Pac-12 Men's Soccer Weekly Rundown - Nov. 15, 2023

Schedule | Standings | Pac-12 Statistics | NCAA Bracket | NCAA Statistics | NCAA RPI
Pac-12 Record Book | Pac-12 Postseason Awards

Three-Bid, Two-Seed Pac-12

• Three Pac-12 Men's Soccer teams earned bids to the 2023 NCAA Tournament as revealed on Monday, headlined by seeded teams UCLA (9-3-5) and STANFORD (9-3-5).
• No. 13 overall seed UCLA and No. 16 seed Stanford were joined by at-large selection OREGON STATE (7-5-5) in the 48-team field.
• It marks the eighth consecutive season the Conference sent at least half its teams to the postseason, and fifth straight tourney with multiple top-16 seeds.

NCAA Opening Rounds Fixtures

• Familiarity abounds for Pac-12 teams in the NCAA First and Second Rounds as all three sides will or could face opponents from either this season or recent postseasons.
• Oregon State opens action Thursday at home against Seattle U with the Beavers seeking to avenge a 2-1 road loss to the Redhawks in early September. OSU was without Second Team All-Pac-12 forward Ellis Spikner for that match earlier in the season.
  • Should be Beavers advance, they will visit No. 11 seed Portland on Sunday with more vengeance at stake - the Pilots posted a 2-1 victory in October and also knocked OSU out of the 2022 NCAA Tournament Second Round with a 2-0 win last November.
• A top-16 seed for the first time since 2014, No. 13 seed UCLA will host either LMU or UC Irvine on Sunday. The Bruins split matches against those foes during non-conference play, cruising to a 4-0 win at UC Irvine in late September and dropping a 1-0 decision to LMU in mid-October.
  • A win would send UCLA to either No. 4 seed Georgetown or a home match against Pittsburgh or James Madison, the latter of which the Bruins lost 1-0 on the road during the first week of the season.
• A top-16 seed for its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, No. 16 seed Stanford will host either Missouri State or Omaha on Sunday. The Cardinal have never met the Bears, but defeated the Mavericks (1-0 OT) in the second round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament played in North Carolina during the spring of 2021.
  • A victory would likely send Stanford to Huntington, W.Va., to face No. 1 overall seed Marshall, or host either San Diego or California Baptist.

Thursday, Nov. 16
Seattle U at Oregon State - 6:00 p.m. PT - ESPN+

Sunday, Nov. 19
Missouri State/Omaha at 16-Stanford - 5:00 p.m. PT - ESPN+
LMU/UC Irvine at 13-UCLA - 5:00 p.m. PT - ESPN+
Oregon State at 11-Portland - 5:00 p.m. PT - ESPN+ (if necessary)

Pac-12 NCAA Tournament History

• Since sport sponsorship began in 2000, Pac-12 programs have combined for a 91-60-19 record (.591) in NCAA postseason play with:
  • 23 Regional Finals (California 2005, 2010, 2013; Oregon State 2021; Stanford 2000-02, 2015-19; UCLA 2002-03, 2006, 2009-11, 2014; Washington 2013, 2019-21)
  • 11 College Cup appearances (Stanford 2000, 2002, 2015-17, 2019; UCLA 2002, 2006, 2011, 2014; Washington 2021)
  • 8 title matches (Stanford 2002, 2015-17; UCLA 2002, 2006, 2014; Washington 2021)
  • 4 national titles (UCLA 2002, Stanford 2015-17). 
• Broken down by round, the Pac-12's collective NCAA Tournament records since 2000:
  • First Round - 18-12-3 (.591)
  • Second Round - 33-20-5 (.620)
  • Third Round - 21-13-4 (.605)
  • Quarterfinals - 9-9-4 (.500)
  • Semifinals - 6-2-3 (.682)
  • Final - 4-4-0 (.500) 
• Records broken down by Pac-12 program since 2000 (NCAA appearances in parentheses, including 2023)
  • California (13) - 13-12-2
  • Oregon State (8) - 4-6-1
  • San Diego State (3) - 0-2-1
  • Stanford (14) - 27-9-9
  • UCLA (21) - 31-17-3
  • Washington (16) - 16-14-3 
• Dating to 1960, Pac-12 programs have combined for a 147-114-23 record (.558) in NCAA postseason play, with 23 College Cup appearances (national semifinals), seven national championships and nine runner-up finishes all-time.

Pac-12 vs. the 2023 NCAA Tournament field

• As part of its .644 non-conference win percentage (25-12-8), Pac-12 programs went a collective 6-9-3 against teams in the 2023 NCAA Tournament field during non-league play.
  • California - 1-1-1 (draw at Wake Forest, 1-1; won at California Baptist, 2-1; lost vs. Portland, 0-2)
  • Oregon State - 0-4-0 (lost vs. FIU, 1-2; lost at Seattle U, 1-2; lost vs. LMU, 0-2; lost at Portland, 1-2)
  • San Diego State - 0-0-2 (draw at Denver, 1-1; draw vs. San Diego, 1-1)
  • Stanford - 2-0-0 (won vs. Georgetown, 5-1; won at UC Irvine, 2-1)
  • UCLA - 1-2-0 (lost at James Madison, 0-1; won at UC Irvine, 4-0; lost vs. LMU, 0-1)
  • Washington - 2-2-0 (lost vs. San Diego, 0-2; won at Indiana, 1-0; lost at Seattle U, 2-3; won vs. Portland, 3-1)

Week 12 Results

• The final week of Pac-12 Men's Soccer contests delivered competitive, thrilling and historic outcomes.
• UCLA capped only the fourth unbeaten league season in Pac-12 history with a 3-0 victory at San Diego State on Saturday.
  • This year's Bruins squad (6-0-4) joined UCLA teams from 2003 (10-0-0) and 2011 (10-0-0) and Stanford in 2017 (9-0-1) as the only ones to finish a Pac-12 season unbeaten.
• The Bruins actually clinched the outright Conference crown and NCAA auto-bid by virtue of Friday's 2-2 draw between Oregon State and Washington in a match with a pair of lead changes and all four goals scored in the first half.
• Sunday's regular-season finale was a fitting close to the Conference's men's soccer chapter as Mark Fisher's 89th minute bicycle-kick winner gave Stanford a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory over rival California.
• For the season, 23-of-30 league contests finished as either draws (12) or one-goal margins (11), continuing the two-season theme since the NCAA abandoned overtime prior to the 2022 season (45-of-59 - 21 draws, 24 one-goal margins).

Top Performers

• The Pac-12 announced its annual major awards and All-Conference teams on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
• Stanford's Mark Fisher claimed the final Pac-12 Player of the Week honor based on his match winning bicycle-kick golazo against Cal. Not to be outdone, Dylan Hooper's 45-yard equalizing wonderstrike was equally pivotal and scintillating for the Cardinal.
• UCLA scored inside of seven minutes for the second consecutive match with Tucker Lepley's early goal providing more than enough for the Bruins in their 3-0 rout of San Diego State. Ryan Becher and Sean Karani both tallied their fifth goals of the season in the second half, while Andre Ochoa finished with two assists.
• Fran Cortijo had a role in both Oregon State goals in the 2-2 draw with Washington, assisting Arnau Farnos' opener just 66 seconds into the contest before tallying an equalizer 13 seconds before halftime to halt the Huskies' momentum.

National Honors

NCAA.com National Team of the Week                     
Aug. 28 - Stanford     
Sept. 19 - Oregon State

United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week                     
Aug. 30 - Zach Bohane, Stanford                 
Sept. 20 - Logan Farrington, Oregon State

College Soccer News National Team of the Week                      
Aug. 28 - Zach Bohane, Stanford; Kevin Carmichael, California                    
Sept. 4 - Evan Davila, California; Sam Fowler, Washington                   
Sept. 11 - Austin Brummett, San Diego State                  
Sept. 18 - Logan Farrington, Oregon State (POTW)              
Oct. 2 - Nicklas Lund, Oregon State      
Oct. 23 - Pietro Grassi, UCLA 
Nov. 6 - Jose Contell, UCLA

Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week                     
Aug. 28 - Zach Bohane, Stanford (POTW)                    
Sept. 5 - Reid Sproat, San Diego State                  
Sept. 19 - Logan Farrington, Oregon State 
Nov. 7 - Jose Contell, UCLA

MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List                     
Aug. 24 - Christian Soto, Washington; Sam Fowler, Washington

Notes & Nuggets

• The Pac-12 has rated as NCAA Division I's top RPI conference according to Non-Conference RPI Ranking each of the past three seasons (2021-23).
• In 2022, the Pac-12 had three top-10 seeds (#2 Washington, #5 Stanford, #8 Oregon State) among its four teams in the NCAA Tournament, just the second time in league history with a trio of single-digit seeds (2013).
• In 2021, the Pac-12 had the nation’s top two teams in the RPI (#1 Washington, #2 Oregon State) and the top two seeds in the NCAA Tournament (#1 Oregon State, #2 Washington).
  • Was the second time in Conference history with the NCAA Tournament's top two overall national seeds along with 2013 (#1 UCLA, #2 California).
  • The Pac-12 and ACC (nine times since seeding began in 1994) are the only leagues to have the top two overall national seeds.
• The Pac-12 has advanced at least half its six teams to the postseason for eight consecutive years and 10 times in the past 11 seasons.
• Over the past 10 years, Pac-12 men's soccer has earned 34 out of a possible 60 NCAA Tournament bids across its six members, a 57 percent success rate bettered only by the 12-team ACC (68%, 81-120).
• The six-team Pac-12 has had a College Cup representative in six of the last nine seasons (UCLA 2014; Stanford 2015-17, 2019; Washington 2021). Only the 12-team ACC has had more total College Cup appearances (14) than the Pac-12's six over that span.
• Pac-12 programs have combined for 23 College Cup appearances (national semifinals) all-time, including 11 since the formal creation of the league in 2000.
• Pac-12 programs have combined for seven NCAA Men's Soccer national championships, and four since sport sponsorship began in 2000.
• The Pac-12 boasts two of the top five (#4 Jeremy Gunn, #5 Jamie Clark) winningest active coaches by percentage in NCAA Division I.
• Pac-12 student-athletes have won three of the last nine MAC Hermann Trophy awards – Oregon State’s Gloire Amanda (2020), Stanford’s Jordan Morris (2015) and UCLA’s Leo Stolz (2014) – and four in total (UCLA’s Brad Friedel, 1992).
• The Pac-12 has produced 22 First Team All-Americans in the past decade after amassing only 15 from 2000-2012.
• Since expanding beyond two rounds in 2014, 76 Pac-12 student-athletes have been selected in the MLS SuperDraft, including four years of double-digit selections (2014, 2015, 2019, 2022).