2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportSoccer
DurationAugust 25, 2017 – November 12, 2017
Number of teams8
2018 MLS SuperDraft
Top draft pickMichael Nelson, SMU
Picked byHouston Dynamo, 20th overall
Regular Season
Season championsSMU
  Runners-upUCF
Top scorerMatias Pyysalo, UCF (7 goals)
Tournament
ChampionsSMU
  Runners-upUCF
Finals MVPOffensive: Emil Cuello, SMU
Defensive: Jordan Cano, SMU
AAC men's soccer seasons
2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 SMU ‡ 5 – 1 – 1 17 – 3 – 1
UCF 4 – 2 – 1 8 – 6 – 2
Connecticut 4 – 3 – 0 8 – 8 – 2
Temple 4 – 3 – 0 9 – 8 – 1
South Florida 3 – 2 – 2 6 – 6 – 4
Tulsa 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 8 – 1
Memphis 2 – 3 – 2 4 – 8 – 4
Cincinnati 0 – 7 – 0 7 – 9 – 1
As of December 13, 2017
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The 2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season was the 5th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season began on August 25 and concluded on November 12, 2017.

Defending regular season champions, SMU, retained their title, and won the 2017 American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The Mustangs were the conference's sole berth in the NCAA Tournament,[1] where they reached the round of 16. There, they lost to North Carolina.[2][3]

Background[edit]

Head coaches[edit]

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Record at school American record NCAA
Tournaments[4] 		NCAA
College Cups[4] 		NCAA
Titles[4]
Cincinnati Hylton Dayes Wright State 18 229–229–62 (.500) 131–144–42 (.479) 7–27–4 (.237) 2 0 0
Connecticut Ray Reid Southern Connecticut 21 434–124–73 (.746) 288–107–58 (.700) 26–11–9 (.663) 16 2 1
Memphis Richard Mulrooney Memphis (asst.) 4 24–32–11 (.440) 24–32–11 (.440) 11–20–7 (.382) 0 0 0
SMU Kevin Hudson SMU (asst.) 3 38–14–6 (.707) 38–14–6 (.707) 14–5–3 (.705) 2 0 0
South Florida Bob Butehorn Florida Gulf Coast 1 135–100–31 (.566) 6–6–4 (.500) 3–3–2 (.500) 4 0 0
Temple Dave MacWilliams Philadelphia KiXX 18 140–161–34 (.469) 140–161–34 (.469) 12–19–7 (.408) 3 0 0
Tulsa Tom McIntosh Tulsa (asst.) 21 244–164–48 (.588) 244–164–48 (.588) 15–11–4 (.567) 10 0 0
UCF Scott Calabrese FIU 1 93–73–22 (.553) 8–6–2 (.563) 4–2–1 (.643) 3 0 0

Preseason[edit]

Recruiting[edit]

National Rankings
Team CSN[5] TDS[6]
Cincinnati NR NR
Connecticut NR 17
Memphis NR NR
SMU NR NR
South Florida NR 31
Temple NR NR
Tulsa NR NR
UCF NR NR

Preseason poll[edit]

Team ranking First place votes Raw points
1. Connecticut 4 45
2. Tulsa 1 43
3. South Florida 2 34
4. UCF 0 29
5. SMU 1 27
6. Temple 0 20
7. Cincinnati 0 18
8. Memphis 0 8

Preseason All-AAC Teams[edit]

Honor Recipient
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Finland Matias Pyysalo, UCF
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Denmark Patrick Nielsen, Cincinnati
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year United States Michael Nelson, SMU
Preseason All-AAC Team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK United States USA Michael Nelson (SMU)
— DF Denmark DEN Patrick Nielsen (Cincinnati)
— DF United States USA Jacob Hauser-Ramsey (Connecticut)
— DF United States USA Dylan Greenberg (Connecticut)
— DF United States USA Jordan Cano (SMU)
— DF United States USA Zack Stavrou (Tulsa)
— MF United States USA Jackson Morse (Memphis)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF United States USA Ricardo Gomez (South Florida)
— MF Spain ESP Mauro Cichero (SMU)
— MF Finland FIN Matias Pyysalo (UCF)
— FW Senegal SEN Abdou Mbacke Thiam (Connecticut)
— FW United States USA Garrett McLaughlin (SMU)
— FW Finland FIN Joonas Jokinen (Temple)
— FW United States USA Juan Sánchez (Tulsa)

Regular season[edit]

Rankings[edit]

Main article: List of NCAA Division I men's soccer teams ranked in the 2017 Top 25 coaches poll
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
UCS United Soccer Coaches poll
TDS Top Drawer Soccer poll
  Pre Wk
2		 Wk
3		 Wk
4		 Wk
5		 Wk
6		 Wk
7		 Wk
8		 Wk
9		 Wk
10		 Wk
11		 Wk
12		 Wk
13		 Wk
14		 Wk
15		 Wk
16		 Final
Cincinnati UCS
TDS
Connecticut UCS 24 RV RV
TDS RV 25
Memphis UCS
TDS
SMU UCS RV RV RV 19 RV 25 17 14 12 13 11 10 10 10 10 8
TDS 24 14 10 7 7 6 6 6 10 10
South Florida UCS
TDS
Temple UCS
TDS
Tulsa UCS 20
TDS
UCF UCS
TDS

Sources: TopDrawer Soccer,[7] United Soccer Coaches[8]

Postseason[edit]

AAC Tournament[edit]

Main article: 2017 American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament
Semifinals Finals
      
1 SMU 4
4 Temple 0
1 SMU 2
2 UCF 1
2 UCF 1
3 Connecticut 0

NCAA Tournament[edit]

Main article: 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship
— Chapel Hill SMU W, 2–0 vs. Central Arkansas – (Dallas) W, 2–1 2OT vs. No. 14 Georgetown – (Washington, D.C.) L, 0–2 vs. No. 3 North Carolina – (Cary)

Records against other conferences[edit]

Conference Record[9]
Atlantic 10 1–2–0
ACC 0–5–1
Atlantic Sun 5–1–1
Big East 3–4–2
Big South Conference 1–0–0
Big Ten 1–1–1
Big West 1–0–0
CAA 3–1–1
Conference USA 2–4–0
Horizon 4–2–1
Ivy 3–1–0
MAAC 1–3–0
Mid-American 1–2–1
Missouri Valley 2–1–0
Pac-12 1–1–0
Patriot 1–0–0
Southland 1–0–0
Summit 3–0–0
West Coast 3–0–0
WAC 0–0–1
Total 37–27–10

Awards[edit]

Regular season awards[edit]

Players of the Week[edit]

Week Offensive Defensive Goalkeeper Rookie Ref.
Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Team Player Position Team
August 28 Mauro Cichero MF SMU Malik Suleman MF Cincinnati Noah Lawrence Cincinnati Darryn Commissiong MF Cincinnati
September 4 Garrett McLaughlin FW SMU Nkosi Burgess DF Connecticut Scott Levene Connecticut Adrian Billhardt FW South Florida
September 11 Rollie Rocha MF Tulsa Jonathan Dean DF UCF Marcel Da Silva Tulsa Luke Biasi MF Memphis
September 18 Sean Clarke MF Cincinnati Jordan Cano DF SMU Pearce Skinner Cincinnati Sean Clarke MF Cincinnati
September 25 Abdou Mbacke Thiam FW Connecticut Gustavo Vargas DF Tulsa Scott Levene Connecticut Chris Mikus MF Memphis
October 2 Alan Camacho Soto FW Temple Jared Rice DF SMU Scott Levene Connecticut Alan Camacho Soto FW Temple
October 9 Ricardo Gomez MF South Florida Jake Hauser-Ramsey DF Connecticut Scott Levene Connecticut Jackson Brady DF Memphis
October 16 Matias Pyysalo MF UCF Jake Hauser-Ramsey DF Connecticut Michael Nelson SMU Josh Burnett MF Connecticut
October 23 Cal Jennings FW UCF Jordan Cano DF SMU Michael Nelson SMU Alan Camacho Soto FW Temple
October 30 Matias Pyysalo MF UCF Andreas Steinegar DF UCF Christian Knight South Florida Brantley Bice FW Memphis
November 2 Garrett McLaughlin FW SMU Jordan Cano DF SMU Michael Nelson SMU Chase Bromstedt MF Tulsa

Postseason awards[edit]

All-AAC awards and teams[edit]

2017 AAC Men's Soccer Individual Awards[9]
Award Recipient(s)
Offensive Player of the Year Matias Pyysalo, UCF
Defensive Player of the Year Jordan Cano, SMU
Goalkeeper of the Year Michael Nelson, SMU
Rookie of the Year Adrian Billhardt, South Florida
Coach of the Year Kevin Hudson, SMU
Academic Excellent Team Memphis
Team Fair Play Award UCF
2017 AAC Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams[9]
First Team Second Team Rookie Team

Cal Jennings, F, So., UCF
Matias Pyysalo, M/F, Sr., UCF
Yoni Sorokin, M, Fr., UCF
Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, B, Jr., UConn
Abdou Mbacke Thiam, F, Jr., UConn
Adrian Billhardt, F, Fr., USF
Ricardo Gomez, M, Sr., USF
Jordan Cano, B, Sr., SMU
Mauro Cichero, M, Sr., SMU
Garrett McLaughlin, F, So., SMU
Michael Nelson, GK, R-Sr., SMU
Divin Fula Luzolo, B, Sr., Temple

Hattabiou Barry, M, Fr., UCF
Louis Perez, M, Fr., UCF
Andreas Steineger, B, Jr., UCF
David Sanz, M, So., Cincinnati
Dylan Greenberg, B, R-Sr., UConn
Scott Levene, GK, R-Sr., UConn
Ben Roberts, B, So., Memphis
David Zalzman, M, Jr., Memphis
Jared Rice, B/M, Sr., SMU
Alan Camacho Soto, F, Fr., Temple
Thibault Candia, F, So., Temple
Rollie Rocha, M, Sr., Tulsa

Hattabiou Barry, M, UCF
Louis Perez, M, UCF
Yoni Sorokin, M, UCF
Josh Burnett, M, UConn
Blaise N’Gague, M, UConn
Adrian Billhardt, F, USF
Josue Monge, M, USF
Talen Maples, B, SMU
Alan Camacho Soto, F, Temple
Darri Sigthorsson, B, Temple
Joe Ruiz, M, Tulsa

All-Americans[edit]

College Soccer News[edit]

Three players in the conference were named All-Americans by CollegeSoccerNews.com.[10]

United Soccer Coaches[edit]
Further information: List of NCAA Division I men's soccer First-Team All-America teams

Three players in the conference were named All-Americans by United Soccer Coaches.[11]

  • Mauro Cichero, SMU — 1st Team All-American
  • Jordan Cano, SMU — 3rd Team All-American
  • Garrett McLaughlin, SMU — 3rd Team All-American

MLS SuperDraft[edit]

Main article: 2018 MLS SuperDraft

Two players from the conference were selected in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft. This included Michael Nelson and Mauro Cichero, both of SMU.[12]

Total picks by school[edit]

Team Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Total
Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0
Connecticut 0 0 0 0 0
Memphis 0 0 0 0 0
SMU 1 1 0 0 2
South Florida 0 0 0 0 0
Temple 0 0 0 0 0
Tulsa 0 0 0 0 0
UCF 0 0 0 0 0

List of selections[edit]

Round Pick # MLS team Player Position College Other Ref.
1 20 Houston Dynamo United States Michael Nelson GK SMU [13]
2 29 FC Dallas Venezuela Mauro Cichero FW SMU [14]

Homegrown contracts[edit]

Main article: Homegrown Player Rule (Major League Soccer)
Original MLS team Player Position College Notes Ref.
FC Dallas Jordan Cano Defender SMU 2017 AAC Defender of the Year [15]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Grosbard, Adam (November 22, 2017). "What to look for in SMU men's soccer's NCAA tournament matchup with North Carolina". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  2. ^ "North Carolina Tar Heels vs. SMU Mustangs - Match Summary". ESPN FC. ESPN, Inc. November 25, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  3. ^ Hilburn-Trenkle, Chris (November 26, 2017). "UNC men's soccer advances to Elite Eight with win over SMU, 2-0". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  5. ^ "2017 Team Recruiting Classes". College Soccer News. March 3, 2017. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  6. ^ Clark, Travis (July 10, 2017). "2017 Boys Recruiting Rankings: July update". Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  7. ^ "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. June 12, 2017.
  8. ^ "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. June 12, 2017. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  9. ^ a b c "American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Report - Final Release" (PDF). theamerican.org. American Athletic Conference. December 18, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  10. ^ "College Soccer News 2017 All-America Teams". collegesoccernews.com. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  11. ^ "NCAA DI Men's All-America Teams Announced by United Soccer Coaches". unitedsoccercoaches.com. United Soccer Coaches. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  12. ^ "2018 MLS SuperDraft Tracker". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. January 19, 2018. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  13. ^ Roepken, Corey (January 19, 2018). "Dynamo draft pick Michael Nelson gets shot with hometown team". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  14. ^ Epperley, Drew (January 19, 2018). "MLS Draft 2018: FC Dallas selects two in second round". Big D Soccer. SB Nation. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  15. ^ "FC Dallas signs SMU's Jordan Cano". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2017_American_Athletic_Conference_men%27s_soccer_season&oldid=1192108137"