time against Louisville with the lone win coming on the road in the quarterfinals of the 2011 NCAA Tournament in double overtime, 1-0.

Conference Leaders
The Bruins have four players ranked inside the Top 10 in the Pac-12 in points per game, Abu Danladi (2nd, 1.40), Brian Iloski (T5th, 0.84), Jose Hernandez (T5th, 0.84) and Jackson Yueill (8th, 0.79). Danladi is second in the conference in goals per game (0.80), while Hernandez, Iloski and Felix Vobejda are all tied for eighth (0.26). Jackson Yueill leads the conference in assists (11) and assists per game (0.58). Kevin Silva also leads the Pac-12 with 4.73 saves per game. Overall, UCLA is tops in the conference in points per game a 5.63, goals per game at 1.84. and assists per game 1.95.

Starting Three
Three Bruins have started all 19 games for UCLA this season - defender Reggie Cannon; and midfielders Erik Holt and Jose Hernandez. Two players have surpassed 1,700 minutes this season - Holt with 1,758 and Hernandez with 1,729. Cannon follows closely behind with 1,659 minutes of action.

Amick Nominated for Senior Class Award
Senior defender Michael Amick has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award for men's soccer. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Yueill Ties School Record for Assists
Sophomore midfielder Jackson Yueill tied the school record for assists in a game with four in the Bruins' 6-1 win over Akron on Sept. 5. Yueill, who was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week after that feat, had all four of his assists in the second half, including assists on the three goals that UCLA scored in a NCAA-record 32-second span. At the start of the NCAA Tournament, Yueill ranks third in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in assists per game with an average of 0.58 and is fourth nationally and first in the Pac-12 in total assists with 11. In just over one season, Yueill has already totaled 19 career assists.

Danladi's Dandy Debut
Junior forward Abu Danladi did not play in the team's first three games of the season due to a hamstring injury, but he made an epic season debut on Sept. 5 against Akron. Just eight minutes into his first game, he scored his first goal of the year, and then 11 seconds after that, he scored his second. Only two other players in NCAA history have scored two consecutive goals in a shorter time span.

Record-Setters
In just one half of action against top-ranked Akron on Sept. 5, UCLA set or tied several records. The Bruins set an NCAA record by scoring three goals in 32 seconds (Abu Danladi, 52:28 and 52:39; Blayne Martinez, 53:00). The previous record was 43 seconds, set by Syracuse in 1989. Danladi's two goals, 11 seconds apart, gave him the distinction of having the third-fastest consecutive goals in NCAA history. Only Robby Christner of Oregon State (:08 in 2008) and Jon Hall of American (:09 in 1987) scored two goals faster. UCLA now has three players in the Top 11 in this category. Julio Umana scored two goals in 15 seconds in 1994 vs. CSUN, and Eddie Lewis scored two in 20 seconds in 1994 vs. Davidson. Additionally, Jackson Yueill tied the UCLA record held by Michael Stephens (2008) and Zak Ibsen (1991) for most assists in a game with four.

Henderson Inducted into UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame
On Sept. 30, former U.S. National Team standout Chris Henderson became the eighth representative from men's soccer to be inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. Henderson was selected to Soccer America's All-Freshman team in 1989, and as a sophomore in 1990, he earned first-team NSCAA All-America honors while leading the Bruins to their second NCAA title. He was one of just three collegiate players to earn a spot on the 1990 U.S. World Cup team and was the youngest player in the tournament. Henderson, who totaled 79 caps for the U.S. National Team, was also a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team and an alternate for the 1994 and 1998 World Cup squads. After playing professionally in Europe, Henderson played in Major League Soccer from 1996-2001 and retired as the league's all-time leader in games played with 317.