2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season

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2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
Number of teams 208
Statistics
Longest winning run 12 games
Washington (August 26–October 22)
Longest unbeaten run 12 games
Washington (12–0–0) (August 26–October 22)
Longest winless run 23 games
Harvard (0–22–1) (October 2, 2018–September 5, 2021)
Longest losing run 13 games
Canisius (October 12, 2019–October 2, 2021)
Highest attendance 4,200
UConn 3–0 Bryant (August 27)
Tournament
Duration November 17 to December 12, 2021
Most conference bids ACC – 8 bids
College Cup
Date December 10–12, 2021
Site WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, NC.
Champions Clemson
Runners-up Washington
Seasons
← 2020
2022 →

The 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 63rd season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. After the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 season partially returned to normal. However, despite the development of several vaccines, the pandemic was still ongoing, which might have led to various local or regional disruptions. Also, many conferences did not fully return to their pre-COVID state, with several having changed postseason tournament formats.

The season began on August 27, 2021, and concluded on November 14. The season culminates with the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, which was held from November 17 to December 12, with the four-team College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.[1]

Changes from 2020

Coaching changes

Program Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment
Utah Valley Greg Maas Resigned[2] March 28, 2021 Kyle Beckerman April 12, 2021[3]
Gonzaga Paul Meehan Not retained[4] April 12, 2021 Aaron Lewis April 12, 2021[4]
Northwestern Tim Lenahan Retired[5] April 10, 2021 Russell Payne May 7, 2021[6]
Grand Canyon Schellas Hyndman Retired[7] May 10, 2021 Leonard Griffin May 7, 2021 [8]
Central Arkansas Ross Duncan Resigned–Family reasons[9] May 22, 2021 Frank Kohlenstein May 26, 2021[9]
Army Russell Payne Hired by Northwestern [6] May 7, 2021 Brian Plotkin May 27, 2021 [10]
San Francisco Leonard Griffin Hired by Grand Canyon [8] May 7, 2021 Chris Brown May 25, 2021 [11]
La Salle Rob Irvine Hired by United States Soccer[12] July 16, 2021 Taylor Thames August 9, 2021[13]
South Carolina Mark Berson Retired[14] April 17, 2021 Tony Annan April 22, 2021[15]
Bucknell Brendan Nash Resigned[16] August 16, 2021 Matt Brown August 16, 2021[16]
East Tennessee State David Casper Fired[17] October 11, 2021 David Lilly December 3, 2021[18]

New programs

On November 27, 2017, it was announced that, in 2020, the Tritons of the University of California, San Diego, located in the San Diego district of La Jolla, would begin the transition from Division II to Division I as a member of the Big West Conference.[19] This move was delayed by the Big west cancelling its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 15, 2020, after months of consideration, the NCAA granted the highly unusual request of the University of St. Thomas to move directly from Division III to Division I. The school had already accepted an invitation to join the Summit League, and the Tommies entered Division I and Summit League competition in 2021.[20]

Discontinued programs

While no schools dropped men's soccer prior to the 2021 fall season, one conference discontinued its men's soccer league. The Sun Belt Conference had six men's soccer members in 2019–20, but lost all of them by the end of the 2020–21 school year. First, Appalachian State dropped men's soccer in May 2020, citing financial impacts from COVID-19.[21] That July saw Howard announce that it would become an associate member of the Northeast Conference in six sports, with men's soccer being one of four sports moving in July 2021.[22] In January 2021 the ASUN Conference announced three schools as incoming full members, including Sun Belt men's soccer associate Central Arkansas.[23] The following month saw Coastal Carolina announce that it would become a single-sport member of Conference USA, joining another in-state associate member in South Carolina.[24] This left Georgia Southern and Georgia State as the only remaining Sun Belt men's soccer programs, and those two schools announced they would move that sport to the Mid-American Conference in late May 2021.[25]

Conference realignment

School Previous Conference New Conference
Central Arkansas[26] Sun Belt Conference ASUN Conference
Chicago State[27] Independent Western Athletic Conference (WAC)
Coastal Carolina[24] Sun Belt Conference Conference USA
Georgia Southern Sun Belt Conference Mid-American Conference (MAC)
Georgia State Sun Belt Conference Mid-American Conference (MAC)
Howard[22] Sun Belt Conference Northeast Conference (NEC)
St. Thomas[20] Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) (NCAA Division III) Summit League
SIUE[28] Mid-American Conference (MAC) Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)
UC San Diego[19] California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) (NCAA Division II) Big West Conference

Other changes

On May 7, 2021, the Mid-American Conference announced that conference tournaments in nine sports, including men's soccer, would be reinstated effective in 2021–22. These tournaments had been suspended in 2020–21 due to COVID-19 concerns.[29]

Conference USA announced on June 14 that current MAC men's soccer associate West Virginia would join C-USA men's soccer in 2022–23.[30]

On September 28, the Missouri Valley Conference announced that Belmont, a men's soccer member of the Southern Conference and full member of the Ohio Valley Conference (which sponsors soccer only for women), would become a full MVC member in 2022–23.[31]

The American Athletic Conference, which had been rocked by the announcement that three of its most prominent members (Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF, with only UCF sponsoring men's soccer), reloaded on October 21 by announcing the arrival of six new members from C-USA, with three sponsoring men's soccer—Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, and UAB. These new members are expected to join in 2023.[32]

C-USA would see further attrition by the end of the month, with the Sun Belt Conference announcing the arrival of three new members no later than 2023—reigning national champion Marshall, another men's soccer school in Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, which sponsors the sport only for women. During a Sun Belt press conference on November 1 at which Marshall was formally introduced, conference commissioner Keith Gill announced that the Sun Belt would reinstate the sport once all new members joined. At the time, it was expected that another men's soccer school, James Madison, would join from the Colonial Athletic Association; James Madison was confirmed as an incoming Sun Belt member on November 6.[33] These arrivals gave the Sun Belt enough men's soccer teams for an automatic NCAA tournament bid. Media reports also indicated that the Sun Belt could be a men's soccer home for several programs that would be left behind should C-USA fold, either as a men's soccer conference or entirely.[34] While C-USA would eventually announce the arrival of four new members effective in 2023, securing its future as an all-sports conference for the time being, only one of the new members, current ASUN Conference member Liberty, sponsors men's soccer.[35]

Realignment would reach deeper into the ranks of Division I men's soccer in the following months. Loyola Chicago announced on November 16 that it would leave the MVC for the Atlantic 10 Conference effective in July 2022.[36] On consecutive days in late January 2022, three men's soccer-sponsoring schools announced moves to other leagues. First, on January 25, the CAA announced the entry of three new members, two of which sponsor men's soccer, effective that July. The new men's soccer-sponsoring members are Monmouth, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and Stony Brook, a member of the America East Conference which had played football in the CAA since 2013.[37] The next day saw the MVC announce that UIC would join from the Horizon League, also in July 2022.[38]

Season outlook

Preseason polls

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Further information: 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings
United Soccer Coaches [39]
Rank Team
1 Marshall
2 Indiana
3 Pittsburgh
4 North Carolina
5 Georgetown
6 Clemson
7 Wake Forest
8 Stanford
9 Washington
10 Seton Hall
11 Penn State
12 Missouri State
13 UCF
14 Kentucky
15 Virginia Tech
16 Oregon State
17 Loyola Marymount
18 Charlotte
19 Marquette
20 New Hampshire
21 James Madison
22 Grand Canyon
23 Fordham
24 High Point
25 Coastal Carolina
Top Drawer Soccer
Rank Team
1 Marshall
2 Indiana
3 Pittsburgh
4 North Carolina
5 Georgetown
6 Wake Forest
7 Stanford
8 Clemson
9 Washington
10 Penn State
11 Missouri State
12 Marquette
13 Seton Hall
14 UCF
15 James Madison
16 Loyola Marymount
17 Kentucky
18 Charlotte
19 Virginia Tech
20 New Hampshire
21 High Point
22 SMU
23 Saint Mary's
24 Fordham
25 Oregon State

Regular season

Standings

Template:2021 ACC men's soccer standings Template:2021 America East Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 American Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
Template:2021 ASUN Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Big East Conference men's soccer standings
Template:2021 Big South Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Big Ten Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Big West Conference men's soccer standings
Template:2021 Colonial Athletic Association men's soccer standings Template:2021 Conference USA men's soccer standings Template:2021 Horizon League men's soccer standings
Template:2021 Ivy League men's soccer standings Template:2021 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Mid-American Conference men's soccer standings
Template:2021 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Northeast Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Patriot League men's soccer standings
Template:2021 Pac-12 Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Southern Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Summit League men's soccer standings
Template:2021 West Coast Conference men's soccer standings Template:2021 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer standings

Postseason

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference Regular
Season
Champion(s)		 Tournament
Winner		 Conference
Tournament		 Tournament
Dates		 Tournament
Venue (City)
ACC Atlantic – Clemson[lower-alpha 1] & Louisville
Coastal – Duke & Pittsburgh[lower-alpha 2]		 Notre Dame 2021 Tournament November 3–14 All matches before final: Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
Final: Sahlen's Stadium • Cary, North Carolina
America East New Hampshire Vermont 2021 Tournament November 6–13 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
American Tulsa Tulsa 2021 Tournament November 10–13 Hosted by regular-season champion
ASUN Central Arkansas & Lipscomb[lower-alpha 2] Lipscomb 2021 Tournament[lower-alpha 3] November 8–16 Quarterfinals and semifinals: Campus sites, hosted by top two seeds
Final: Hosted by top remaining seed
Atlantic 10 Saint Louis Saint Louis 2021 Tournament November 6–14 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
Semifinals and final: Hosted by top remaining seed
Big East Georgetown Georgetown 2021 Tournament November 6–14 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
Semifinals and final: Hosted by top remaining seed
Big South Campbell Campbell 2021 Tournament November 7–14 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
Big Ten Penn State Penn State 2021 Tournament November 7–14 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
Big West UC Irvine & UC Santa Barbara[lower-alpha 2] UC Santa Barbara 2021 Tournament November 3–13 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
CAA Hofstra Hofstra 2021 Tournament November 11–14 Hofstra Soccer Stadium • Hempstead, New York
C-USA FIU Kentucky 2021 Tournament November 10–14 Transamerica Field • Charlotte, North Carolina
Horizon Oakland Oakland 2021 Tournament November 7–13 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by Nos. 3 and 4 seeds
Semifinals and final: Hosted by regular-season champion
Ivy Princeton No Tournament
MAAC Marist Marist 2021 Tournament November 7–14 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
MAC Northern Illinois Northern Illinois 2021 Tournament November 10–13 Hosted by regular-season champion
Missouri Valley Missouri State Missouri State 2021 Tournament November 9–14 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
Semifinals and final: Hosted by regular-season champion
Northeast LIU[lower-alpha 2] & St. Francis Brooklyn LIU 2021 Tournament November 12–14 Hosted by regular-season champion
Pac-12 Oregon State No Tournament
Patriot Loyola Maryland Loyola (MD) 2021 Tournament November 6–13 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
SoCon UNC Greensboro Mercer 2021 Tournament November 1–13/14 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed
The Summit Denver[lower-alpha 2] & Oral Roberts Denver 2021 Tournament November 11–13 John MacKenzie Alumni Field • Macomb, Illinois
WCC Santa Clara No Tournament
WAC Grand Canyon Seattle 2021 Tournament November 10–14 GCU Stadium • Phoenix, Arizona
  1. ↑ Earned higher seed within division in conference tournament.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Top seed in conference tournament.
  3. ↑ Not to be confused with the 2020–21 ASUN tournament, which the conference branded as the "2021 Spring" edition.
  • * = Ineligible, in transition from Division II

Major upsets

In this list, a "major upset" is defined as a game won by an unranked team that defeats a ranked team, or a team ranked 10 spots lower than the other team.

All rankings are from the United Soccer Coaches Poll.

Date Winner Score Loser
August 26 VCU 2–0 No. 7 Wake Forest
August 26 SMU 3–1 No. 8 Stanford
August 26 FIU 4–0 No. 13 UCF
August 26 Maryland 1–0 No. 18 Charlotte
August 26 Providence 3–0 No. 23 Fordham
August 26 Davidson 3–1 No. 24 High Point
August 29 No. 15 Virginia Tech 3–2 No. 1 Marshall
August 30 West Virginia 2–1 No. 3 Pittsburgh
September 3 West Virginia 3–1 No. 17 Penn State
September 3 Creighton 3–0 No. 1 Indiana
September 3 Tulsa 3–0 No. 8 Missouri State
September 4 FIU 1–0 No. 12 VCU
September 6 No. 19 Akron 2–1 No. 3 Pittsburgh
September 6 Seattle 1–0 No. 24 Duke
September 6 Grand Canyon 1–0 No. 22 Oregon State
September 6 Tulsa 1–0 No. 13 Marquette
September 10 Louisville 3–0 No. 25 Wake Forest
September 10 No. 15 Pittsburgh 4–0 No. 4 North Carolina
September 10 Northern Illinois 3–0 No. 18 Marquette
September 11 No. 19 Duke 1–0 No. 6 Virginia Tech
September 13 Wisconsin 1–0 No. 18 Marquette
September 15 Ohio State 1–0 No. 7 Akron
September 16 UCLA 2–0 No. 23 Stanford
September 17 Wake Forest 3–1 No. 5 Pittsburgh
September 17 Rutgers 2–1 No. 11 Indiana
September 17 Bowling Green 2–0 No. 13 FIU
September 18 Providence 3–2 No. 19 Seton Hall
September 21 UNC Greensboro 3–1 No. 2 Clemson
September 21 Butler 3–1 No. 18 Lipscomb
September 24 Wisconsin 2–0 No. 21 Rutgers
September 25 No. 15 Pittsburgh 2–0 No. 2 Clemson
September 25 Stetson 3–2 No. 18 Lipscomb
September 29 Ohio State 2–1 No. 17 Bowling Green
September 30 Oregon State 4–3 No. 23 UCLA
October 2 Pacific 1–0 No. 9 Loyola Marymount
October 3 Wisconsin 1–0 No. 8 Maryland
October 3 Oregon State 2–0 No. 13 San Diego State
October 5 Penn State 2–0 No. 22 Rutgers
October 9 No. 13 Pittsburgh 3–2 No. 3 Duke
October 9 NIU 2–0 No. 4 West Virginia
October 9 Memphis 3–2 No. 10 SMU
October 9 Notre Dame 2–0 No. 21 Clemson
October 10 UCF 3–2 No. 6 Tulsa
October 10 Michigan State 2–1 No. 22 Rutgers
October 13 No. 22 Providence 3–0 No. 1 Georgetown
October 14 UCLA 2–1 No. 14 Loyola Marymount
October 15 No. 23 Clemson 3–2 No. 9 Duke
October 16 Wake Forest 3–1 No. 5 Virginia Tech
October 16 Notre Dame 1–0 No. 7 Pittsburgh
October 16 UNC Wilmington 1–0 No. 15 James Madison
October 16 Belmont 2–1 No. 16 UNC Greensboro
October 16 Yale 1–0 No. 19 Cornell
October 16 Butler 2–1 No. 20 Providence
October 16 UCF 2–1 No. 24 SMU
October 16 San Jose State 2–1 No. 25 Grand Canyon
October 19 North Carolina 2–0 No. 15 Loyola Marymount
October 21 California 2–1 No. 22 UCLA
October 22 Akron 5–1 No. 14 Bowling Green
October 23 Syracuse 2–0 No. 6 Clemson
October 23 Portland 1–0 No. 15 Loyola Marymount
October 24 North Carolina 2–0 No. 13 Virginia Tech
October 26 Penn State 3–2 No. 7 Maryland
October 29 North Carolina 3–1 No. 11 Notre Dame
October 30 Marquette 1–0 No. 1 Georgetown
October 30 Charlotte 2–1 No. 5 Kentucky
October 30 Princeton 2–1 No. 20 Cornell

Early season tournaments

Several universities hosted early season soccer tournaments.

Name Date(s) Stadium City No. teams Champion
Carolina Nike Classic August 26–29 Dorrance Field Chapel Hill, North Carolina 4 VCU
Emerald City Classic August 26–29 Husky Soccer Stadium Seattle, Washington 4 Washington
Fairfield Inn by Marriott JMU Invitational August 26–29 Sentara Park Harrisonburg, Virginia 4 Virginia Tech
HBU Tournament August 26–29 Sorrels Field Houston, Texas 4 Florida Atlantic
John Rennie Invitational August 27–29 Koskinen Stadium Durham, North Carolina 4 Duke
Wolstein Classic August 27–29 Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Columbus, Ohio 4 Dayton
Portland Tournament August 27–30 Merlo Field Portland, Oregon 4
Dayton Classic September 2–6 Baujan Field Dayton, Ohio 3
Soccer for the Cure September 3–5 BBVA Field Birmingham, Alabama 4
adidas/IU Credit Union Classic September 3–6 Bill Armstrong Stadium Bloomington, Indiana 4
George Tarantini Classic September 3–6 Dail Soccer Field Raleigh, North Carolina 4 Seton Hall

Award winners

All-America teams

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Further information: List of NCAA Division I men's soccer First-Team All-America teams
2021 United Soccer Coaches All-America Teams[40]
First Team Second Team Third Team

Jan Hoffelner, GK, Kentucky
Kyle Hiebert, DF, Missouri State
Ryan Sailor, DF, Washington
Adam Savill, DF, New Hampshire
Benjamin Bender, MF, Maryland
Yannick Bright, MF, New Hampshire
Sofiane Djeffal, MF, Oregon State
Sean Zawadski, MF, Georgetown
Simon Becher, FW, Saint Louis
Dylan Teves, FW, Washington
Thorleifur Úlfarsson, FW, Duke

Roman Celentano, GK, Indiana
Oskar Ågren, DF, Clemson
Kipp Keller, DF, Saint Louis
Jasper Löeffelsend, DF, Pittsburgh
Pedro Delabella, MF, Marshall
Hendrik Hebbeker, MF, Hofstra
Dante Polvara, MF, Georgetown
Kian Yari, MF, Missouri State
Theo Collomb, FW, UNC Greensboro
Diego Gutierrez, FW, Creighton
Kyle Holcomb, FW, Wake Forest
Jack Lynn, FW, Notre Dame

Luka Gavran, GK, St. John's
Mariano Fazio, DF, Tulsa
Daniel Munie, DF, Indiana
Will Sands, DF, Georgetown
Djarne Thiesen, DF, West Virginia
Vitor Dias, MF, Marshall
Tyrone Mondi, MF, Oregon State
Peter Stroud, MF, Duke
Josh Dolling, FW, Missouri State
Kevin O'Toole, FW, Princeton
Diogo Pacheco, FW, Akron
Tola Showunmi, FW, New Hampshire

Major player of the year awards

Other major awards

See also

References

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  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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