The 2019 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season was the 7th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season began on August 30, 2019, and concluded on November 5, 2019. The regular season culminated with the 2019 American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament, which was held from November 9 to November 16.
The defending regular season and tournament champions, UCF and SMU, respectively, successfully defended their title. Both UCF, SMU, as well as South Florida were selected by the NCAA Selection Committee to the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. SMU reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual national runners-up, Virginia. UCF lost to SMU in the Sweet Sixteen, and South Florida lost to Louisville in the first round.
Background Previous season
The 2018 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 2018 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.
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 20 2 0 0UConn Ray Reid Southern Connecticut 23 17 2 1Memphis Richard Mulrooney Memphis (asst.) 6 0 0 0SMU Kevin Hudson SMU (asst.) 5 3 0 0South Florida Bob Butehorn Florida Gulf Coast 3 4 0 0TempleBrian RowlandMaryland (asst.) 2 0 0 0Tulsa Tom McIntosh Tulsa (asst.) 23 10 0 0UCF Scott Calabrese FIU 3 4 0 0
Preseason Preseason poll
The preseason poll was released on August 20, 2019. UCF was picked to win the regular season.
Team ranking First place votes Raw points 1.UCF749 2.SMU142 3.UConn036 4.South Florida031 5.Temple024 6.Memphis018 7.Tulsa016 8.Cincinnati08
Preseason national rankings The preseason national rankings were announced in August 2019. United Soccer Coaches, Soccer America, and TopDrawerSoccer.com do a Top-25 preseason poll. CollegeSoccerNews.com do a Top-30 preseason poll.
UnitedSoccer CSN SoccerAmerica TopDrawerSoccerCincinnati — — — —Memphis — — — —SMU RV 22 RV —South Florida — — — —Temple — — — —Tulsa — — — —UCF 15 18 13 17UConn RV 26 — —
Preseason All-Conference teams
Honor Recipient Preseason Offensive Player of the YearCal Jennings, UCF Preseason Defensive Player of the YearRobin Lapert, UConn Preseason Goalkeeper of the YearYannik Oettl, UCF
Preseason All-AAC Team
2019 AAC Men's Soccer PreSeason All-AAC Teams First Team Cal Jennings – UCF Yannik Oettl – UCF Louis Perez – UCF Yoni Sorokin – UCF Dayonn Harris – UConn Robin Lapert – UConn Felix Metzler – UConn Ben Roberts – Memphis Adrian Billhardt – South Florida Avionne Flanagan – South Florida Talen Maples – SMU Lukas Fernandes – Temple Chase Bromstedt – Tulsa
Regular season Players of the Week
Week Offensive Defensive Goalkeeper Rookie Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Team Player Position TeamSep. 2Gianluca ArcangeliFWUCFBen RobertsDFMemphisBryson ReedTulsaJovan PradoMFMemphisSep. 9Cal JenningsFWUCFTalen MaplesDFSMUYannik OettlUCFKyle HealyMFCincinnatiSep. 16Sam AshtonFWMemphisJavain BrownDFSouth FloridaHarrison Devenish-MearesSouth FloridaVictor ClaudelFWSouth FloridaSep. 23Garrett McLaughlinFWSMUAndres HernandezDFUCFShane LansonSMUGino ViviMFUCFSep. 30Gabriel CostaMFSMUJavain BrownDFSouth FloridaHarrison Devenish-MearesSouth FloridaJonas SchmalbachMFUCFOct. 7Gabriel CostaMFSMUBen RobertsDFMemphisNoah LawrenceCincinnatiMichael BlankeFWMemphisOct. 14Harris PartainMFTulsaRobin LapertDFUConnGianluca CatalanoUConnGino ViviMFUCFOct. 21Artur De LucaFWMemphisJackson MorseDFMemphisSimon LefebvreTemplePeter ChangMFMemphis Oct. 28Garrett McLaughlinFWSMUPierre CayetDFTempleYannik OettlUCFMickael BorgerDFTempleNov. 6Adrian BillhardtFWSouth FloridaJavain BrownDFSouth FloridaGrant MakelaSMUGianluca ArcangeliMFUCF
Rankings United Soccer Improvement in ranking Drop in rankingRVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 25NVNo votes received
Pre Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Final CincinnatiNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV MemphisNVNVNVNVNVNVRVRVRVRVRVNVNV SMURVRV228843312121157 South FloridaNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV TempleNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV TulsaNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV UCF151516131211911866810 UConnRV23RVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV
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 CincinnatiNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV MemphisNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVRVRVNVNVNVNVNVNV SMURVRVRV16942341211111133355 South FloridaNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV TempleNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV TulsaNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV UCF171711191714943644388101010 UConnNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV
Postseason AAC Tournament
The 2019 Tournament will be held at the home ground of the regular season winner.
NCAA Tournament
Seed School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship8SMU W 1–0 (2OT) vs. Coastal Carolina – (Dallas, TX) W 2–1 (OT) vs. #9 UCF – (Dallas, TX) L 2–3 (OT) vs. #1 Virginia – (Charlottesville, VA)9UCF W 2–1 (2OT) vs. Missouri State – (Orlando, FL) L 1–2 (OT) vs. #8 SMU – (Dallas, TX)NoneSouth Florida L 1–4 vs. Louisville– (Louisville, KY)W–L–T (%): Total:
Postseason awards and honors Conference honors 2019 AAC Men's Soccer Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Offensive Player of the YearCal Jennings – UCFMidfielders of the YearYoni Sorokin – UCFGabriel Costa – SMUDefensive Player of the YearEddie Munjoma – SMUGoalkeeper of the YearYannik Oettl – UCFRookie of the YearGino Vivi – UCFCoach of the YearScott Calabrese – UCF
2019 AAC Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team Rookie TeamYannik Oettl, UCF Cal Jennings, UCF Garrett McLaughlin, SMU Harris Partain, Tulsa Yoni Sorokin, UCF Dayonn Harris, UConn Gabriel Costa, SMU Yanis Leerman, UCF Javain Brown, South Florida Avionne Flanagan, South Florida Eddie Munjoma, South Florida Sam Ashton, MemphisSimon Lefebvre, Temple Louis Perez, UCF Donovan Segree, Cincinnati Robin Lapert, UConn Felix Metzler, UConn Ben Roberts, Memphis Gurman Sangha, Memphis Adrian Billhardt, South Florida Knut Ahlander, SMU Lukas Fernandes, Temple Pierre Cayet, Temple Mitchell Cashion, TulsaGlademir Mendoza, UCF Gino Vivi, UCF Mo Williams, Cincinnati Ben Awashie, UConn Moussa Wade, UConn Peter Chang, Memphis Ford Hunt, Memphis Javain Brown, South Florida Sal Mazzaferro, South Florida Henrik Bredeli, SMU Sean Karani, Temple
denotes unanimous selection
National honors
Player School Honor Gabriel CostaMFSMUTopDrawer Soccer Second-Team All-AmericanSoccer America Third-Team All-AmericanUnited Soccer Coaches Third-Team All-AmericanDayonn HarrisFWUConnSenior CLASS Award Senior All-AmericanCal JenningsFWUCFCollege Soccer News First-Team All-AmericanCoSIDA Second-Team All-AmericanSenior CLASS Award Senior All-AmericanSoccer America First-Team All-AmericanTopDrawer Soccer First-Team All-AmericanUnited Soccer Coaches First-Team All-AmericanYannis LeermanMFUCFTopDrawer Soccer Second-Team All-AmericanGarrett McLaughlinFWSMUSenior CLASS Award Senior All-AmericanEddie MunjomaDFSMUUnited Soccer Coaches First-Team All-AmericanYoni SorokinMFUCFTopDrawer Soccer Second-Team All-AmericanGino ViviFWUCFCollege Soccer News First-Team Freshman All-AmericanTopDrawer Soccer Third-Team Freshman All-AmericanBen WendellMFCincinnatiCoSIDA Third-Team All-American
American vs other conferences
Regular Season ConferenceRecordAmerica East 1–0–0ACC 4–3–0Atlantic 10 4–1–0Atlantic Sun 9–0–0Big East 2–7–0Big South 1–0–0Big Ten 0–3–1Big West 1–0–0Colonial 1–0–0Conference USA 4–1–1Horizon 2–3–0Ivy 0–3–1MAAC 2–0–0Mid-American 1–2–0Missouri Valley 2–1–0NEC 0–1–0Pac-12 0–0–0Patriot 1–0–0SoCon 1–2–0Summit 3–0–1Sun Belt 2–1–0West Coast 1–0–0WAC 3–0–0Total Non-Conference Record45–28–4
Post Season
Power ConferencesRecordACC0–2–0American1–1–0Power Conferences Total1–3–0Other DI ConferencesRecord Missouri Valley1–0–0 Sun Belt1–0–0Other DI Total2–0–0Total Postseason Record3–3–0
MLS SuperDraft
Total picks by school
TeamRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4TotalCincinnati 00000Connecticut 10001Memphis 00000SMU 10001South Florida 00000Temple 10001Tulsa 00000UCF 11002
List of selections
Round Pick # MLS team Player Position College Ref.18Houston DynamoGarrett McLaughlinFWSMU117FC Dallas Cal JenningsFWUCF120Real Salt LakeDayonn HarrisMFUConn121D.C. UnitedSimon LefebvreGKTemple239Orlando City Jonathan DeanDFUCF
Homegrown contracts The Homegrown Player Rule is a Major League Soccer program that allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first team rosters. Before the creation of the rule in 2008, every player entering Major League Soccer had to be assigned through one of the existing MLS player allocation processes, such as the MLS SuperDraft.
To place a player on its homegrown player list, making him eligible to sign as a homegrown player, players must have resided in that club's home territory and participated in the club's youth development system for at least one year. Players can play college soccer and still be eligible to sign a homegrown contract. Original MLS teamPlayerPositionCollege Ref.FC Dallas Eddie MunjomaDFSMU
References
External links American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer