2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season

2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season
League NCAA Division I
Sport Soccer
Duration August 25, 2017 – November 12, 2017
Number of teams 8
2018 MLS SuperDraft
Top draft pick Michael Nelson, SMU
Picked by Houston Dynamo, 20th overall
Regular Season
Season champions SMU
Runners-up UCF
Top scorer Matias Pyysalo, UCF (7 goals)
Tournament
Champions SMU
  Runners-up UCF
Finals MVP Offensive: Emil Cuello, SMU
Defensive: Jordan Cano, SMU
2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
#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

Head coaches

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 DayesWright State18229–229–62 (.500)131–144–42 (.479)7–27–4 (.237)200
Connecticut Ray ReidSouthern Connecticut21434–124–73 (.746)288–107–58 (.700)26–11–9 (.663)1621
Memphis Richard MulrooneyMemphis (asst.)424–32–11 (.440)24–32–11 (.440)11–20–7 (.382)000
SMU Kevin HudsonSMU (asst.)338–14–6 (.707)38–14–6 (.707)14–5–3 (.705)200
South Florida Bob ButehornFlorida Gulf Coast1135–100–31 (.566)6–6–4 (.500)3–3–2 (.500)400
Temple Dave MacWilliamsPhiladelphia KiXX18140–161–34 (.469)140–161–34 (.469)12–19–7 (.408)300
Tulsa Tom McIntoshTulsa (asst.)21244–164–48 (.588)244–164–48 (.588)15–11–4 (.567)1000
UCF Scott CalabreseFIU193–73–22 (.553)8–6–2 (.563)4–2–1 (.643)300

Preseason

Recruiting

National Rankings
Team CSN[5] TDS[6]
CincinnatiNRNR
ConnecticutNR17
MemphisNRNR
SMUNRNR
South FloridaNR31
TempleNRNR
TulsaNRNR
UCFNRNR

Preseason poll

Team RankingFirst Place VotesRaw Points
1. Connecticut 445
2. Tulsa143
3. South Florida234
4. UCF029
5. SMU127
6. Temple020
7. Cincinnati018
8. Memphis08

Preseason All-AAC Teams

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

Regular season

Rankings

Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
UCS United Soccer Coaches poll
TDS TopDrawer Soccer poll
 PreWk
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

AAC Tournament

Semifinals Finals
      
1 SMU 4
4 Temple 0
1 SMU 2
2 UCF 1
2 UCF 1
3 Connecticut 0

NCAA Tournament

Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship
N/A 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

Conference Record[9]
Atlantic 101–2–0
ACC0–5–1
Atlantic Sun5–1–1
Big East3–4–2
Big South Conference1–0–0
Big Ten1–1–1
Big West1–0–0
CAA3–1–1
Conference USA2–4–0
Horizon4–2–1
Ivy3–1–0
MAAC1–3–0
Mid-American1–2–1
Missouri Valley2–1–0
Pac-121–1–0
Patriot1–0–0
Southland1–0–0
Summit3–0–0
West Coast3–0–0
WAC0–0–1
Total 37–27–10

Awards

Regular season awards

Players of the Week

Week Offensive Defensive Goalkeeper Rookie Ref.
Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Team Player Position Team
August 28Mauro CicheroMFSMUMalik SulemanMFCincinnatiNoah LawrenceCincinnatiDarryn CommissiongMFCincinnati
September 4Garrett McLaughlinFWSMUNkosi BurgessDFConnecticutScott LeveneConnecticutAdrian BillhardtFWSouth Florida
September 11Rollie RochaMFTulsaJonathan DeanDFUCFMarcel Da SilvaTulsaLuke BiasiMFMemphis
September 18Sean ClarkeMFCincinnatiJordan CanoDFSMUPearce SkinnerCincinnatiSean ClarkeMFCincinnati
September 25Abdou Mbacke ThiamFWConnecticutGustavo VargasDFTulsaScott LeveneConnecticutChris MikusMFMemphis
October 2Alan Camacho SotoFWTempleJared RiceDFSMUScott LeveneConnecticutAlan Camacho SotoFWTemple
October 9Ricardo GomezMFSouth FloridaJake Hauser-RamseyDFConnecticutScott LeveneConnecticutJackson BradyDFMemphis
October 16Matias PyysaloMFUCFJake Hauser-RamseyDFConnecticutMichael NelsonSMUJosh BurnettMFConnecticut
October 23Cal JenningsFWUCFJordan CanoDFSMUMichael NelsonSMUAlan Camacho SotoFWTemple
October 30Matias PyysaloMFUCFAndreas SteinegarDFUCFChristian KnightSouth FloridaBrantley BiceFWMemphis
November 2Garrett McLaughlinFWSMUJordan CanoDFSMUMichael NelsonSMUChase BromstedtMFTulsa

Postseason awards

All-AAC awards and teams

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

College Soccer News

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

  • Mauro Cichero, SMU — 1st Team All-American
  • Michael Nelson, SMU — 1st Team All-American
  • Jordan Cano, SMU — 3rd Team All-American
United Soccer Coaches

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

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

Team Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Total
Cincinnati00000
Connecticut00000
Memphis00000
SMU11002
South Florida00000
Temple00000
Tulsa00000
UCF00000

List of selections

RoundPick #MLS teamPlayerPositionCollegeOtherRef.
120Houston DynamoUnited States Michael NelsonGKSMU[13]
229FC DallasSpain Mauro CicheroFWSMU[14]

Homegrown contracts

Original MLS team Player Position College Notes Ref.
FC Dallas Jordan Cano Defender SMU 2017 AAC Defender of the Year [15]

See also

References

  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. 1 2 3 "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. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  6. ↑ Clark, Travis (July 10, 2017). "2017 Boys Recruiting Rankings: July update". Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 12, 2017. (Subscription required (help)).
  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.
  9. 1 2 3 "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. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  12. ↑ "2018 MLS SuperDraft Tracker". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. 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.
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