The 2017 Conference USA men's soccer season was the 23rd season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season began on August 25 and concluded on November 12.

The regular season was won by FIU, while the tournament was won by Old Dominion. Both school's were the conference's bids into the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. There, the two programs reached the round of 32 before being eliminated.

Niko Klosterhalfenm and Mercan Akar were named the conference's offensive and defensive most valuable players, respectively. Paul Marie and Alex Bumpus were drafted in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft following the end of the season. Jason Beaulieu and Aaron Herrera signed homegrown contracts with their parent MLS clubs.

Background Head coaches Three programs had first-year head coaches heading into the 2017 season. Former University of Charleston head coach, Chris Grassie was hired as the head coach for Marshall. Former Orlando City SC scout, Kevin Nylen was named the head coach for FIU. Finally, former South Carolina assistant coach, Joey Worthen, was named head coach for Florida Atlantic.

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Record at school C-USA record NCAATournaments NCAACollege Cups NCAATitlesCharlotte Kevin Langan Charlotte (asst.) 6 5 0 0 FIU Kevin Nylen Orlando City SC (scout) 1 0 0 0Florida Atlantic Joey Worthen South Carolina (asst.) 1 0 0 0Kentucky Johan Cedergren Dartmouth 6 9 0 0Marshall Chris Grassie Charleston (WV) 1 0 0 0New Mexico Jeremy Fishbein Incarnate Word 16 12 2 0Old Dominion Alan Dawson North Carolina (asst.) 21 13 0 0South Carolina Mark Berson The Citadel 39 22 3 0UAB Mike Getman Harvard 25 8 0 0

Preseason

Recruiting

+ National Rankings Team CSN TDSCharlotte NR NR FIU NR 36Florida Atlantic NR NR Kentucky NR NR Marshall NR NR New Mexico NR NR Old Dominion NR NR South Carolina NR NR UAB NR NR

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was announced on August 11, 2017. Charlotte was voted to win the Conference USA regular season. New Mexico, FIU and UAB received first place votes.

CUSA Coaches 1. Charlotte (4) 2. New Mexico (2) 3. FIU (2) 4. Kentucky 5. South Carolina 6. UAB (1) 7. Old Dominion 8. Marshall 9. Florida Atlantic

Preseason team

On August 11, the preseason team was announced.

Recipient School Grade Pos. ^Elliot Panicco^ Charlotte R-So. GK Santiago Patino* FIU Jr. FW Paul Marie FIU Sr. DF Bjorn Gudjonsson South Carolina Jr. FW David Valverde UAB Sr. MF Julian Veen Uldal South Carolina So. MF Alex Bumpus Kentucky Sr. DF Peyton Ericson South Carolina Jr. MF / DF Joris Ahlinvi FIU So. MF Niko Klosterhalfen ODU Jr. MF Tom Smart New Mexico R-So. D Matthew Constant New Mexico So. D

*Preseason Offensive Player of the Year ^Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

Regular season

Early season tournaments Three programs participated in early season tournaments. FIU and New Mexico finished undefeated in their respective tournaments, while ODU finished in third place.

Team Tournament Finish FIU Wolstein Classic 1-0-1 (2nd) New Mexico Grange and Ashwill Invitational 2-0-0 (1st) Old Dominion ODU Soccer Classic 0-1-1 (3rd)

Rankings United Soccer Coaches National + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week

  Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 FinalCharlotte C 15 16 25 RV RV RV FIU C RV RV RV RV RV 17 14 11 8 7 8 13 20Florida Atlantic C Kentucky C RV 19 13 15 13 20 21 NR RV Marshall C New Mexico C 20 RV RV RV RV RV Old Dominion C 20 NR RV RV 18 NR RV 25 RVSouth Carolina C RV UAB C RV RV

Results

Team/Opponent CHAFIUFAUKTYMARUNMODUUSCUAB Charlotte 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 FIU 2–2 4–0 4–0 3–1 Florida Atlantic 1–3 1–4 2–1 0–3 Kentucky 2–2 4–0 1–0 1–0 Marshall 1–0 1–2 2–1 2–1 New Mexico 0–0 3–1 0–1 2–0 Old Dominion 2–0 1–0 1–0 3–2 South Carolina 2–5 1–2 2–2 3–2 UAB 1–1 1–2 2–0 0–1

Postseason C-USA Tournament

NCAA Tournament

Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Chapel Hill FIUW, 2–0 vs. Omaha – (Miami)L, 1–2 vs. #6 Duke – (Durham) Bloomington Old DominionW, 2–0 vs. NC State – (Norfolk)L, 0–3 vs. #2 Indiana – (Bloomington)

Awards Regular season awards Players of the Week Week Offensive Defensive Goalkeeper Rookie Ref. Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Team Player Position Team

Postseason awards All-C-USA awards and teams

2017 C-USA Men's Soccer Individual Awards Award Recipient(s) Player of the Year Santiago Patino, FIU Offensive Player of the Year Aaron Herrera, New Mexico Defensive Player of the Year Santiago Patino, FIU Freshman of the Year Enrique Facusse, Kentucky Golden Glove Award Mertcan Akar, Old DominionEnrique Facusse, Kentucky Coach of the Year Kevin Nylen, FIU

2017 C-USA Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team Third Team Rookie TeamF: Luca Mayr, South Carolina F: Santiago Patino, FIU F: Daniel Bruce, Charlotte MF: Paul Marie, FIU MF: Joris Ahlinvi, FIU MF: Tommy Madden, Charlotte D: Aaron Herrera, New Mexico D: Alex Bumpus, Kentucky D: Callum Montgomery, Charlotte GK: Mertcan Akar, Old Dominion GK: Enrique Facusse, KentuckyF: Brandon Perdue, Old Dominion F: Lewis Knight, Marshall MF: Niko Klosterhalfen, Old Dominion MF: David Valverde, UAB MF: Massimo Ferrin, UAB D: Chris Wallander-Ianev, South Carolina D: Tom Smart, New Mexico D: Fox Slotemaker, Old Dominion D: Carlos Diaz-Salcedo, Marshall D: Marvin Hezel, FIU D: Mathieu Laurent, UAB GK: Jason Beaulieu, New MexicoF: JJ Williams, Kentucky F: Max Wilschrey, Old Dominion F: Sam Gleadle, New Mexico MF: Sebastien Hauret, Old Dominion MF: Aaron Scott, New Mexico MF: Kevin Barajas, Kentucky MF: Teddy Chaouche, Charlotte MF: Donald Tomlinson, FIU D: Leon Jones, Kentucky GK: Hugo Fauroux, FIUEnrique Facusse, Kentucky Lewis Knight, Marshall Alessandro Campoy, FIU Justin Sukow, South Carolina Brandon Perdue, Old Dominion Joe Brito, Charlotte Billy Jones, New Mexico Ferdinand Solberg, Florida Atlantic Leon Jones, Kentucky Matias Barraza, FIU Aime Mabika, Kentucky Hans Kroschwitz, Old Dominion Nick Barreiro, New Mexico

All-Americans College Soccer News Three players in the conference were named All-Americans by CollegeSoccerNews.com.

Santiago Patino, FIU — Second team All-American Paul Marie, FIU — Third team All-American

United Soccer Coaches

One player in the conference were named All-Americans by United Soccer Coaches.

Santiago Patino, FIU — First team All-American

MLS SuperDraft

Total picks by school

TeamRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4TotalCharlotte 0 0 0 0 0FIU 1 0 0 0 1Florida Atlantic 0 0 0 0 0Kentucky 0 0 1 0 0Marshall 0 0 0 0 0New Mexico 0 0 0 0 0Old Dominion 0 0 0 0 0South Carolina 0 0 0 0 0UAB 0 0 0 0 0

List of selections

Round Pick # MLS team Player Position College Ref. 1 12 San Jose Earthquakes Paul Marie Midfielder FIU 3 52 New York City FC Alex Bumpus Defender Kentucky

Homegrown contracts

Original MLS teamPlayerPositionCollegeNotes Ref.Montreal ImpactGoalkeeperNew Mexico Real Salt LakeDefenderNew Mexico2017 C-USA Defender of the Year

See also 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season 2017 Conference USA women's soccer season

References