2021 WAC men's soccer tournament

The 2021 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Western Athletic Conference held from November 10 to November 14, 2021. The five-match tournament took place at GCU Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona on the campus of Grand Canyon University. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular-season divisional conference play. The defending champions were the Air Force Falcons.[1] Air Force was unable to defend their crown, falling 2–2 in a penalty shoot-out against San Jose State in the First Round. Seattle went on to win the title over Grand Canyon in a penalty shoot-out.[2] This was Seattle's fifth WAC Tournament victory in program history all of which have come under head coach Pete Fewing.[3] As tournament champions, Seattle earned the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

2021 WAC men's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams6
Matches5
Attendance905
SiteGCU Stadium
Phoenix, Arizona
ChampionsSeattle (5th title)
Winning coachPete Fewing (5th title)
MVPNoe Meza (Seattle)
BroadcastESPN+
WAC men's soccer tournament
«2020  2022»
2021 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Grand Canyon + 9 2 0 15 4 1
Seattle 8 3 0 13 8 1
Air Force 8 3 0 10 8 1
San Jose State 7 2 2 10 7 3
California Baptist # 6 3 2 11 4 3
Utah Valley 6 4 0 9 6 2
Texas–Rio Grande Valley 5 5 0 8 9 0
Incarnate Word 4 6 1 5 10 2
Dixie State # 3 7 1 4 13 1
UNLV 3 8 0 7 11 0
Houston Baptist 2 9 0 4 14 0
Chicago State 0 9 2 2 13 3
As of December 14, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: WAC

Seeding

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Six of the twelve Western Athletic Conference men's soccer programs qualified for the 2021 Tournament. California Baptist and Dixie State were not eligible for the tournament as they transition to Division I. California Baptist would have been the 5th seed if they were eligible. Teams were seeded based on their regular season records. Tiebreakers were used to determine the seedings of teams who finished with identical conference records. A tiebreaker was required to determine the 2nd and 3rd seed as Seattle and Air Force finished with identical 8–3–0 records. Seattle earned the second seed by virtue of a 2–1 victory over Seattle on October 16.[4]

Seed School Conference Record Points
1 Grand Canyon 9–2–0 27
2 Seattle 8–3–0 24
3 Air Force 8–3–0 24
4 San Jose State 7–2–2 23
5 Utah Valley 6–4–0 24
6 Texas–Rio Grande Valley 5–5–0 15

Bracket

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Source:[5]

First round
Wednesday, Nov. 10
Semifinals
Friday, Nov. 12
Final
Sunday, Nov. 14
1 Grand Canyon 4
4 San Jose State 4 4 San Jose State 1
5 Utah Valley 3 1 Grand Canyon 2 (3)
2 Seattle (pen.) 2 (4)
2 Seattle 4
3 Air Force 1 3 Air Force 3
6 Texas–Rio Grande Valley 0

Schedule

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First round

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November 10, 2021 #4 San Jose State 4–3 #5 Utah Valley Phoenix, AZ
4:30 p.m.
  • Max Allen   21' (pen.)
  • Ryota Nakashima   29'
  • Rudi Casto   41',   49'
  • Willy Miranda   55',   60'
Report
  •   4' James Pena
  •   13' Aaron Nixon
  •   23' Jojea Kwizera
  •   81' Mark Brown
  •   90' Min Kang
Stadium: GCU Stadium
Referee: Arturo Ibarra
Assistant referees: Robi Hullner
Assistant referees: Edwin Jimenez
Fourth official: Anthony Bersano
November 10, 2021 #3 Air Force 1–0 #6 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Phoenix, AZ
7:30 p.m.
  • Ayman Bushara   71'
  • Jake Chaffetz   86',   90'
Report Stadium: GCU Stadium
Attendance: 195
Referee: Jeff Artholtz
Assistant referees: Paul Nothman
Assistant referees: Corey Rockwell
Fourth official: Charles Farr

Semifinals

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November 12, 2021 #1 Grand Canyon 4–1 #4 San Jose State Phoenix, AZ
4:30 p.m.
  • Shaun-Chris Joash   56'
  • Rey Gaytan   75'
  • Cameron Weller   83'
  • Justin Rasmussen   88'
Report
  •   77' Rudi Castro
  •   77' Kameron Bolden
Stadium: GCU Stadium
Referee: Jeff Arthurholtz
Assistant referees: Jason Ulrich
Assistant referees: Mark Novosel
Fourth official: Richard Gramolini
November 12, 2021 #2 Seattle 4–3 #3 Air Force Phoenix, AZ
7:30 p.m.
Report
  •   57', 59' Thaddaeus Dewing
  •   63' Tristan Trager
  •   88' Tyler Johnson
Stadium: GCU Stadium
Attendance: 710
Referee: Arturo Ibarra
Assistant referees: Mario Coss
Assistant referees: Keaton Jarvis
Fourth official: Sam McConnell

Final

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November 14, 2021 #1 Grand Canyon 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(3–4 p)
#2 Seattle Phoenix, AZ
  • Marios Andreou   35'
  • Hugo Logan   37'
  • Miguel Prado   63'
  • Georg Bjarnason   71'
  • Alejandro Fernandez Alcaide   73'
  • Esai Easley   73'
  • Shaun-Chris Joash   86',   110'
Report
  •   57' Alex Acton-Petronotis
  •   83' Hal Uderitz
  •   83' Habib Barry
  •   87' Sam Tessler
  •   89' Noe Meza
  •   110' Christian Koontz
Stadium: GCU Stadium
Referee: Travis Haight
Assistant referees: Corey Rockwell
Assistant referees: Edwin Jimenez
Fourth official: Mike Ambrose
Penalties
  • Justin Rasmussen  
  • Tosh Yasuda  
  • Esai Easley  
  • Maximilian Moeller  
  • Shaun-Chris Joash  
  •   James Morris
  •   Hal Uderitz
  •   Declan McGlynn
  •   Alex Acton-Petronotis

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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There were 24 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 4.8 goals per match.

2 goals

  • Thaddaeus Dewing – Air Force
  • Shaun-Chris Joash – Grand Canyon
  • Rudi Castro – San Jose State
  • Noe Meza – Seattle

1 goal

  • Jake Chaffetz – Air Force
  • Tristan Trager – Air Force
  • Rey Gaytan – Grand Canyon
  • Hugo Logan – Grand Canyon
  • Justin Rasmussen – Grand Canyon
  • Cameron Weller – Grand Canyon
  • Max Allen – San Jose State
  • Willy Miranda – San Jose State
  • Ryota Nakashima – San Jose State
  • Levonte Johnson – Seattle
  • James Morris – Seattle
  • Sam Tessler – Seattle
  • Hal Uderitz – Seattle
  • Jojea Kwizera – Utah Valley
  • Aaron Nixon – Utah Valley
  • James Pena – Utah Valley

All-Tournament team

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Source:[6]

Player Team
Noe Meza Seattle
Hal Udertiz
James Morris
Levonte Johnson
Esai Easley Grand Canyon
Rey Gaytan
Shaun-Chris Joash
Thaddeus Dewing Air Force
Kainoa Likewise
Rudi Casto San Jose State
Jojea Kwizera Utah Valley

MVP in bold

References

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  1. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2020-21 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  2. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  3. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2021 Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  4. ^ "Bracket Set for 2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. November 7, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  5. ^ "2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament Bracket" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  6. ^ "2021 WAC All-Tournament team Men's Soccer" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 5, 2022.