SAN FRANCISCO – The UCLA men's soccer team was picked second in the Preseason Pac-12 Coaches Poll, as voted on by the conference's six head coaches, announced the conference office on Tuesday. The Bruins are ranked 21st nationally in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll.
Two-time defending national champions Stanford were picked as the league favorite, snapping UCLA's streak of seven-straight years as the Pac-12's preseason favorite to win the conference. UCLA received one first-place vote and 22 points overall. The Bruins finished fourth in the Pac-12 last season and ended the year with a 10-8-2 record after falling in overtime to Louisville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Erik Holt was named to the preseason All-Pac-12 team after being named all-conference honorable mention in 2016 and being one of only two players to appear in all 20 matches last season for the Bruins. Also returning for UCLA is last season's point leader Brian Iloski who was a second team All-Pac-12 selection after recording 17 points including five goals. The Bruins bring in the No. 16 ranked recruiting class in the country by Top Drawer Soccer, led by Brandon Terwege, Andrew Paoli, Milan Iloski and Eric Iloski, while also adding transfers Anderson Asiedu from Monmouth and Alexander Knox from Wake Forest.
UCLA will be seeking the ninth Pac-12 Conference title in program history and seventh during head coach Jorge Salcedo's 14-year tenure.
The Bruins begin the season this week with a pair of home exhibition contests beginning on Wednesday against Utah Valley and continuing on Sunday against Santa Ana Winds FC. Both games are at 7 p.m. PT and will be played at Drake Stadium.
Pac-12 Preseason Men's Soccer Coaches Poll
1. Stanford (4 first-place votes) – 24 points
2. UCLA (1) - 22
3. Washington (1) - 19
4. San Diego State - 10
5. Oregon State - 8
6. California - 7
Pac-12 Preseason Men's Soccer All-Pac-12 Team
Adam Allmaras (San Diego State) - GK
Corey Baird (Stanford) - F/MF
Handwalla Bwana (Washington) - MF
Jose Carrera-Garcia (California) - MF
Kyle Coffee (Washington) - F
Tomas Hilliard-Arce (Stanford) - D
Erik Holt (UCLA) - D
Foster Langsdorf (Stanford) - F
Timmy Mueller (Oregon State) - F
Pablo Pelaez (San Diego State) - MF
Drew Skundrich (Stanford) - MF