University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bruins Host Regular Season Finale
November 09, 2016 | Men's Soccer
UCLA vs. #16 San Diego State
Los Angeles, Calif. (Drake Stadium)
Thursday, Nov. 10 - 6:00 pm PT
TV - Pac-12 Network (Christian Miles, Cobi Jones)
Radio - UCLABruins.com (John Ramey)
Live Stats - UCLABruins.com/livestats
Twitter - @UCLAMSoccer
Tickets - $8 adults/$5 youth (uclabruins.com/tickets)
UCLA Hosts Regular Season Finale
The UCLA Bruins (9-7-1, 4-5-0) will play its final match of the 2016 regular season on Thursday when they host No. 16 San Diego State (9-4-4, 4-3-2) at Drake Stadium starting at 6 pm. The match will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network.
Senior Day
The Bruins will honor its seven seniors on Thursday as they appear in their final regular season home match at Drake Stadium. Abdullah Adam, Michael Amick, Juan Cervantes, Nico Gonzalez, Willie Raygoza, Felix Vobejda and Gage Zerboni will each be honored prior to the 6 pm start time.
Last Time Out
The Bruins snapped a four-match losing streak in Pac-12 play on Sunday with a 4-3 win at Oregon State. Abu Danladi scored a pair of goals including the game-winner, while Jackson Yueill collected three points with a goal and an assist.
UCLA vs. Top 20
UCLA's match against No. 16 San Diego State will be the team's ninth against a Top 20 opponent this season. 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 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 17-10-6 since 2013.
In the Rankings
The Bruins continue to receive votes in the Top 25 NSCAA rankings, but slipped from 22nd to 25th in the Soccer America poll and are also 24th in the Top Drawer Soccer poll.
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
At the start of the week, Jackson Yueill ranked 10th in the nation in assists per game (0.53) and sixth in total assists (9). Kevin Silva is now ranked 12th in the NCAA in saves per game among qualifying goalkeepers at 5.00 saves per contest. Jose Hernandez and Brian Iloski are each tied at 49th in total assists with six. As a team, UCLA ranked 13th in assists per game (1.88), 17th in points per game (5.53) and 27th in scoring offense (1.82).
Conference Leaders
At the start of the week, Jose Hernandez and Felix Vobejda each were tied for third in Pac-12 play in points per game at 0.89, followed by Brian Iloski ranked sixth with 0.78. Vobejda is also tied for second in goals scored with four, while Iloski, Hernandez and Abu Danladi are tied for seventh with two goals. Hernandez is second in the Pac-12 averaging 0.44 assists per game, while Kevin Silva is also second with 5.25 saves per game. As a team in conference games, the Bruins rank second in points per game (4.78), second in goals per game (1.56) and tied for second in saves per game (4.89). Overall, UCLA leads the conference in points per game a 5.53 and is tied for the lead in goals per game at 1.82.
Scouting the Aztecs
The No. 16 San Diego State Aztecs enter Thursday's match with a 4-3-2 record in conference play having split last weekend's matches with a 3-2 overtime loss at Oregon State and a 1-0 win at Washington. Travis Nicklaw is top-10 in the Pac-12 play in points, goals and shots, while also tied for second in game-winning goals with two. The Aztecs are third in the conference in goals-against average at 0.94.
The Series with San Diego State
UCLA is 40-5-11 all-time against San Diego State that includes a 1-0 road victory this season on Oct. 8. The Bruins have won six out of the last seven contests with the Aztecs.
Starting Three
Three Bruins have started all 17 games for UCLA this season - defender Reggie Cannon; and midfielders Erik Holt and Jose Hernandez. Two players have surpassed 1,500 minutes this season - Holt with 1,558 and Hernandez with 1,529. Cannon follows closely behind with 1,459 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. Yueill ranks fifth in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in assists per game with an average of 0.60 and is ninth nationally and first in the Pac-12 in total assists with six. In just over one season, Yueill has already totaled 12 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.
