2022 Mid-American Conference men's soccer championship game

The 2022 Mid-American Conference men's soccer championship game determined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) soccer champion for the 2022 season.[1] The game, held on November 12, 2022, also determined the MAC's automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament. Western Michigan defeated the host Akron 2–1 to secure the automatic bid.[2]

2022 MAC men's soccer championship
Report
DateNovember 12, 2022
1 pm EST
VenueFirstEnergy Stadium–Cub Cadet Field, Akron, OH
Man of the MatchCharlie Sharp (Western Michigan)
RefereeDimitrios Kastimingos
Attendance942
2021

This would be the last-ever match for MAC men's soccer, at least for the foreseeable future. Conference realignment, most notably the decision of the Sun Belt Conference to start a men's soccer league in 2022, caused the MAC to lose three of the seven teams that had played in the conference in the 2021 season,[3] with six teams required to maintain its automatic NCAA tournament bid. The MAC had a two-year window to add a sixth team to maintain its automatic bid in the long term, and brought in Chicago State as its fifth team for the 2022 season.[4] However, the conference was unable to add the needed sixth member, leading it to end sponsorship of men's soccer at the end of the 2022 season.[5]

Qualification edit

Akron and Western Michigan secured their spots in the Championship game by virtue of 18 pts in conference play and 17 pts in conference play respectively.

Match edit

The match was hosted by the Akron Zips as the top overall seed.[1][6]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "22_23_Champ_Schedule (PDF) - Mid-American Conference" (PDF). getsomemaction.com. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  2. ^ "Western Michigan Claims 2022 MAC Men's Soccer Title" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  4. ^ "Chicago State Men's Soccer Joins Mid-American Conference as an Affiliate Member" (Press release). Chicago State Cougars. May 27, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  5. ^ "MAC to Suspend Sponsoring Men's Soccer Following 2022 Season" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  6. ^ "2022 MAC Men's Soccer Championship - Mid-American Conference". getsomemaction.com. Retrieved October 23, 2022.