No. 7 Duke Hosts UCLA in NCAA Second Round

DURHAM – The seventh-seeded Duke men's soccer program is back in the NCAA Championship for the first time in three years, opening its run at the event with a second-round battle against unseeded UCLA (11-6-1, 5-4-1 Pac-12) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium.

The Blue Devils (13-4-1, 5-2-1 ACC) are set to compete in the program's 28th NCAA Championship appearance. The match will be broadcast on ACCNX.

Last Time Out

The Blue Devils competed in the ACC Championship final for the first time since 2006, but fell to fifth-seeded Notre Dame, 2-0, on Nov. 14.
Sophomores Thorleifur Ulfarsson and Peter Stroud and freshman Shakur Mohammed were named to the ACC's All-Tournament Team for their efforts.
Senior goalkeeper Eliot Hamill made five saves in the loss, keeping the Blue Devils in the contest the whole game.

Tale of the Tape

UCLA is back in the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2018 and hold a record of 11-6-1 and 5-4-1 in the Pac-12.
The Bruins advanced to the second round following a come-from-behind, 2-1, double overtime victory over UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 18.
The Bruins scored the equalizer against the Gauchos on a Jose Contell goal in the 86th minute and won it on a winner by Kevin Diaz in the 103rd minute.
UCLA features a balanced scoring attack, with four players at 16 points. Contell, Diaz, Tucker Lepley and Tommy Silva each have 16 points to lead a young team with 15 of its 27 players either a sophomore or freshman.
Head Coach Ryan Jorden is in his third season at UCLA and will face the team he lost to in his last NCAA Championship appearance, as the Blue Devils beat Jorden while he was the head coach at Pacific in 2018.

Opponent History

Duke and UCLA are set to meet for the eighth time, with the Bruins holding a slight edge of 4-3-0 in the all-time series.
The Blue Devils won the last meeting between the two programs in 2016, winning a 1-0 decision on Sept. 2, 2016, in Los Angeles, Calif.
The Bruins are back in Koskinen Stadium for the first time since 2006, which was also the lone NCAA Championship meeting between the two schools. UCLA earned a 3-2 overtime decision in the 2006 NCAA quarterfinal.

What to Watch For

The Blue Devils are 9-7 all-time in NCAA second round matches, winning the last matchup over Pacific in 2018.
The program is 31-25-2 all-time in the NCAA Championship, with three finals appearances and the 1986 NCAA title.
Duke is 6-5-1 in the NCAA Championship under head coach John Kerr.
Ulfarsson continues to lead the nation outright in goals per game (1.00) and ranks second in points per game (2.07).
In addition to goals per game and points per game, Ulfarsson is the ACC's leader in game winning goals (5), total goals (14), total points (29) and shots on goal per game (1.79). The Kopavogur, Iceland, native ranks fourth in the country in goals.
Ulfarsson's next goal would tie him with his head coach, John Kerr (1986), Ali Curtis (2000) and Jay Heaps (1995) for eighth on the single season goals list with 15. He needs three more to tie a school record.
Hamill ranks near the top of several major statistical categories in the ACC, leading the league in save percentage (0.786) and ranking second in saves per game (4.12) and total saves (66).
With six shutouts this season, Hamill is one away from entering in a tie for eighth in the single season shutout rankings.
Hamill also needs seven more saves to tie Justin Trowbridge (2004) for 10th on Duke's all-time single season save list with 73.
Following Mohammed's goal at Furman, the Blue Devils now have two players with 10 or more points. Sophomores Nick Pariano and Stroud (9) and freshman Felix Barajas (8) are closing in on giving the Blue Devils three 10-point scorers for the first time since 2016.
The Blue Devils rank 18th in the nation in goal differential, outscoring opponents 38-18 over 18 games.
The Blue Devils have gotten plenty of production from the freshman class, with 31 of the team's 112 points (27.7%) coming from them. Mohammed leads the way with 12 points, while Barajas has eight, Ruben Mesalles seven and Jai Bean four. Mesalles and Mohammed were recently named to the ACC's All-Freshman Team for their efforts.
Senior Ian Murphy enters the game as the only Blue Devil with NCAA Championship experience, having started both Blue Devils games in 2018 against Pacific and Maryland as a freshman.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMSOC".

#GoDuke

No. 7 Duke Hosts UCLA in NCAA Second Round

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Felix Barajas

Jai Bean

Eliot Hamill

Ruben Mesalles

Shakur Mohammed

Ian Murphy

Nick Pariano

Peter Stroud

Thorleifur Ulfarsson

Duke information

No. 7 Duke Hosts UCLA in NCAA Second Round

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Felix Barajas

Jai Bean

Eliot Hamill

Ruben Mesalles

Shakur Mohammed

Ian Murphy

Nick Pariano

Peter Stroud

Thorleifur Ulfarsson

Related Videos

Duke information