2020 Southern Conference men's soccer season

Last updated

2020 Southern Conference men's soccer season
Southern Conference logo.svg
League NCAA Division I
Sport Soccer
DurationFebruary 3 – April 17, 2021
Number of teams6
2021 MLS SuperDraft
Regular season
Season MVPOffensive:
Defensive:
Goalkeeper:
Tournament
Southern Conference men's soccer seasons
2021 →
2020 Southern Conference men's soccer standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Furman 5 –0 –17 –2 –1
UNCG ‡ 3 –1 –29 –3 –2
East Tennessee State 3 –1 –23 –5 –3
Belmont 3 –2 –17 –3 –2
Mercer 2 –3 –14 –9 –1
Wofford 1 –4 –11 –7 –1
VMI 0 –6 –02 –9 –0
As of May 3, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The 2020 Southern Conference men's soccer season is the 25th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season was originally slated to begin on August 28 and conclude on November 4, 2020, culminating with the 2020 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Tournament.

Contents

On August 13, 2020, the NCAA suspended all fall championships, which coincided with the Southern Conference suspending all fall sports through the end of the calendar year. On September 16, 2020 the NCAA voted on men's soccer resuming play for the 2020–21 academic year on February 3, 2021 as the earliest date to schedule fixtures and April 17, 2021 as the latest date to schedule fixtures.

Despite the delay, teams on an individual basis can schedule competitive fixtures during the Fall 2020 semester. Thus far, Mercer is the only SoCon team that has opted to play games in the fall.

Background

Previous season

The 2019 season saw Furman win the SoCon regular season championship, posting a 5–1–0 SoCon record and a 11–7–1 season record. [1] Mercer successfully three-peated in the SoCon Tournament, winning their third consecutive SoCon Tournament championship.

In the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Mercer lost in the opening round to Charlotte. [2]

Coaching changes

The 2019–20 offseason saw Charlie Hubbard depart VMI as a head coach. On March 5, 2020, Hubbard resigned to take an assistant coach position with James Madison University.[ citation needed ] Hubbard coached VMI for one season and finished with an overall record of 1–16–0. On March 23, 2020, VMI assistant coach, Max Watson, was promoted to head coach. [3]

SchoolOutgoing coachManner of
departure		Date of
vacancy		Position in tableIncoming coachDate of
appointment
VMI Flag of the United States.svg Charlie Hubbard Hired by James Madison (asst.)March 5, 2020Preseason Flag of the United States.svg Max Watson March 23, 2020

Head coaches

As of the 2019 season
TeamHead coachPrevious jobYears at
school		Overall recordRecord at
school		SoCon
record		NCAA
Tournaments [4] 		NCAA
College Cups [4] 		NCAA
Titles [4] 		Ref.
Belmont David Costa Xavier (asst.)25–12–2 (.316)5–12–2 (.316)1–4–1 (.250)000 [5]
East Tennessee State David Casper Kentucky (asst.)317–15–3 (.529)17–15–3 (.529)8–3–1 (.708)000 [6]
Furman Doug Allison South Carolina (asst.)25296–138–55 (.662)296–138–55 (.662)119–44–18 (.707)1000 [7]
Mercer Brad Ruzzo Bradley (asst.)13124–97–26 (.555)124–97–26 (.555)32–16–4 (.654)300 [8]
UNC Greensboro Chris Rich Duke (asst.)28–9–1 (.472)8–9–1 (.472)5–1–0 (.833)000 [9]
VMI Max Watson VMI (asst.)10–0–0 (–)0–0–0 (–)0–0–0 (–)000 [10]
Wofford Joel Tyson Charlotte Independence (asst.)24–13–1 (.250)4–13–1 (.250)2–3–1 (.417)000 [11]

Fall 2020 season

Fall matches

Mercer University played competitive matches during the fall.

Index to colors and formatting
SoCon member won
SoCon member lost
SoCon member tied
SoCon teams in bold

All times Eastern time.

DateTime (ET)Visiting teamHome teamSiteResultAttendance
September 187:00 p.m. Georgia State Mercer Betts Stadium  • Macon, GA L 1–2 161
September 227:00 p.m. Georgia Southern MercerBetts Stadium  • Macon, GAW 3–0 161
October 67:00 p.m.MercerGeorgia State GSU Soccer Field  • Atlanta, GA L 0–2 298
October 96:00 p.m. South Carolina MercerBetts Stadium  • Macon, GAL 0–1 116
October 147:00 p.m.MercerNo. 4 Kentucky Bell Soccer Complex  • Lexington, KY L 1–3 97

Rankings

United Soccer Coaches

During the fall 2020 season, United Soccer Coaches ran a Top 5 poll for the programs playing in fall.

  Improvement in ranking
 Drop in ranking
RVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 5
NVNo votes received
 Wk
1		Wk
2		Wk
3		Wk
4		Wk
5		Wk
6		Wk
7		Wk
8		Wk
9		Wk
10		Wk
11		Wk
12
MercerNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV

TopDrawerSoccer.com

During the fall 2020 season, United Soccer Coaches ran a Top 10 poll for the programs playing in fall.

  Improvement in ranking
 Drop in ranking
RVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 10
NVNo votes received
 Wk
1		Wk
2		Wk
3		Wk
4		Wk
5		Wk
6		Wk
7		Wk
8		Wk
9		Wk
10		Wk
11		Wk
12
MercerNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV

Awards and honors

DatePlayerPositionSchoolHonorRef.
September 22, 2020 Trevor Martineau FW Mercer TopDrawer Soccer Team of the Week [12]

Spring 2021 season

Preseason poll

The preseason poll will be released in December 2020 or January 2021.

Team RankingPointsFirst Place Votes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Preseason national polls

The preseason national polls were originally to be released in July and August 2020. Only CollegeSoccerNews.com released a preseason poll for 2020.

United
Soccer 		CSN Soccer
America 		Top Drawer
Soccer
Belmont————
ETSU————
Furman————
Mercer————
UNCG————
VMI————
Wofford————

Early season tournaments

Early season tournaments will be announced in late Spring and Summer 2019.

TeamTournamentFinish

Results

Index to colors and formatting
SoCon member won
SoCon member lost
SoCon member tied
SoCon teams in bold

All times Eastern time.† denotes Homecoming game

Rankings

National rankings

  Improvement in ranking
 Drop in ranking
RVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 25
NVNo votes received
 PreWk
1		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
Belmont USC None released
TDS
East Tennessee State USC None released
TDS
Furman USC None released
TDS
Mercer USC None released
TDS
UNC Greensboro USC None released
TDS
VMI USC None released
TDS
Wofford USC None released
TDS

Regional rankings - South Region

  Improvement in ranking
 Drop in ranking
RVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 10
NVNo votes received

The United Soccer Coaches' south region ranks teams among the ACC, Atlantic Sun, and SoCon.

 Wk
1		Wk
2		Wk
3		Wk
4		Wk
5		Wk
6		Wk
7		Wk
8		Wk
9		Wk
10		Wk
11		Wk
12
Belmont
East Tennessee State
Furman
Mercer
UNC Greensboro
VMI
Wofford

Players of the Week

WeekOffensiveDefensiveRef.
PlayerPositionTeamPlayerPositionTeam

Postseason

Awards and honors

2020 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Individual Awards
AwardRecipient(s)
Offensive Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Goalkeeper of the Year
Coach of the Year
Newcomer of the Year
2020 SoCon Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams
First TeamSecond TeamNewcomer Team

SoCon Tournament

Semifinals Championship
      
1  
4  
 
 
2  
3  

NCAA tournament

SeedRegionSchool1st round2nd round3rd roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsChampionship
TBD

2021 MLS Draft

The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was held on January 21, 2021. No players from the SoCon were selected in the draft. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "Furman earns No. 1 seed for SoCon Tournament". soconsports.com. November 2, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Charlotte men's soccer scores 3-1 win in NCAA first round". WBTV. November 22, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  3. ↑ "VMI promotes Watson to men's soccer coach". Roanoke News. March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association . ncaa.org. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  5. ↑ "David Coast - Belmont Soccer". belmontbruins.com. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ "David Casper | Men's Soccer Coaches". ETSUBucs.com. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Doug Allison - Head Coach - Men's Soccer Coaches". Furman University. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Brad Ruzzo - Men's Soccer Coach". Mercer University Athletics. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Chris Rich named UNCG men's soccer head coach". newsandfeatures.uncg.edu. July 30, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Max Watson - Head Men's Soccer Coach - Staff Director". vmikeydets.com. Virginia Military Institute Athletics. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Joel Tyson - Men's Soccer Coach". Wofford College Athletics. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Men's Team of the Week: September 22". Top Drawer Soccer . September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  13. ↑ "2021 SuperDraft Tracker". MLSSoccer.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
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