2024 Men's Soccer Roster
Roster
Pietro Grassi
- Position:
- Defender
- Height:
- 6-1
- Weight:
- 180
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Milan, Italy
- High School:
- Pontificio Collegio Gallio
Career Highlights
2021 All-Far West Region First Team
2021 All-Pac-12 Second Team
2021 College Soccer News All-Freshman First Team
2021 TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI First Team
2021 Team Defensive MVP
2022 Hermann Trophy Watch List (Preseason)
2022 Preseason All-American
Four-time UCLA Director's Honor Roll
2024
Appeared in all 19 games and started all 19 as a senior… Recorded one assist … Totaled 1,634 minutes played, the most on the team… Ends his UCLA career with 68 games played and 66 starts across four seasons… Led the backline and captained the side all season and helped UCLA keep seven shutouts on the season… Helped lead the backline to seven shutouts, including six against ranked opposition No. 11 LM (2-0), No. 18 James Madison (0-0), No. 8 Portland (2-0), No. 3 Denver (0-0) at No. 14 Northwestern (1-0), vs. RV Maryland (6-0)… His lone assist came in UCLA’s 5-1 win over Westmont… Played 90 or more minutes in 14 of his 19 appearances… Finished the year with academic honors as he was named to the Fall Academic All-Big Ten team.
2023
Appeared in 11 games and made 10 starts as a junior … Recorded one goal and one assist for three points … Totaled 896 minutes of playing time … After returning from injury played at least 78 minutes in the last nine games of the season, including all 90 minutes eight times … Scored the game-winning goal in UCLA’s 2-1 win over San Diego State on Oct. 20 via a header off a corner kick in the 55th minute … Tallied an assist on Jose Contell’s opening goal in the Bruins’ 4-2 win at Washington on Oct. 8 … Helped the backline to three clean sheets across his 10 starts, a 1-0 win against Washington, 0-0 draw with Oregon State, and 3-0 win at San Diego State … Helped the Bruins win their first Pac-12 title since 2014.
2022
Appeared in 18 of UCLA's 20 games as a sophomore, starting 17 ... Recorded one goal and one assist for three points ... Totaled 1,416 minutes of action, fourth-most among the team's outfield players ... Was an honorable mention on the 2022 Pac-12 All-Conference Team ... Played the full 90 in 13 of his 17 starts ... Contributed to six UCLA shutouts ... Scored his first career goal on Sept. 5 against Grand Canyon, volleying in a Kevin Diaz flick off a long throw from the right touch line in the 85th minute ... Assisted on Andre Ochoa's go-ahead goal in the first half against Liberty on Sept. 2 ... Played every minute of UCLA's three NCAA Tournament games ... Before the season, was named to the United Soccer Coaches Players to Watch list for defenders ... Second Team Preseason All-American (College Soccer News) ... Selected to the preseason Hermann Trophy Watch List; he was the only player on the 38-man list who was a sophomore or younger ... Named to the UCLA Director's Honor Roll for fall quarter (3.0+ GPA, 12+ quarter units passed).
2021
Started all 19 of UCLA's games as a true freshman ... Played a team-high 1,708 minutes ... One of just six Bruins to start every game of the season ... Logged 2 assists for 2 points ... Voted Defensive MVP at the team's end-of-season banquet ... Picked up a slew of postseason awards including All-Far West Region First Team, All-Pac-12 Second Team, College Soccer News All-Freshman First Team, and TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI First Team ... Listed at No. 22 in TopDrawerSoccer's postseason rankings of the top freshmen in college soccer ... Contributed to four UCLA shutouts ... Played the full 90 in all but two of UCLA's games ... Recorded his first collegiate point on Sept. 6 against CSUN, a primary assist on Tommy Silva's opener in an eventual 4-0 Bruin win ... Also logged the primary assist on Jose Contell's 86th minute equalizer against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 18 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, an eventual 2-1 UCLA win ... Named to the UCLA Director's Honor Roll for fall, winter, and spring quarters (3.0+ GPA, 12+ quarter units passed).
High School/Club
Played club soccer with A.C. Milan … Spent nine years with the club, starting at the U-10 level … Played for the Italian National Team at the U-15, U-16, and U-17 levels … Was captain of his A.C. Milan club side several times … Part of the “Milan Gold” project, where top members of the academy were selected for special training, and practiced with the first team … Was 14 years old at the time he trained with the first team.
Personal
Full Name: Pietro Grassi … Birthday: Jun. 24 … Born in Como, Italy, just north of Milan … Parents are Roberto Grassi and Luisa Zerboni … Has a younger sister, Margherita … Plans on majoring in international relations … Chose to attend UCLA because “I wanted to keep challenging myself athletically and academically while wearing the four most iconic letters in the world” … Describes representing his home country, Italy, in international competition as his greatest pre-UCLA athletic thrill … Admires athletes such as Roger Federer, Phil Mickelson, Lionel Messi, and Kobe Bryant … Hobbies and interests include reading, playing tennis, and golfing … Has an interest in collecting watches.
