The 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 61st season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. The regular season began on August 30, 2019 and continued into the third weekend of November 2019. The season culminated with the four-team College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, December 13–15, 2019. A total of 206 men's soccer teams played in Division I during this season. The Georgetown Hoyas won their first NCAA title, defeating the Virginia Cavaliers 7–6 on penalty kicks following a 3–3 draw after.two extra time periods.
Changes from 2018
Coaching changes ProgramOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming coachDate of appointment American Todd West Resigned November 25, 2018 Zach Samol December 21, 2018 Belmont Bryan Green Resigned November 6, 2018 David Costa December 27, 2018 Cleveland State Kirk Harwat Resigned March 5, 2019 Siniša Ubiparipović May 24, 2019 Creighton Elmar Bolowich Hired by Jacksonville Armada FC November 12, 2018 Johnny Torres November 12, 2018 Davidson Matt Spear Hired by Richmond Kickers December 6, 2018Mike Babst January 17, 2019 Fordham Jim McElderry Hired by Rutgers December 9, 2018 Carlo Acquista January 30, 2019 High Point EJ O’Keeffe Hired by UNC Greensboro January 15, 2019 Zach Haines February 12, 2019 Liberty Jeff Alder Resigned November 29, 2018 Kelly Findley December 20, 2018 LIU (replaces LIU Brooklyn) TJ Kostecky Not retainedTo Bard College Not announced Michael Mordocco February 6, 2018(as head coach, LIU Post) Louisville Ken Lolla Resigned December 11, 2018 John Michael Hayden December 27, 2018 Pacific Ryan Jorden To UCLA April 29, 2019 Adam Reeves June 20, 2019 Rutgers Dan Donigan Fired November 6, 2018 Jim McElderry December 9, 2018 San Francisco Eddie Soto Resigned March 7, 2019 Leonard Griffin April 11, 2019 SIU Edwardsville Mario Sanchez Hired by Louisville City FC November 30, 2018 Cale Wassermann January 17, 2019 VMI Michael Bonelli Resigned February 28, 2019 Charlie Hubbard March 26, 2019 UAB Mike Getman Not announced November 26, 2018 Jeff Kinney December 21, 2018 UCLA Jorge Salcedo Resigned March 21, 2019 Ryan Jorden April 29, 2019 UNC Greensboro Justin Maullin Contract not renewed November 15, 2018 EJ O’Keeffe January 15, 2019 Wofford Ralph Polson Retired November 12, 2018 Joel Tyson December 12, 2018
New programs The Merrimack Warriors began the transition from Division II to Division I, joining the Northeast Conference.
Long Island University announced in October 2018 that its two current athletic programs—the Division I LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and the Division II LIU Post Pioneers—would merge into a single Division I athletic program under the LIU name after the 2018–19 school year. The unified program, which maintains LIU Brooklyn's Division I and Northeast Conference memberships, announced its new nickname of Sharks on May 15, 2019. With both campuses having sponsored men's soccer, the two teams became a single LIU team based at the Post campus in Nassau County, New York in the 2019 season.
Rebranded programs In addition to LIU, one other Division I men's soccer program assumed a new athletic identity during the 2018–19 offseason. On July 1, 2019, the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) announced that its athletic program, previously known as the UMKC Kangaroos, would henceforth be known as the Kansas City Roos.
Upcoming programs Three schools that sponsor men's soccer began transitions from Division II in the 2020–21 school year. Bellarmine will join the ASUN Conference, Dixie State will join the Western Athletic Conference, and UC San Diego will join the Big West Conference.
Discontinued programs
Despite the program's many successes, the University of New Mexico's Board of Regents voted, for economic reasons, to discontinue the men's soccer program and three other sports teams at the conclusion of their 2018–19 seasons.
Conference realignment SchoolPrevious ConferenceNew Conference Central Arkansas Missouri Valley Conference affiliate Sun Belt Conference affiliate Merrimack Northeast-10 Conference (NCAA Division II) Northeast Conference
This was also the final season for four schools in their then-current conferences. The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners and Kansas City Roos both left their then-current home of the Western Athletic Conference, with the Roadrunners joining the Big West Conference and the Roos returning to the Summit League in July 2020. The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons left the Summit League for the Horizon League. The UConn Huskies left the American Athletic Conference to join several of their former conference mates in the Big East Conference.
Season outlook Preseason polls United Soccer CoachesRankTeam 1 Maryland 2 Indiana 3 Akron 4 Wake Forest 5 Stanford 6 North Carolina 7 Michigan State 8 Kentucky 9 Notre Dame 10 Duke 11 Saint Mary's 12 Virginia 13 Georgetown 14 Louisville 15 UCF 16 Virginia Tech 17 James Madison 18 Denver 19 Air Force 20 Portland 21 Charlotte 22 Oregon State 23 West Virginia 24 Michigan 25 UC Irvine College Soccer NewsRankTeam 1 Wake Forest 2 Kentucky 3 Akron 4 Maryland 5 Stanford 6 Saint Mary's 7 North Carolina 8 Duke 9 Indiana 10 Michigan State 11 James Madison 12 Georgetown 13 Virginia 14 Notre Dame 15 Louisville 16 Michigan 17 Denver 18 UCF 19 Virginia Tech 20 West Virginia 21 Oregon State 22 SMU 23 Charlotte 24 Portland 25 NC State 26 UConn 27 UC Irvine 28 Washington 29 Colgate 30 New Hampshire Top Drawer SoccerRankTeam 1 Maryland 2 Akron 3 Wake Forest 4 Stanford 5 Indiana 6 Kentucky 7 North Carolina 8 Michigan State 9 Louisville 10 Duke 11 Georgetown 12 Denver 13 Michigan 14 Saint Mary's 15 Virginia 16 Notre Dame 17 UCF 18 Portland 19 Virginia Tech 20 Charlotte 21 UC Irvine 22 NC State 23 Air Force 24 James Madison 25 West Virginia Soccer America RankTeam 1 North Carolina 2 Akron 3 Saint Mary's 4 Stanford 5 Wake Forest 6 Kentucky 7 Maryland 8 Duke 9 Virginia 10 Indiana 11 Georgetown 12 James Madison 13 UCF 14 Virginia Tech 15 Michigan State 16 Louisville 17 Michigan 18 Washington 19 Denver 20 Charlotte 21 Oregon State 22 Portland 23 UC Irvine 24 Lipscomb 25 NC State
Regular season #1
Weekly United Soccer Coaches #1 ranked teamDateTeamDateTeamDateTeamDateTeam August 6 (preseason) MarylandNone until after season starts September 3 Wake Forest September 10 Wake Forest September 17 Wake Forest September 24 Stanford October 1 Virginia October 8 Virginia October 15 Virginia October 22 Washington October 29 Washington November 5 Washington November 12 Clemson November 19 VirginiaNone until after tournament December 17 Georgetown
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.
All rankings are from the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
Date Winner Score Loser August 30 @ Xavier 2–0 #3 Akron September 3 @ Louisville 3–0 #9 Kentucky September 6 @ UCLA 3–2 #3 Maryland September 12 @ Cal State Northridge 3–1 #8 Washington September 13 @ UC Riverside 2–0 #14 Florida Gulf Coast September 13 @ West Virginia 5–2 #15 Coastal Carolina September 14 Memphis 3–2 2OT @ #11 Xavier September 17 @ James Madison 1–0 #1 Wake Forest September 23 @ #25 Maryland 1–0 2OT #9 St. John's September 24 @ Butler 2–1 #5 Indiana September 24 @ #17 Louisville 1–0 2OT #2 Georgetown September 26 UC Davis 4–2 @ #6 Saint Mary's September 27 Duke 3–2 @ #14 North Carolina October 4 @ Boston College 2–1 #3 Wake Forest October 5 @ Maryland 2–0 #14 Cal State Fullerton October 15 Georgia State 1–0 @ #10 Charlotte October 18 @ #25 Maryland 3–0 #6 Indiana October 18 Pittsburgh 2–0 @ #1 Virginia October 18 Memphis 4–3 OT @ #3 SMU October 26 Notre Dame 1–0 @ #2 Wake Forest October 26 @ Florida Atlantic 1–0 OT #15 Marshall November 1 @ South Carolina 1–0 #13 FIU November 1 @ Albany 1–0 #14 New Hampshire November 6 @ Providence 2–0 #8 St. John's November 7 California 3–2 @ #1 Washington November 14 California 1–0 @ #4 Stanford November 15 Michigan 1–0 #12 Penn State November 15 Providence 2–1 @ #14 St. John's November 24 #22 UC Santa Barbara 4–0 @ #10 Saint Mary's December 1 #22 UC Santa Barbara 1–0 2OT @ #6 Indiana
Early season tournaments Several universities hosted early season soccer tournaments.
Name Date(s) StadiumCity No. teams ChampionBryant & Sons Cup (preseason) Aug. 17 Harder Stadium Santa Barbara, CA 2 UC Santa BarbaraAaron Olitsky Memorial Classic Aug. 30–Sep. 1 Patriots Point Soccer Field Charleston, SC 4 Georgia SouthernAdidas/IU Credit Union Classic Aug. 30–Sep. 1 Bill Armstrong Stadium Bloomington, IN 4 IndianaCarolina Nike Classic Aug. 30–Sep. 1 UNC Lacrosse & Soccer Stadium Chapel Hill, NC 4 Wake ForestHampton Inn at Loyola Chicago Classic Aug. 30–Sep. 1 Loyola Soccer Park Chicago, IL 4 Loyola ChicagoJohn Rennie Invitational Aug. 30–Sep. 1 Koskinen Stadium Durham, NC 4 DukePortland Tournament Aug. 30–Sep. 1 Merlo Field Portland, OR 4 Coastal CarolinaWolstein Classic Aug. 30–Sep. 1 Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Columbus, OH 4 Cal State NorthridgeMike Gibbs Memorial Tournament Aug. 30–Sep. 2 Hodges Stadium Jacksonville, FL 4 North FloridaVCU Tournament Aug. 31–Sep. 2 Sports Backers Stadium Richmond, VA 4 LIUAztec Soccer Classic Sep. 6–8 SDSU Sports Deck San Diego, CA 4 Detroit MercyChicago Classic Sep. 6–8 Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium Evanston, IL 4 Bowling GreenCopa de CausewaySep. 6–8Aggie Soccer FieldDavis, CA4UC DavisDayton Classic Sep. 6–8 Baujan Field Dayton, OH 4 Ohio StateFairfield Inn/JMU Invitational Sep. 6–8 Sentara Park Harrisonburg, VA 4 Virginia TechMike Berticelli Memorial Tournament Sep. 6–8 Alumni Stadium Notre Dame, IN 4 Notre DameSoccer For a Cure ClassicSep. 6–8Mike Rose Soccer ComplexMemphis, TN4MercerStihl Classic Sep. 6–8 ODU Soccer ComplexNorfolk, VA 4 NJIT
Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week Bold denotes TDS player of the week.