Great Players To Watch on the College Scene
UCLA has a great history of developing elite collegiate soccer players who make it into the MLS and become professional soccer players. Now the PAC-12 awards area out… take a look at who is honored.
College Soccer News: UCLA sophomore midfielder Jose Hernandez has been named Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year, announced the league office on Tuesday. A total of eight UCLA men’s soccer players received All-Pac-12 postseason awards, including two on the first team, three on the second team and three being named honorable mention.
Hernandez, a native of Mexico City, Mexico and last season’s Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, is the first UCLA player since Leo Stolz in 2013 to earn Conference Player of the Year honors, sharing the award with Stanford’s Foster Langsdorf.
Joining Hernandez on the All-Pac-12 first team is sophomore midfielder Jackson Yueill. Juniors Seyi Adekoya and Brian Iloski, along with senior Felix Vobejda received All-Pac-12 second team selections, while senior defender Michael Amick, junior striker Abu Danladi and sophomore defender Erik Holt received honorable mention All-Pac-12 acclaim.
UCLA led the conference with eight total selections, followed by Stanford and San Diego State with seven. Washington totaled five selections, while Cal claimed four honorees and Oregon State added two.
Hernandez earns his second-straight All-Pac-12 first team nod. He is second on the team in points (14), goals (4) and assists (6). During conference play, he ranks second in the Pac-12 in assists (4) and tied for third in points (8). Hernandez collected a pair of game-winning goals during conference play, the second most in the Pac-12. Overall in the Pac-12, he ranks top-10 in points, goals, assists and game-winning goals.
Hernandez scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win at No. 25 San Diego State on Oct. 8, marking just the fifth goal given up by the Aztecs.
He also tallied a pair of assists in a 4-3 win at Oregon State in the team’s final road contest. Hernandez is ranked No. 27 on Top Drawer Soccer’s midseason list and was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.
Yueill, a native Bloomington, Minn., collects his second All-Pac 12 first team selection after recording a conference-best nine assists in 2016. He is eighth in the NCAA in total assists and ninth in assists per game at 0.50. Yueill tied the school record for most assists in a game when he recorded four against No. 1 Akron in a 6-1 victory on Sept. 5 and was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week. He is third on the team in points with 13 and scored the game-winning goal in overtime at No. 13 UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 17. Yueill is ranked No. 7 in the Top Drawer Soccer midseason list.
Adekoya, a striker from Seattle, Wash., is tied for third in the Pac-12 with three assists and tied for 10th with five points during conference play. Overall, he has totaled nine points this season with three goals and three assists. Adekoya recorded a goal and an assist in the 4-3 win at California on Oct. 13. He also tallied the game-winning goal against Coastal Carolina. This marks his third all-conference award as he was a first-team selection in 2015 and a second-team honoree in 2014. Adekoya is No. 45 on the Top Drawer Soccer midseason list.
Iloski, a midfielder from Escondido, Calif., leads the Bruins in points (16), tied for first in goals (5) and tied for second in assists (6). Overall in the Pac-12, he ranks top-five in points, goals, game-winning goals and assists. During Pac-12 play, Iloski is ranked sixth in points (7), tied for third assists (3) and tied for seventh in goals (2). He scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win against Cal St. Fullerton on Aug. 29 and also the game-winning goal against No. 1 Akron on Sept. 5. He also totaled three points with a goal and an assist at home against No. 12 Stanford. This is Iloski’s first All-Pac-12 selection but was a honorable mention Pac-12 academic honoree in 2014.
Vobejda, a midfielder from Bielefeld, Germany, is tied for the team lead with five goals and is ranked fifth in the Pac-12 in goals and seventh in goals per game. During conference play, he is tied for second in goals (4) and goals per game (0.40) and third in points (8). Vobejda has scored four goals in the final six matches of the season including three against Pac-12 opponents. He is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection.
Amick, a native of Sunnyvale, Calif., played and started in all 11 matches for UCLA for being sidelined with an injury. He helped lead the Bruins to a 7-3-1 record to begin the season and led a backline that recorded four shutouts. Amick recorded an assist in a 4-0 victory against CSUN.
He is a three-time team captain and two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. This is his third career All-Pac 12 award and was a nominee for the Senior CLASS Award.
Danladi, a native of Takoradi, Ghana, played in only nine matches this season due to injury but is tied for the team lead with five goals. Despite his limited time on the field, he is ranked third in the conference in points per game (1.22), third in goals per game (0.56) and tied for fifth in goals (5). Danladi made an immediate impact on the season when he his season debut against No. 1 Akron and scored two goals in just 11 seconds. Only two other players in NCAA history have scored two consecutive goals in a shorter time span. This marks his third all-conference honor as he was named first team in 2015 and honorable mention in 2014.
Holt, a native of San Diego, Calif., is one of only three UCLA players to start in every match this season and is the team-leader in minutes with over 1,600. Holt has been a part of the backline that has totaled five shutouts this season, including three during Pac-12 play. This marks his first all-conference selection.
Images from Twitter UCLA
Source of information: Press Release from UCLA
