Sosa, Silva Headline UCLA's Six All-Pac-12 Recipients
November 15, 2022 | Men's Soccer
LOS ANGELES – Six members of the UCLA men's soccer team received Pac-12 All-Conference recognition on Tuesday morning, including Second Team honors for both senior midfielder Jose Sosa and junior defender Tommy Silva.
In addition, sophomore forward Jose Contell, sophomore goalkeeper Nate Crockford, senior forward Kevin Diaz, and sophomore defender Pietro Grassi each earned honorable mentions.
The Bruins' six honorees were tied for second most in the conference, trailing only Washington's nine.
This is the third consecutive year that Silva has been named on the Pac-12 All-Conference Team, and second year in a row receiving Second Team honors. Grassi was a Second Teamer as a freshman in 2021, while Diaz repeated as an honorable mention after having done so last fall. It marks the first career All-Pac-12 honors for Sosa, Contell, and Crockford.
Sosa has been a mainstay in the middle of the park for UCLA, entering the postseason with the most minutes (1,453) and tied for the most starts (17) among Bruin outfield players. Playing in a primarily holding mid role, he has still chipped in offensively with one goal and four assists for six points.
Silva is the lone outfield player on the squad besides Sosa to have started every game so far this season. He leads the squad by a wide margin in assists (7), and is tied for the team lead in scoring with 9 points (1-7-9). The Tucson, Ariz. native has twice made National Teams of the Week this year, after helping the Bruins to a pair of season-opening 1-0 wins and after assisting on both goals in a 2-1 win against California on Sept. 18.
UCLA's honorable mentions have all had notable seasons of their own. Contell co-leads the Bruins in goals (3, all game-winners) and points (9), Crockford enters the postseason as the Pac-12 leader in shutouts (8), saves (55), and save percentage (.786), Diaz has chipped in three goals on a team-best 21 shots, and Grassi helmed a defensive corps that maintained a goals against average of just 0.88 during the regular season.
Thanks in part to the contributions of its all-conference group, UCLA (10-6-1) qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament and will host WAC Tournament champion California Baptist (10-6-4) in an NCAA First Round game on Thursday, Nov. 17 starting at 5:00 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
2022 PAC-12 MEN'S SOCCER POSTSEASON AWARDS
Pac-12 Men's Soccer Player of the Year - Joran Gerbet, OREGON STATE
Pac-12 Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year - Ilijah Paul, WASHINGTON
Pac-12 Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Year - Keegan Hughes, STANFORD
Pac-12 Men's Soccer Freshman of the Year - CJ Fodrey, SAN DIEGO STATE
Pac-12 Men's Soccer Coach of the Year - Jamie Clark, WASHINGTON
FIRST TEAM
Clarence Awoudor, Oregon State
Cam Cilley, Stanford
CJ Fodrey, San Diego State
Joran Gerbet, Oregon State
Keegan Hughes, Stanford
Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Washington
Lucas Meek, Washington
Ilijah Paul, Washington
Nick Scardina, Washington
Christian Soto, Washington
Mouhameth Thiam, Oregon State
SECOND TEAM
Nonso Adimabua, California
Javier Armas, Oregon State
Blake Bowen, San Diego State
Jacob Castro, San Diego State (GK)
Gael Gibert, Oregon State
Nate Jones, Washington
Wyatt Meyer, California
Gio Miglietti, Washington
Tommy Silva, UCLA
Jose Sosa, UCLA
Keegan Tingey, Stanford
HONORABLE MENTION
Jose Contell, UCLA
Nate Crockford, UCLA (GK)
Shane de Flores, Stanford
Kevin Diaz, UCLA
Pietro Grassi, UCLA
Fahmi Ibrahim, California
Nicklas Lund, Oregon State
Chris Meyers, Washington
Imanol Rosales, Washington
Inigo Villaldea, San Diego State
Dante Williams, Oregon State
