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…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at UCLA…