The 2016 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 58th season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. The regular season began on August 26 and continued into the first weekend of November 2016. The season culminated with the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship in December 2016. There were 206 teams in men's Division I competition. The defending champions were Stanford who defeated Clemson 4–0 to win its first NCAA soccer title. The season concluded with Stanford defending its title by defeating Wake Forest 5–4 in a penalty kick shootout following a 0–0 double-overtime draw.
Changes from 2015 Coaching changes ProgramOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming coachDate of appointment Appalachian State Matt Nelson Not retained November 17, 2015 Jason O’Keefe January 26, 2016 Cornell Jaro Zawislan Not retained Was not announced John Smith March 8, 2016 Georgia Southern Kevin Kennedy Not retained Was not announced John Murphy July 26, 2016 Iona Fernando Barboto Head coach at NJIT January 24, 2016 James Hamilton April 26, 2016 IUPUI Isang Jacob Resigned July 18, 2016 Brian Barnett August 7, 2016 La Salle Pat Farrell Retired June 28, 2016 Rob Irvine July 28, 2016 Navy Dave Brandt To Pittsburgh Riverhounds May 23, 2016 Tim O'Donohue July 1, 2016 NJIT Didier Orellana Resigned Was not announced Fernando Barboto January 24, 2016 Niagara Eric Barnes Not retained November 9, 2015 Bill Boyle January 15, 2016 Northeastern Brian Ainscough Resigned November 13, 2015 Chris Gbandi January 11, 2016 Pittsburgh Joe Luxbacher Retired November 3, 2015 Jay VidovichDecember 5, 2016 Portland Bill Irwin Retired November 24, 2015 Nick Carlin-Voigt January 12, 2016 Presbyterian Bret Boulware Not retained December 15, 2015 Jonathan Potter December 15, 2015 Stetson Ernie Yarborough Not retained June 27, 2016 Jared Vock (Interim) June 27, 2016 VMI Jon Freeman Resigned April 6, 2016 Michael Bonelli May 17, 2016 Winthrop Rich Posipanko Retired December 18, 2015 Daniel Ridenhour December 18, 2015
New programs Chicago State was initially budgeted to finally start competition in the Western Athletic Conference this season. However, the ongoing State of Illinois budgetary crisis and the school's own critical financial problems have set this back once more.
Mount St. Mary's University announced that their soccer program, which has been dormant since the end of the 2012 season, will be reinstated for the 2018 season.
Discontinued programs None.
Conference realignment SchoolPrevious ConferenceNew Conference Coastal Carolina Big South Conference Sun Belt Conference NJIT Sun Belt Conference Atlantic Sun Conference
Video review The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved voluntary video review for the 2016 season. Video may be used to determine whether a goal has been scored, to identify players for disciplinary matters, and to determine whether a fight occurred and identify the participants.
Use of video review in both men's and women's soccer is strictly voluntary, with coaches for both teams agreeing to its use before the game. The home team is responsible for the equipment and for making review possible either at the scorer's table or at another ground-level location. As in other NCAA sports, the video review must display indisputable evidence for a call to be overturned.
Proposed Division I season change After many months of extended unofficial discussion, on August 22, 2016, NCAA Division I men's coaches and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) officially began an "informational campaign" to build support for a proposed change of the playing schedule for Division I men's soccer. Under the proposed changes of the "Academic Year Season Model", the number of games on the Fall schedule and the number of mid-week games would be reduced, with games added in the Spring following a Winter break, and the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship tournament would be moved from November and December to May and June. In addition to more closely matching the professional season, the changes address issues of player health and safety and of the time demands on student-athletes. The proposal concerns only Division I men's soccer. While a large majority of men's coaches and players support the changes, only a small minority of women's coaches and players currently do so. At this time, there is only the "informational campaign" "...to educate our Athletic Directors, NCAA leadership, student athletes, coaches and fans on the advantages of this Academic Year Model,” said Sasho Cirovski, NSCAA D1 Men's committee chair and University of Maryland head coach. No formal proposal has been made to the NCAA, and once proposed, could not come into effect any earlier than the 2017–18 academic year.
Season overview Pre-season polls NSCAARankTeam1 Stanford2 Akron3 Clemson4 Maryland5 Wake Forest6 Syracuse7 Creighton8 North Carolina9 Notre Dame10 Georgetown11 Boston College12 SMU13 UC Santa Barbara14 Seattle15 Indiana16 UCLA17 Virginia18 Ohio State19 South Florida20 Denver21 Coastal Carolina22 Charlotte23 FIU24 South Carolina25 Rutgers College Soccer NewsRankTeam1 Stanford2 Akron3 Maryland4 Clemson5 Wake Forest6 North Carolina7 Georgetown8 Boston College9 Creighton10 SMU11 Syracuse12 Seattle13 UCLA14 Indiana15 Denver16 UC Santa Barbara17 Notre Dame18 Ohio State19 South Florida20 Virginia21 South Carolina22 Connecticut23 Kentucky24 Charlotte25 FIU Soccer AmericaRankTeam1 Akron2 Stanford3 UCLA4 Maryland5 North Carolina6 Clemson7 Wake Forest8 Boston College9 Creighton10 Syracuse11 UC Santa Barbara12 Georgetown13 Indiana14 SMU15 Notre Dame16 Denver17 Seattle18 Ohio State19 Washington20 Virginia21 South Florida22 Xavier23 California24 Kentucky25 Connecticut Top Drawer SoccerRankTeam1 North Carolina2 Maryland3 Akron4 Stanford5 Syracuse6 UCLA7 Georgetown8 SMU9 Seattle10 Clemson11 Wake Forest12 Denver13 Indiana14 Creighton15 Boston College16 Connecticut17 South Florida18 Coastal Carolina19 Notre Dame20 Washington21 Kentucky22 Dartmouth23 UC Santa Barbara24 Utah Valley25 South Carolina
Regular season #1
Weekly NSCAA #1 ranked teamDateTeamDateTeamDateTeamDateTeam August 2 (preseason) StanfordNone until after season starts August 30 Akron September 6 Notre Dame September 13 Notre Dame September 20 Maryland September 27 Maryland October 4 Maryland October 11 Maryland October 18 Maryland October 25 Maryland November 1 Maryland November 8 Maryland November 15 MarylandNone until after tournament December 13 Stanford
Conference standings
Major upsets In this list, a "major upset" is defined as a game won by a team ranked 10 or more spots lower or an unranked team that defeats a team ranked #15 or higher.
Date Winner Score Loser August 26St. Louis 1–0 @ #5 Wake Forest August 26 Michigan State 2–1 @ #12 SMU August 28 West Virginia 1–0@ Akron #10 Georgetown September 2 @ #23 San Diego State 1–0 #1 Akron September 2 Duke 1–0 @ #9 UCLA September 2 Louisville 2–0 @ #14 Connecticut September 4 Villanova 2–1 @ #11 Boston College September 9 #19 Butler 4–2@ Akron #7 UC Santa Barbara September 9 Loyola Chicago 2–0@ NIU #12 Utah Valley September 13 East Tennessee State 1–0 (OT) @ #2 North Carolina September 16 @ Louisville 1–0 #1 Notre Dame September 20 @ UNC Wilmington 2–0 #5 Charlotte September 23 @ Cal Poly 1–0 #6 UCLA September 23 Pacific 2–0 @ #11 San Diego State October 4 @ Albany 2–1 #3 Syracuse October 7 Virginia 2–1 @ #4 North Carolina October 8 @ UAB 2–1 #15 Kentucky October 11 @ Tulsa 2–1 #6 Creighton October 14 @ #21 Virginia 1–0 #2 Notre Dame October 18 @ Northwestern 2–1 (OT) #4 Notre Dame October 18 North Florida 3–2 @ #11 FGCU October 21 @ Duke 2–1 (2 OT) #4 Notre Dame October 22 @ Villanova 1–0 #10 Creighton October 23 @ New Hampshire 2–1 #14 UMass Lowell October 26 @ DePaul 1–0 #15 Butler October 29 @ SIUE 1–0 #11 Loyola Chicago November 6 Boston College 1–0 @ #2 North Carolina November 10 Oregon State 1–0 @ #14 Washington November 11 New Mexico 2–1@ West Virginia #5 Charlotte November 11 @ Missouri State 2–1 (OT) #13 Loyola Chicago
Early season tournaments Several universities hosted early season soccer tournaments.
Name Dates Location No. teams Champion Akron Classic August 26–28 FirstEnergy Stadium–Cub Cadet Field (Akron, OH) 4 Akron (2–0) Carolina Nike Classic August 26–28 Fetzer Field(Chapel Hill, NC) 4 North Carolina (2–0) Central New York Classic August 26–28 SU Soccer Stadium (Syracuse, NY) 4 Syracuse (2–0)Colgate (2–0) Fairfield Inn by Marriot JMU Invitational August 26–28 University Park(Harrisonburg, VA 4 Radford (2–0) Gonzaga Soccer Tournament August 26–28 Luger Field(Spokane, WA) 4 Gonzaga (1–0–1)San Diego State (1–0–1) Hensor–Zaher Classic August 26–28 Lorenz Field (Corvallis, OR) 4 Oregon State (1–0–1) John Rennie Nike Invitational August 26–28 Koskinen Stadium(Durham, NC) 4 Duke (1–0–1)San Diego (1–0–1) Marriott Houston Westchase Invitaitonal August 26–28 Sorrels Field (Houston, TX) 4 UTRGV (1–0–1) Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament August 26–28 Alumni Stadium(Notre Dame, IN) 4 Notre Dame (2–0)Indiana (2–0) Mike Gibbs Memorial Tournament August 26–28 Hodges Stadium(Jacksonville, FL) 4 North Florida (1–0–1)UNC Greensboro (1–0–1) Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic August 26–28 Patriots Point Athletics Complex(Mount Pleasant, SC) 4 Furman (1–0–1) Stihl Soccer Classic& VCU Tournament August 26–28 ODU Soccer Complex & Sports Backers Stadium (Norfolk, VA) & (Richmond, VA) 4 Old Dominion (1–0–1)Stetson (1–0–1) Wolstein Classic August 26–28 Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium (Columbus, OH) 4 UC Santa Barbara (2–0)Virginia Tech (2–0) Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic September 2–4 Bill Armstrong Stadium(Bloomington, IN) 4 Notre Dame (2–0) Chicago Classic September 2–4 Loyola Soccer Park & Wish Field(Chicago. IL) 4 DePaul (2–0)Loyola Chicago (2–0) Elon/High Point Classic September 2–4 Vert Stadium & Rudd Field(High Point, NC) & (Elon, NC) 4 Elon (2–0) The Grange & Ashwill Memorial Invitational September 2–4 UNM Soccer Complex(Albuquerque, NM) 4 New Mexico (2–0) The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic September 2–4 Shea Stadium (Peoria, IL)) 4 Utah Valley (2–0) Johann Memorial Classic September 2–4 Peter Johann Memorial Field(Las Vegas, NV) 4 UC Riverside (1–1)Santa Clara (1–1)Cal State Fullerton (1–1)UNLV (1–1) The Courtyard by Marriott Central San Diego Tournament September 9–11 SDSU Sports Deck(San Diego, CA) 4 Cal State Fullerton (2–0)San Diego State (2–0) Duquesne Invitational September 9–11 Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field(Pittsburgh, PA) 4 Duquesne (2–0) NIU/Adidas Invitational September 9–11 NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex(DeKalb, IL) 4 Loyola Chicago (2–0) ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic September 9–11 Arad McCutchan Stadium(Evansville, IN) 4 Evansville (1–0–1)Portland (1–0–1) R.I. Capital City Classic September 9–11 Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium(Providence, RI) 4 Brown (2–0)Providence (2–0) The TLC Plumbing and Utility Invitational September 9–11 UNM Soccer Complex(Albuquerque, NM) 4 New Mexico (2–0) UAB Soccer For A Cure Classic September 9–11 BBVA Compass Field(Birmingham, AL) 4 Tulsa (1–0–1) UNCW Courtyard by Marriott Wilmington-Wrightsville Beach Classic September 9–11 UNCW Soccer Stadium(Wilmington, NC) 4 Marist (2–0)UNC Wilmington (2–0) University of Akron Tournament September 9–12 FirstEnergy Stadium–Cub Cadet Field (Akron, OH) 4 Akron (2–0)Butler (2–0)
Conference winners and tournaments