The 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 53rd year of organized men's college soccer in the United States.
The season was divided into three parts; the regular season, which started with early season tournaments against intraconference opponents, before the second half of the regular season that featured interconference matches. The regular season was held from late August to early November 2011. In mid-November, the conference tournaments were held, and from mid-November to mid-December, the NCAA Tournament was held.
The national champion was the North Carolina Tar Heels whom won the title against the Charlotte 49ers. It was North Carolina's third national championship, and Charlotte's first ever appearance in an NCAA final of any sport.
Season headlines
Throughout the course of the regular season, six different men's college soccer programs topped the rankings. The Connecticut Huskies were ranked first for four consecutive weeks, being the longest streak to do so in the season. At the end of the regular season, the New Mexico Lobos were the only college team in the nation to remain undefeated, winning 16 matches and only drawing twice.
Changes from 2010 Coaching changes
The following is a list of head coaching changes prior to the start of Division I men's soccer season.
CollegeOutgoing coachManner of departureIncoming coachFormer positionAlbanyJohan AarnioFiredTrevor GormanWright State assistant coachButlerKelly FindleyHired as N.C. State head coachPaul SnapeMichigan associate coachCanisiusJim HeschFiredDermont McGraneNiagara head coachCreightonJamie ClarkHired as Washington head coachElmar BolowichNorth Carolina head coachHartfordDan GasparFiredTBANC StateGeorge TarantiniFiredKelly FindleyButler head coachNiagaraDermot McGraneHired as Canisius head coachChase BrooksDayton assistant coachNJITPedro LopesFiredCesar MarkovicStony Brook head coachNorth CarolinaElmar BolowichHired as Creighton head coachCarlos SomoanoInterim coachNorth FloridaRay BunchFiredDerek MarinatosFurman associate coachRiderRuss FagerFiredCharlie InversoRutgers assistant coachSt. Peter'sGuy AbrahamsonFiredJulian RichensRider assistant coachStony BrookCesar MarkovicHired has NJIT head coachRyan AnatolSouth Florida assistant coachWashingtonDean WurzbergerFiredJamie ClarkCreighton head coach
Rule changes
Season overview Pre-season polls
Several American soccer outlets posted their own preseason top 25 rankings of what were believed to be the strongest men's collegiate soccer teams entering 2011. NSCAARankingTeam1 Louisville2 Akron3 North Carolina4 Maryland5 SMU6 UCLA7 California8 Connecticut9 Michigan10 Creighton11 Brown12 Notre Dame13 William & Mary14 UC Santa Barbara15 Ohio State16 South Carolina17 Indiana18 Penn State19 Michigan State20 Dartmouth21 Butler22 Virginia23 Duke24 UC Irvine25 Boston College Soccer AmericaRankingTeam1 Louisville2 UCLA3 North Carolina4 Akron5 Connecticut6 Creighton7 SMU8 Maryland9 Notre Dame10 UC Santa Barbara11 Virginia12 Duke13 Wake Forest14 Brown15 Ohio State16 South Florida17 West Virginia18 Indiana19 UCF20 California21 Monmouth22 FGCU23 Boston College24 Loyola Marymount25 Old Dominion Fox Soccer/SBIRankingTeam1 Louisville2 UCLA3 Akron4 North Carolina5 Maryland6 SMU7 Creighton8 Connecticut9 Duke10 UC Santa Barbara11 Virginia12 Notre Dame13 Ohio State14 Wake Forest15 West Virginia16 Indiana17 South Florida18 Penn State19 Boston College20 Furman21 California22 Monmouth23 William & Mary24 Michigan25 FGCU
Regular season Early season tournaments
Name Dates Num. teams Champions ShinDigz Soccer Festival Aug. 18–20 Cal State Northridge Labor Day Classic Sept. 1–3 Hokie Invitational Sept. 2–4 Ocean State Classic Sept. 2–4 VCU Invitational Sept. 2–4 Brown Soccer Classic Sept. 8–12 Hurricane Classic Sept. 8–12 Stihl Soccer Classic Sept. 8–12 Akron Soccer Tournament Sept. 16–18
Conference standings Key
Conference regular season and tournament winners Thirty athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The Ivy League does not have a conference tournament, instead giving their automatic invitation to their regular-season champion.
ConferenceRegular Season WinnerConference TournamentTournament Venue (City)Tournament WinnerAmerica East Boston University 2011 America East Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Nickerson Field(Boston, Massachusetts) Stony BrookAtlantic Coast North Carolina 2011 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament WakeMed Soccer Park(Cary, North Carolina) North CarolinaAtlantic Ten Charlotte 2011 Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Hermann Stadium(St. Louis, Missouri) XavierAtlantic Soccer Florida Atlantic No tournamentAtlantic Sun FGCU 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Summers-Taylor Stadium(Johnson City, Tennessee) FGCUBig East Blue: MarquetteRed: USF 2011 Big East Men's Soccer Tournament Red Bull Arena(Harrison, New Jersey) St. John'sBig South Coastal Carolina 2011 Big South Men's Soccer Tournament Greene-Harbison Field(Boiling Springs, North Carolina) LibertyBig Ten Northwestern 2011 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament U-M Soccer Stadium(Ann Arbor, Michigan) NorthwesternBig West UC Irvine 2011 Big West Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Anteater Stadium(Irvine, California) UC IrvineColonial James Madison 2011 CAA Men's Soccer Tournament JMU Lacrosse/Soccer Complex(Harrisonburg, Virginia) DelawareConference USA UAB 2011 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament Hurricane Soccer & Track Stadium(Tulsa, Oklahoma) SMUHorizon Valparaiso 2011 Horizon League Men's Soccer Tournament Eastgate Field(Valparaiso, Indiana) LoyolaIvy Brown No tournamentMetro Atlantic Fairfield 2011 MAAC Men's Soccer Tournament Hess Field(Lake Buena Vista, Florida) Fairfield Stags men's soccerMid-American Akron 2011 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament FirstEnergy Stadium(Akron, Ohio) Northern IllinoisMissouri Valley Missouri State 2011 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Morrison Stadium(Omaha, Nebraska) CreightonMountain Pacific New Mexico 2011 MPSF Men's Soccer Tournament CIBER Field(Denver, Colorado) New MexicoNortheast Central Connecticut State 2011 Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Tournament The Great Lawn(West Long Branch, New Jersey) MonmouthPac-12 UCLA 2011 Pac-12 Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Maloney Field(Stanford, California) UCLAPatriot American 2011 Patriot League Men's Soccer Tournament Tournament venue(Tournament City, State) ColgateSouthern UNC Greensboro 2011 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Tournament venue(Tournament City, State) ElonSummit Western Illinois 2011 The Summit League Men's Soccer Tournament Tournament venue(Tournament City, State) Western IllinoisWest Coast Saint Mary's 2011 West Coast Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Tournament venue(Tournament City, State) Saint Mary's
Major upsets
In this list, a "major upset" is defined by a team that's ranked 10 or more spots lower, or an unranked team that defeats a team ranked #15 or higher.
Date Winner Score Loser September 2 Providence 1–0 #11 Brown September 4 UC Davis 2–1 #6 UCLA September 11 Virginia Tech 1–0 #1 North Carolina September 11 ESTU 2–0 #14 William & Mary September 24 George Mason 1–0 #15 Old Dominion October 5 #20 San Diego State 3–2 #3 Akron October 7 #23 Virginia 2–1 #2 Maryland October 12 Missouri State 1–0 #4 Creighton October 17 Davidson 1–0 #2 North Carolina
Key matches Statistical leaders Overall
Top scorers
RankScorerCollegeGoals 1 Ashton BennettCoastal Carolina23 2 Darren MattocksAkron21 3 Mark SherrodMemphis19 4 Chandler HoffmanUCLA18 Gyasi ZardesCSU Bakersfield18 6 Luis SilvaUC Santa Barbara17 Casey TownsendMaryland17 Andrew WengerDuke17 9 Dom DwyerSouth Florida16 Billy SchulerNorth Carolina16 Yannick SmithOld Dominion16 Last updated on December 23, 2011. Source: NCAA.com - Total Goals
Most assists
RankScorerCollegeGoals 1 Franklin CastellanosIona14 2 Jesus SanchezCSU Bakersfield13 3 Christopher Tweed-KentDuke12 4 Scott CaldwellAkron Zips11 Liam CollinsMemphis11 Enzo MartinezNorth Carolina11 Juan PeraltaVermont11 Last updated on December 23, 2011. Source: NCAA.com - Total Assists
Per match Player School PPG Player School GPG Player School APG Player School SVPG Ashton Bennett Coastal Carolina 2.41 Mark Sherrod Memphis 1.06 Franklin Castellanos Iona 0.74 John McCarthy La Salle 7.94 Mark Sherrod Memphis 2.33 Ashton Bennett Coastal Carolina 1.05 Juan Peralta Vermont 0.65 Lassi Hurskainen UNC Asheville 6.68 Max Touloute IPFW 2.19 Darren Mattocks Akron 0.95 Jesus Sanchez CSU Bakersfield 0.62 Thomas Hand Richmond 6.64 Darren Mattocks Akron 2.09 Gyasi Zardes CSU Bakersfield 0.90 Liam Collins Memphis 0.61 Taylor Feuerstein VMI 6.50 Luis Silva UC Santa Barbara 2.00 Yannick Smith Old Dominion 0.84 Matt Lodge Kentucky 0.59 Andrew D'Ottavi Saint Joseph's 6.33 Goalkeeper Min. Played Player School SV% Player School GAA Player School MP Player School SV% Brian Holt Creighton .923 Brian Holt Creighton .207 John McCarthy La Salle 143 Graham Heydt Lafayette .908 Andre Blake Connecticut .385 Lassi Hurskainen UNC Asheville 127 Ciaran Nugent Lehigh .896 Ciaran Nugent Lehigh .412 George Ellis Manhattan 110 Andre Blake Connecticut .888 Victor Rodriguez New Mexico .493 Jonathan Lester San Jose State 105 Darius Motazed Saint Francis (Pa.) .882 Graham Heydt Lafayette .504 Brendan Roslund San Francisco 101
NCAA tournament
College Cup – Hoover, Alabama
Award winners NSCAA/Continental Tire Men's NCAA Division I All-America Team
On December 9, 2011, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America released their All-American teams for the 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The list included a first, second and third team.
First team
Second team
Third team
See also College soccer 2011 in American soccer 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship
References