American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament
The American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament is the conference championship tournament in soccer for the American Athletic Conference (the American). The tournament has been held every year since the split from the Big East Conference in 2013. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The winner, declared conference champion, receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's soccer championship.
| American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference soccer championship | |
 | |
| Sport | College soccer |
| Conference | American Athletic Conference |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Current stadium | Rotates; semifinals and final hosted by regular-season champion |
| Played | 2013–present |
| Last contest | 2023 |
| Current champion | Charlotte (1st title) |
| Most championships | Tulsa (5 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | ESPN+ |
| Official website | theamerican.org/msoc |
Format edit
Since the creation of the AAC in 2013, the tournament was structured as follows. The teams are seeded based on the order of finish in the conference's round robin regular season. Tiebreakers begin with the result of the head-to-head matchup. The teams are then placed in a single-elimination bracket, with the top seed playing the lowest seed, until meeting in a final championship game. After two overtime period, ties are broken by shootout rounds, with the winner of the shootout advancing.
Opening round games are held at campus sites with the higher seed hosting, while the semifinals and final are held at a predetermined campus location, specifically the home field of The American's regular-season champion.
For the 2016 and 2017 seasons the tournament was reduced to just the top 4 teams in the conference. Since 2018 the tournament was expanded to the top 6 teams.
Champions edit
By year edit
| Year | Champion | Site | MOP (Offense) | MOP (Defense) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | South Florida | Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX | Edwin Moalosi, South Florida | Brentton Muhammad, South Florida |
| 2014 | Tulsa | Morrone Stadium • Storrs, CT | Abe Matamoros, Tulsa | Jake McGuire, Tulsa |
| 2015 | Tulsa | Corbett Soccer Stadium • Tampa, FL | Lesley Nchanji, Tulsa | Bradley Bourgeois, Tulsa |
| 2016 | Tulsa | Corbett Soccer Stadium • Tampa, FL | Juan Sánchez, Tulsa | Jake McGuire, Tulsa |
| 2017 | SMU | Westcott Field • Dallas, TX | Emil Cuello, SMU | Jordan Cano, SMU |
| 2018 | SMU | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium • Orlando, FL | Emil Cuello, SMU | Grant Makela, SMU |
| 2019 | SMU | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium • Orlando, FL | Eddie Munjoma, SMU | Grant Makela, SMU |
| 2020 | UCF | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium • Orlando, FL | Lucca Dourado, UCF | Yannik Oettl, UCF |
| 2021 | Tulsa | Hurricane Soccer & Track Stadium • Tulsa, OK | Gino Vivi, UCF | Til Zinnhardt, Tulsa |
| 2022 | FIU | FIU Soccer Stadium • Westchester, FL | Stephen Afrifa, FIU | David Carcia, FIU |
| 2023 | Charlotte | Westcott Field • Dallas, TX | Jelldirk Dallmann, SMU | Ian Pilcher, Charlotte |
By school edit
This table of championship statistics is updated after each event.[1]
| School | Appearances | W | L | T | Pct. | No. of Titles | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cincinnati | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | |
| FIU | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 1 | 2022 |
| Florida Atlantic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0 | |
| Louisville | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | |
| Memphis | 8 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | 0 | |
| Rutgers | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 0 | |
| SMU | 10 | 8 | 5 | 3 | .594 | 3 | 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| South Florida | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | .588 | 1 | 2013 |
| Temple | 7 | 1 | 6 | 1 | .188 | 0 | |
| Tulsa | 6 | 5 | 2 | 6 | .615 | 4 | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021 |
| UCF | 9 | 6 | 6 | 3 | .500 | 1 | 2020 |
| UConn | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | .577 | 0 |
- Teams in italics no longer sponsor men's soccer in The American.
- Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, and UAB played their first American Conference seasons in 2022.
References edit
- ^ "2020 American Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). theamerican.org. American Athletic Conference. 20 Apr 2020. Retrieved 7 Jul 2020.
