The 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference men's soccer season was the 65th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the defending champions of the Atlantic Conference and the North Carolina are the defending champions of the Coastal Conference. Wake Forest are the defending ACC tournament champions. Both Wake Forest and North Carolina successfully defended their titles, while Louisville won the ACC tournament.
Changes from 2017
After the 2017 season, Bobby Clark retired as the Notre Dame head coach. He was replaced by Chad Riley, who was hired from Dartmouth.
After the 2018 season, Louisville Cardinals coach Ken Lolla resigned after 13 years and a 155–77–39 record with the team. He was replaced by John Michael Hayden on December 27, 2018
Teams
Stadiums and locations
Atlantic Division Team Stadium Capacity Boston College Eagles Newton Soccer Complex 2,500 Clemson Tigers Riggs Field 6,500 Louisville Cardinals Lynn Stadium 5,300 NC State Wolfpack Dail Soccer Field 3,000 Syracuse Orange SU Soccer Stadium 5,000 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Spry Stadium 3,000
Coastal Division Team Stadium Capacity Duke Blue Devils Koskinen Stadium 7,000 North Carolina Tar Heels Fetzer Field 5,025 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Alumni Stadium 2,500 Pittsburgh Panthers Ambrose Urbanic Field 735 Virginia Cavaliers Klöckner Stadium 8,000 Virginia Tech Hokies Thompson Field 2,500
1. Florida State, Georgia Tech and Miami do not sponsor men's soccer
Personnel
Team Head coach CaptainBoston College Eagles Clemson Tigers Duke Blue Devils Louisville Cardinals NC State Wolfpack North Carolina Tar Heels Notre Dame Fighting Irish Pittsburgh Panthers Syracuse Orange Virginia Cavaiers Virginia Tech Hokies Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Preseason
Hermann Trophy Prior to the season two ACC men's soccer players were selected to the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list.
Alex Comsia, North Carolina Jonny Sutherland, Clemson
Preseason poll The 2018 ACC preseason poll was announced on August 15. Wake Forest and North Carolina were selected to win the Atlantic Division and Coastal Division, respectively. North Carolina was selected as the favorite to win the ACC Championship. The poll was voted on by all ACC coaches, for a total of 12 possible votes.
ACC championship votes
North Carolina (10) Louisville (1) Wake Forest (1)
Regular season poll
First place votes shown in (). Atlantic Division poll
Wake Forest (8) – 64 Clemson (4) – 60 Louisville – 53 NC State – 31 Syracuse – 29 Boston College – 15
Coastal Division poll
North Carolina (11) – 70 Virginia (1) – 53 Duke – 46 Notre Dame – 40 Pittsburgh – 28 Virginia Tech – 15
Preseason national polls
Eight of the programs were ranked in one of the five major preseason polls. CollegeSoccerNews.com and Hero Sports use a Top 30 ranking throughout the season, while United Soccer, Soccer America, and Top Drawer Soccer use a Top 25 ranking throughout the season.
UnitedSoccer CSN HeroSports SoccerAmerica TopDrawerSoccerBoston College Clemson 11 12 8 9 12Duke 10 9 9 14 13Louisville 6 5 7 8 7NC State 29 23 23North Carolina 3 3 4 2 4Notre Dame 17 20 19 21 20Pittsburgh Syracuse Virginia 15 15 11 17 16Virginia Tech Wake Forest 5 8 3 6 3
Regular season Index to colors and formattingACC member wonACC member lostACC member tiedACC teams in bold All times Eastern time.
Week 1 (Aug 20–26) Schedule and results: Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance August 24 4:00 PM Boston College Quinnipiac Quinnipiac Soccer Stadium • Hamden, CT None W 2–1 687 Virginia Tech Air Force Sentara Park • Harrisonburg, VA None W 2–1 N/A 7:00 PM New Hampshire #15 Virginia Klöckner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA ACC Network Extra W 1–0 1,821 Saint Louis #17 Notre Dame Alumni Stadium • South Bend, IN ACC Network Extra T 1–1 1,079 USC Upstate NC State Dail Soccer Field • Raleigh, NC ACC Network Extra W 3–1 1,938 7:30 PM ETSU #3 North Carolina Bryan Park • Greensboro, NC ACC Network Extra W 1–0 367 #20 FIU #10 Duke Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC ACC Network Extra W 3–1 1,087 #2 Indiana #5 Wake Forest Spry Stadium • Winston–Salem, NC ACC Network Extra W 2–1 (2OT) 4,751 St. Bonaventure #6 Louisville Lynn Stadium • Louisville, KY ACC Network Extra W 2–1 1,601 8:00 PM #11 Clemson Creighton Al F. Caniglia Field • Omaha, NE Fox Sports Go L 0–2 5,473 #25 Colgate Pittsburgh Ambrose Urbanic Field • Pittsburgh, PA ACC Network Extra L 0–1 1,138 10:00 PM Syracuse Oregon State Paul Lorenz Field at Patrick Wayne Valley Stadium • Corvallis, OR Pac-12 Network W 2–1 401 August 26 2:30 PM #11 Clemson Omaha Al F. Caniglia Field • Omaha, NE None W 1–0 565 Vermont #10 Duke Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC ACC Network Extra W 3–2 (OT) 502 4:00 PM Virginia Tech Gardner–Webb Sentara Park • Harrisonburg, VA None W 2–1 (OT) N/A 7:00 PM ETSU #5 Wake Forest Spry Stadium • Winston–Salem, NC ACC Network Extra W 4–2 1,470 7:30 PM #2 Indiana #3 North Carolina WakeMed Soccer Park • Cary, NC ACC Network Extra L 0–1 2,864 10:00 PM Syracuse Portland Merlo Field • Portland, OR None L 1–2 1,952
Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Bruno Lapa Wake Forest Colin Shutler VirginiaReference: ACC
Week 2 (Aug 27–Sept 2) Schedule and results: Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance August 27 5:00 PM Boston Boston College Newton Soccer Complex • Chestnut Hill, MA None T 3–3 630 7:00 PM Pittsburgh Delaware Stuart and Grant Stadium • Newark, DE None W 6–1 265 NC State #4 Akron FirstEnergy Stadium • Akron, OH ACC Network Extra W 2–1 1,474 August 28 7:30 PM Georgia State #9 Louisville Lynn Stadium • Louisville, KY ACC Network Extra W 1–0 1,095 August 30 7:00 PM Elon #7 Virginia Klöckner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA ACC Network Extra Canceled 0 August 31 5:00 PM #24 Notre Dame #18 Connecticut Armstrong Stadium • Bloomington, IN None W 3–0 N/A 7:00 PM Boston College Providence Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium • Providence, RI None T 1–1 3,297 Clemson South Carolina Stone Stadium • Columbia, SC None W 2–0 4,441 #12 North Carolina William & Mary Albert–Daly Field • Williamsburg, VA None W 6–1 661 Presbyterian NC State Dail Soccer Field • Raleigh, NC ACC Network Extra W 2–0 1,622 Virginia Tech South Florida Corbett Soccer Stadium • Tampa, FL None W 1–0 903 7:30 PM Saint Louis #9 Louisville Lynn Stadium • Louisville, KY ACC Network Extra Canceled 0 8:30 PM #2 Duke San Diego Torero Stadium • San Diego, CA None W 4–1 710 September 1 7:00 PM Pittsburgh #4 Akron FirstEnergy Stadium • Akron, OH None L 0–1 1,790 #1 Wake Forest Florida Gulf Coast FGCU Soccer Complex • Fort Myers, FL None W 3–1 1,017 September 2 5:00 PM #24 Notre Dame #22 Dartmouth Armstrong Stadium • Bloomington, IN None W 2–0 N/A 6:00 PM Hofstra Syracuse SU Soccer Stadium • Syracuse, NY ACC Network Extra W 4–3 1,387 7:00 PM Virginia Tech UCF UCF Soccer and Track Stadium • Orlando, FL None T 2–2 249
Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Gabriel Machado NC State Patrick Berneski Notre DameReference: ACC
Week 3 (Sept 3–9) Schedule and results: Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result AttendanceSeptember 3 7:00 PM Jacksonville #12 North Carolina Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC ACC Network Extra W 2–0 239 Villanova Clemson Riggs Field • Clemson, SC None W 2–0 2,137 #7 Virginia Maryland Audi Field • Washington, D.C. None T 0–0 3,527 William & Mary NC State Dail Soccer Field • Raleigh, NC ACC Network Extra W 2–1 (2OT) 854September 4 7:00 PM Presbyterian #1 Wake Forest Spry Stadium • Winston–Salem, NC ACC Network Extra W 4–1 1,113 7:30 PM #7 Louisville Kentucky Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex • Lexington, KY SEC Network + L 0–3 1,827September 7 7:00 PM Clemson Boston College Newton Soccer Complex • Chestnut Hill, MA ACC Network Extra 2–3 820 #8 NC State #1 Wake Forest Spry Stadium • Winston–Salem, NC ACC Network Extra 0–3 4,023 #12 Notre Dame Syracuse SU Soccer Stadium • Syracuse, NY ACC Network Extra 3–2 1,908 #21 Virginia Tech #10 Virginia Klöckner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA ACC Network Extra 1–1 (2OT) 2,892 September 8 7:00 PM Pittsburgh #5 North Carolina Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC ACC Network Extra 1–2 (2OT) 573 September 9 1:00 PM Clemson UMass Rudd Field • Amherst, MA None T 0–0 (2OT) – 2:00 PM #2 Duke #7 Louisville Lynn Stadium • Louisville, KY ACC Network Extra 3–0 1,104
Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Simon Enstrom Boston College Felicien Dumas Notre Dame Omir Fernandez Wake ForestReference: ACC
Week 4 (Sept 10–16) Schedule and results: Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 10 7:00 PM Syracuse Cornell Charles F. Berman Field • Ithaca, NY ESPN+ W 2–0 211September 11 12:30 PM Quinnipiac #18 NC State Dail Soccer Field • Raleigh, NC ACC Network Extra W 1–0 197 6:00 PM Holy Cross Boston College Newton Soccer Complex • Chestnut Hill, MA None T 1–1 271 7:00 PM Georgia Southern #1 Wake Forest Spry Stadium • Winston–Salem, NC None W 2–0 1,017 #2 Indiana #8 Notre Dame Alumni Stadium • South Bend, IN ACC Network Extra L 1–2 (OT) 1,500 Marshall #19 Virginia Klöckner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA ACC Network Extra W 1–0 1,069 #3 North Carolina Davidson Alumni Soccer Stadium • Davidson, NC None W 1–0 815 #16 Virginia Tech UNCG UNCG Soccer Stadium • Greensboro, NC None W 2–0 363 September 12 11:00 AM Pittsburgh VCU Sports Backers Stadium • Richmond, VA None W 1–0 360 September 14 5:00 PM #3 North Carolina #10 Duke Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC Postponed Due to Hurricane Florence 5:30 PM #1 Wake Forest #16 Virginia Tech Thompson Field • Blacksburg, VA ACC Network Extra 2–1 1,2007:00 PM #7 Louisville Boston College Newton Soccer Complex • Chestnut Hill, MA ACC Network Extra 1–0 768 #18 NC State Pittsburgh Ambrose Urbanic Field • Pittsburgh, PA Postponed Due to Hurricane Florence #8 Notre Dame #19 Virginia Klockner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA Postponed Due to Hurricane Florence 7:30 PM Syracuse Clemson Riggs Field • Clemson, SC Postponed Due to Hurricane Florence
Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Omir Fernandez Wake Forest Colin Shutler VirginiaReference: ACC
Week 5 (Sept 17–23) Schedule and results: Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 17 7:00 PM #4 Michigan State #8 Notre Dame Alumni Stadium • South Bend, IN ACC Network Extra L 0–1 718 September 18 7:00 PM Detroit Pittsburgh Ambrose Urbanic Field • Pittsburgh, PA ACC Network Extra W 2–0 401 #3 North Carolina UNCG UNCG Soccer Stadium • Greensboro, NC ESPN+ Cancelled due to Hurricane Florence FIU #22 Virginia Klockner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA ACC Network Extra W 2–0 1,337 Furman Clemson Riggs Field • Clemson, SC ACC Network Extra W 5–2 1,998 Georgetown #9 Duke Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC ACC Network Extra L 0–1 454 Longwood #14 Virginia Tech Thompson Field • Blacksburg, VA ACC Network Extra W 5–1 217 7:30 PM Charlotte #6 Louisville Lynn Stadium • Louisville, KY ACC Network Extra T 2–2 (2OT) 1,151September 21 7:00 PM Boston College #9 Duke Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC ACC Network Extra 2–3 710 #3 North Carolina #8 Notre Dame Alumni Stadium • South Bend, IN ACC Network Extra 1–0 (2OT) 1,724 #22 Virginia Syracuse SU Soccer Stadium • Syracuse, NY ACC Network Extra 2–0 1,080 #14 Virginia Tech #18 NC State Dail Soccer Field • Raleigh, NC ACC Network Extra 1–0 786 #1 Wake Forest Clemson Riggs Field • Clemson, SC ACC Network Extra 3–0 3,259 7:30 PM Pittsburgh #6 Louisville Lynn Stadium • Louisville, KY ACC Network Extra 0–1 1,604
Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Giovanni Montesdeoca North Carolina Leon Krapf NC StateReference: ACC
Week 6 (Sept 24–30) Schedule and results: