2020 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season

Last updated

2020 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season
American Athletic Conference logo.svg
League NCAA Division I
Sport Soccer
DurationFebruary – April 2021
Number of teams8
2021 MLS SuperDraft
Top draft pick Nicky Hernandez, 15th overall
Picked by FC Dallas
Regular Season
Tournament
Champions UCF
  Runners-up Tulsa
Finals MVPOff: Lucca Dourado (UCF)
Def: Yannik Oettl (UCF)
AAC men's soccer seasons
2020 American Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 13 UCF7 3 09 4 1
Tulsa 6 3 16 4 2
Temple 5 4 15 4 2
SMU 5 5 05 5 1
South Florida 4 6 04 6 0
Memphis 2 8 02 8 0
As of May 28, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The 2020 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season was the 8th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season began in February 2021 and concluded in April 2021.

Contents

The season was originally scheduled to run from August 28, 2020, to November 6, 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UCF are the defending regular season champions and SMU are the defending tournament champions.

Background

Previous season

The 2018 regular season was won by UCF, who finished conference play with a 5–1–1 record, and won on tiebreakers against SMU. SMU won the 2018 American Tournament, defeating UCF 5–4 in penalty kicks following a 1–1 draw in regulation and overtime. SMU earned the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, while UCF and Connecticut received at-large berths into the tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, SMU lost in the first round to Oregon State. [1] [2] Connecticut beat rivals, Rhode Island, [3] in the first round, before losing to Indiana in the second round. [4] UCF was one of the 16 seeded teams (seeded 14th), [5] allowing them to earn a bye into the second round. There, they lost in overtime to Lipscomb. [6]

Following the season, Cal Jennings won the Offensive MVP award for the conference. Jacob Hauser-Ramsey of Connecticut won the Defensive MVP. Fellow UCF players, Louis Perez, Yannik Oettl, and Scott Calabrese won the AAC Midfielder, Goalkeeper, and Coach of the Year awards, respectively. [7] Perez and Jennings were also named All-Americans by United Soccer Coaches. [8]

Emil Cuello was the first AAC player to be drafted in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, when he was selected by the LA Galaxy with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the draft. [9]

Program changes

Two AAC programs, UConn and Cincinnati, departed prior to the 2020 season. UConn left for the Big East Conference, and Cincinnati disbanded their men's soccer program due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Head coaches

As of 2018 season
TeamHead coachPrevious jobYears at schoolOverall recordRecord at schoolAmerican recordNCAA
Tournaments [10]
NCAA
College Cups [10]
NCAA
Titles [10]
Memphis Richard Mulrooney Memphis (asst.)632–39–15 (.459)32–39–15 (.459)13–24–8 (.378)000
SMU Kevin Hudson SMU (asst.)548–19–9 (.691)48–19–9 (.691)19–6–4 (.724)300
South Florida Bob Butehorn Florida Gulf Coast 3142–108–33 (.560)13–14–6 (.485)7–4–4 (.600)400
Temple Brian Rowland Maryland (asst.)25–10–4 (.368)5–10–4 (.368)2–4–1 (.357)000
Tulsa Tom McIntosh Tulsa (asst.)23250–173–50 (.581)250–173–50 (.581)17–16–4 (.514)1000
UCF Scott Calabrese FIU 3106–76–25 (.572)21–9–5 (.671)9–3–2 (.714)400

Preseason

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on January 25, 2021. SMU was picked to the win the conference. [11]

Team RankingFirst Place VotesRaw Points
1.SMU525
2.UCF121
3.South Florida017
4.Memphis010
Temple010
6.Tulsa07

Preseason national rankings

The preseason national rankings are normally announced in August. United Soccer Coaches, Soccer America , and TopDrawerSoccer.com delayed their Top-25 preseason poll to the start of the spring season. CollegeSoccerNews.com did a Top-30 preseason poll in September 2020. [12] TopDrawer Soccer, Soccer America, and United Soccer Coaches released their rankings in February 2021.

United
Soccer
CSN [12] Soccer
America
TopDrawer
Soccer
[13]
Memphis
SMU58
South Florida
Temple
Tulsa
UCF810

Preseason All-Conference teams

HonorRecipient
Preseason Offensive Player of the YearGabriel Costa, SMU
Preseason Defensive Player of the YearPierre Cayet, Temple
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year Yannik Oettl, UCF
Preseason All-AAC Team
2020 AAC Men's Soccer Preseason All-AAC Teams
First Team
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Unanimous selection

MLS SuperDraft

Total picks by school

TeamRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Total
Memphis00000
SMU10001
South Florida00000
Temple10001
Tulsa00000
UCF11002

List of selections

RoundPick #MLS teamPlayerPositionCollegeRef.
18 Houston Dynamo Garrett McLaughlin FW SMU [14]
117 FC Dallas Cal Jennings FW UCF [15]
120 Real Salt Lake Dayonn Harris MF UConn [16]
121 D.C. United Simon Lefebvre GK Temple [17]
239 Orlando City Jonathan Dean DF UCF [18]

Homegrown contracts

The Homegrown Player Rule is a Major League Soccer program that allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first team rosters. Before the creation of the rule in 2008, [19] every player entering Major League Soccer had to be assigned through one of the existing MLS player allocation processes, such as the MLS SuperDraft.

To place a player on its homegrown player list, making him eligible to sign as a homegrown player, players must have resided in that club's home territory and participated in the club's youth development system for at least one year. [20] Players can play college soccer and still be eligible to sign a homegrown contract.

Original MLS teamPlayerPositionCollegeRef.
FC Dallas Eddie Munjoma DF SMU [21]

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References

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