The 2018 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season was the 6th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season began on August 24 and concluded on November 11, 2018.
The regular season was won by UCF, who finished conference play with a 5–1–1 record, and won on tiebreakers against SMU. SMU won the American Tournament, defeating UCF 5–4 in penalty kicks following a 1–1 draw in regulation and overtime. SMU earned the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, while UCF and Connecticut received at-large berths into the tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, SMU lost in the first round to Oregon State. Connecticut beat rivals, Rhode Island, in the first round, before losing to Indiana in the second round. UCF was one of the 16 seeded teams (seeded 14th), allowing them to earn a bye into the second round. There, they lost in overtime to Lipscomb.
Following the season, Cal Jennings won the Offensive MVP award for the conference. Jacob Hauser-Ramsey of Connecticut won the Defensive MVP. Fellow UCF players, Louis Perez, Yannik Oettl, and Scott Calabrese won the AAC Midfielder, Goalkeeper, and Coach of the Year awards, respectively. Perez and Jennings were also named All-Americans by United Soccer Coaches.
Emil Cuello was the first AAC player to be drafted in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, when he was selected by the LA Galaxy with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the draft.
Background Head coaches
Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Record at school American record NCAATournaments NCAACollege Cups NCAATitlesCincinnati Hylton Dayes Wright State 19 2 0 0Connecticut Ray Reid Southern Connecticut 22 16 2 1Memphis Richard Mulrooney Memphis (asst.) 5 0 0 0SMU Kevin Hudson SMU (asst.) 4 2 0 0South Florida Bob Butehorn Florida Gulf Coast 2 4 0 0Temple Dave MacWilliams Philadelphia KiXX 19 3 0 0Tulsa Tom McIntosh Tulsa (asst.) 22 10 0 0UCF Scott Calabrese FIU 2 3 0 0
Preseason Preseason poll
The preseason poll will be released on August 14, 2018. UCF was picked to win the regular season.
Team ranking First place votes Raw points 1. UCF 4 46 2. SMU 3 43 3. Connecticut 1 38 4. South Florida 0 34 5. Tulsa 0 26 6. Temple 0 19 7. Cincinnati 0 11 8. Memphis 0 9
Preseason national rankings Two 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 TopDrawerSoccerCincinnati NR NR NR NR NRConnecticut NR NR NR NR NRMemphis NR NR NR NR NRSMU 8 10 6 7 6South Florida NR NR NR NR NRTemple NR NR NR NR NRTulsa NR NR NR NR NRUCF NR NR 26 NR NR
Preseason All-Conference teams
Honor Recipient Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Garrett McLaughlin, SMU Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, Connecticut Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year Christian Knight, South Florida
Preseason All-AAC Team
Regular season Players of the Week
Week Offensive Defensive Goalkeeper Rookie Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Team Player Position TeamAug. 26Louis PerezMFUCFMitchell CashionDFTulsaCooper ClarkTulsaFelix MetzlerDFConnecticutSep. 2Cal JenningsFWUCFPierre CayetDFTempleHarrison Devenish-MearesSouth FloridaGilles KuhlerFWTulsaSep. 9Tomasz SkublakFWUCFKoray EasterlingDFTulsaYannik OettlUCFJalen CampbellFWTempleSep. 16Cal JenningsFWUCFJacob Hauser-RamseyDFConnecticutTyler HofmannMemphisnone announcedSep. 23Lukas FernandesMFTempleTalen MaplesDFSMUSimon LefebvreTempleLane WarringtonMFSMUSep. 30Rex EppsFWCincinnatiJacob Hauser-RamseyDFConnecticutYannik OettlUCFIbrahima DiopFWConnecticutOct. 7Cal JenningsFWUCFJacob Hauser-RamseyDFConnecticutHarrison Devenish-MearesSouth FloridaEdgar AlanizMFMemphisOct. 14Tomasz SkublakFWSouth FloridaJacob Hauser-RamseyDFConnecticutGrant MakelaSMUGilles KuhlerFWTulsa Oct. 21 Abdou Mbacke ThiamFW Connecticut Ben RobertsDF Memphis Yannik Oettl UCF Gurman SanghaMF MemphisOct. 28Lukas FernandesMFTemplePhilip PonderDFSMUSimon LefebvreTempleThomas HaneyDFSMUNov. 4Louis PerezMFUCFPhilip PonderDFSMUNoah LawrenceCincinnatiEmilio YcazaMFSouth Florida
Rankings United Soccer Improvement in ranking Drop in rankingRVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 25NVNo votes received
Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Final Cincinnati NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV Connecticut RV 18 NV NV RV NV RV 20 20 15 20 RV RV RV Memphis NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV SMU 8 RV RV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV RV RV RV South Florida RV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV Temple NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV Tulsa NV 23 NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV UCF RV RV NV RV RV RV RV 19 19 13 9 7 9 18
Top Drawer Soccer Improvement in ranking Drop in rankingRVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 25NVNo votes received Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Final Cincinnati NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV Connecticut NV NV NV NV NV NV NV 24 12 13 8 20 NV NV 25 25 25 25 Memphis NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV SMU 6 6 NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV 24 NV NV NV NV South Florida NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV Temple NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV Tulsa NV NV 15 NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV UCF NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV 24 9 6 6 13 RV RV RV RV
Postseason AAC Tournament
The 2018 Tournament will be held at the home ground of the regular season winner.
NCAA Tournament
Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship14 3UCF L 0–1 (OT) vs. Lipscomb – (Orlando, FL) None 1SMU L 1–2 vs. Oregon State – (Corvallis, OR) None 4Connecticut W 4–3 vs. Rhode Island – (Storrs, CT) L 0–4 vs. #2 Indiana – (Bloomington, IN)W–L (%): Total:
Postseason awards and honors Conference honors 2018 AAC Men's Soccer Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Offensive Player of the YearCal Jennings, UCFMidfielder of the YearLouis Perez, UCFDefensive Player of the YearJacob Hauser-Ramsey, ConnecticutGoalkeeper of the YearYannik Oettl, UCFRookie of the YearFelix Metzler, ConnecticutCoach of the YearScott Calabrese, UCFTeam Fair Play AwardConnecticut
2018 AAC Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team Rookie TeamGoalkeeper Yannik Oettl, So., UCF Defenders Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, Sr., UConn Talen Maples, So., SMU Ben Roberts, Jr., Memphis Midfielders Louis Perez, So., UCF Yoni Sorokin, So., UCF Emil Cuello, Sr., SMU David Zalzman, Sr., M, Memphis Forwards Cal Jennings, Jr., UCF Abdou Mbacke Thiam, Sr., UConn Tomasz Skublak, Sr., USFGoalkeeper Grant Makela, Jr., SMU Defenders Avionne Flanagan, So., USF Dylan Greenberg, R-Sr., UConn Robin Lapert, So., UConn Yanis Leerman, Fr., UCF Midfielders Chase Bromstedt, So., Tulsa Lukas Fernandes, Jr., Temple Dayonn Harris, R-Jr., UConn Felix Metzler, Fr., UConn Alex Zis, Jr., USF Forwards Garrett McLaughlin, Jr., SMU Akean Shackleford, Jr., SMUDefenders Andres Hernandez Betancur, UCF Henrique Gallina, USF Yanis Leerman, UCF Midfielders Knut Ahlander, SMU Jalen Campbell, Temple Andres Charles-Barrera, Temple Felix Metzler, UConn Lane Warrington, SMU Forwards Ibrahima Diop, UConn Gilles Kuhler, Tulsa Gurman Sangha, Memphis
denotes unanimous selection
Regional honors National honors
Player School Honor Cal Jennings FW UCF College Soccer News First-Team All-America USC First-Team All-American Louis Perez MF UCF USC Third-Team All-American
American vs other conferences
Regular Season ConferenceRecordACC 1–3–1Atlantic 10 1–2–2Atlantic Sun 8–1–0Big East 0–5–1Big South 0–0–0Big Ten 3–3–1Big West 0–1–0CAA 0–0–0Conference USA 4–0–1Horizon 2–1–0Ivy 1–1–0MAAC 2–0–0Mid-American 1–3–1Missouri Valley 0–1–3NEC 2–0–0Pac-12 0–0–0Patriot 2–0–0Southland 0–0–0Summit 0–3–0West Coast 1–0–0WAC 2–2–0Total Non-Conference Record32–28–10
Post Season
Power ConferencesRecordBig Ten0–1–0Pac-120–1–0Power Conferences Total0–2–0Other DI ConferencesRecord Atlantic 101–0–0 Atlantic Sun0–1–0Other DI Total1–1–0Total Postseason Record1–3–0
MLS SuperDraft
Total picks by school
TeamRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4TotalCincinnati 0 0 0 0 0Connecticut 0 1 0 0 1Memphis 0 0 0 1 1SMU 1 0 0 0 1South Florida 0 0 0 0 0Temple 0 0 0 0 0Tulsa 0 0 0 0 0UCF 0 0 0 0 0
List of selections
Round Pick # MLS team Player Position College Other Ref. 1 19 LA Galaxy Emil CuelloMidfielder SMU 242Colorado RapidsJacob Hauser-RamseyDefenderConnecticut495Portland TimbersDavid ZalzmanMidfielderMemphis
Homegrown contracts
Original MLS teamPlayerPositionCollegeNotes Ref.
References
External links American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer