SAN FRANCISCO – Pablo Pelaez was named to the preseason All-Pac-12 Team, the league office announced Tuesday afternoon. He was one of 12 players selected by the league's six head coaches.
The Preseason Coaches Poll was also released with the Aztecs being picked to finish fifth in the highly-competitive Pac-12. Stanford, who has won the last three national championships and is the nation's preseason No. 1 team, was selected at to finish first, followed by Washington, UCLA and California. Oregon State and San Diego State tied for fifth place.
Pelaez, a redshirt junior from San Diego, was limited to 11 matches last season, but made an immediate impact in his freshman year. Following the 2016 season, Pelaez was named to the NSCAA All-Far West Region First Team and to the College Soccer News All-Freshman Second Team.
The Aztecs, coming off a 6-13-0 season, will have a new look this year with 14 newcomers on the roster, including numerous transfers who expect to make an immediate impact.
SDSU heads to Point Loma Nazarene for a friendly this Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and then begin their regular season the following weekend in the Bay Area with matches at Santa Clara (Aug. 24) and San Francisco (Aug. 26).
2018 Preseason Men's Soccer All-Pac-12 Team
Name - School - Year
Anderson Asiedu^ - UCLA - Sr -
Amir Bashti - Stanford - Sr.
Tanner Beason* - Stanford - RS-Jr.
Blake Bodily* - Washington - So
Drake Callender* - California - Jr.
Kyle Coffee^ - Washington - RS-Sr.
Jared Gilbey - Stanford - Jr.
Erik Holt* - UCLA - Sr.
Shinya Kadono^ - California - Sr.
Quentin Pearson^ - Washington - Sr.
Pablo Pelaez - San Diego State - RS-Jr.
Don Tchilao^ - Oregon State - Jr. .
(*2017 All-Pac-12 First Team, ^ 2017 All-Pac-12 Second Team)
Pac-12 Men's Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll
1. Stanford (5) 25
2. Washington 19
3. UCLA (1) 18
4. California 14
5. San Diego St. 7
5. Oregon State 7
Pablo Pelaez Named to Preseason All-Pac-12 Team
