The 2019 Mid-American Conference men's soccer season will be the 27th season of men's varsity soccer in the Mid-American Conference.

Akron enters the season as the conference tournament champions. West Virginia enters the season as the defending conference regular season champions.

Background Previous season

The 2018 season was the 26th season of men's varsity soccer in the Mid-American Conference. Akron won the 2018 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament against Western Michigan. With the MAC Tournament title, Akron earned an automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. MAC regular season champions, West Virginia, earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. West Virginia and Akron were unseeded in the tournament meaning both programs began in the first round.

In the tournament, West Virginia advanced past LIU Brooklyn before losing in Georgetown in the second round. Akron reached the NCAA College Cup for the second consecutive season, and for the sixth time in program history. This came after defeating Rider, Syracuse, Wake Forest, three-time defending champions Stanford, and Michigan State. In the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Akron lost to Maryland, 0–1 off of a penalty kick from Amar Sejdič.

Coaching changes Ahead of the 2019 season, SIUE head coach Mario Sanchez was hired by professional soccer club, Louisville City FC. Cale Wassermann was hired to replace Sanchez.

SchoolOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming coachDate of appointmentSIU Edwardsville Mario SanchezHired by Louisville City FCPreseason Cale Wassermann

Teams Team Location Stadium Capacity Coach Uniforms supplier Akron Zips Akron, Ohio FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field Jared Embick adidas Bowling Green Falcons Bowling Green, Ohio Cochrane Stadium Eric Nichols Nike Northern Illinois Huskies DeKalb, Illinois NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex Ryan Swan adidas SIU Edwardsville Cougars Edwardsville, Illinois Ralph Korte Stadium Cale Wassermann adidas West Virginia Mountaineers Morgantown, West Virginia Dlesk Stadium Marlon LeBlanc Nike Western Michigan Broncos Kalamazoo, Michigan WMU Soccer Complex Chad Wiseman adidas

Preseason Preseason poll The preseason poll was released on August 26, 2019. Team ranking PointsFirst 1. Akron355 2.Western Michigan271 3.West Virginia220 4. SIUE150 5. Bowling Green140 6. Northern Illinois130

Preseason national polls The preseason national polls were released in July and August 2019. United Soccer Coaches, Soccer America, and TopDrawer Soccer have a Top 25 poll, while College Soccer News has a Top 30 poll. UnitedSoccer CSN SoccerAmericaTop DrawerSoccerAkron 3 3 2 2Bowling Green — — — —Northern Illinois — — — —SIUE — — — —West Virginia 23 2 — 2Western Michigan — — — —

Regular season Early season tournaments

Early season tournaments will be announced in late Spring and Summer 2019.

Team Tournament Finish Bowling Green Chicago Classic 1st SIUE Michigan Classic 3rd Western Michigan Bronco Soccer Fest 1st

Conference results

Color Key: Home Away Win Loss Draw PostponedClubMatch 12345Akron Zips(AKR) BGSU WMU SIUE NIU WVU 2–1 1–1 3–0 3–2 1–0Bowling Green Falcons(BGSU) AKR SIUE WVU WMU NIU 1–2 0–2 3–0 0–1 1–0Northern Illinois Huskies(NIU) SIUE WVU WMU AKR BGSU 1–2 4–2 3–2 2–3 0–1SIU Edwardsville Cougars(SIUE) NIU BGSU AKR WVU WMU 2–1 2–0 0–3 0–0 1–1West Virginia Mountaineers(WVU) WMU NIU BGSU SIUE AKR 1–3 2–4 0–3 0–0 0–1Western Michigan Broncos(WMU) WVU AKR NIU BGSU SIUE 3–1 1–1 2–3 1–0 1–1

Standings

Postseason MAC Tournament

The 2019 MAC Tournament was held from November 12–17, 2019.

NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament began in November 2019 and concluded on December 17, 2019.

Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship 3 West Virginia W, 5–1 at Butler (Indianapolis) L, 1–2 at Marshall (Huntington) — — — —

Rankings National rankings   Improvement in ranking Drop in rankingRVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 25NVNo votes received   Pre Wk 1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 FinalAkron 321RVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released 2212NVNVNVNVNVNVNVBowling Green NVRV25RVRVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNorthern Illinois NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVSIUE NVRVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVWest Virginia 2321RV20RV23RVNVNVNVNone released 252524NVRVNVNVNVNVNVWestern Michigan NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVRVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV

Regional rankings - USC North Region   Improvement in ranking Drop in rankingRVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 10NVNo votes received The United Soccer Coaches' North Region includes teams from the Mid-American Conference, the Big Ten Conference, and the Horizon League.   Wk 1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12Akron6NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVBowling Green825797898Northern IllinoisNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVSIUE58NVNVNVNV1066West Virginia342623910NVWestern MichiganNVNVNVNVNV10744

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors Week Player Position TeamRef. Week 1Noah HeimGKSIUE Week 2Anthony BowieFWWestern MichiganAchille RobinDFBowling Green Week 3Robles GrajerFWWest Virginia Week 4Jorge GonzalezFWSIUE Week 5Andres Muriel AlbinoMFWest Virginia Week 6Anthony BowieFWWestern Michigan Week 7Charlie SharpMFWestern Michigan Week 8Alex WelchMFNorthern Illinois Week 9 Week 10

Postseason honors 2019 MAC Men's Soccer Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Offensive Player of the YearDefensive Player of the YearMidfielder of the YearGoalkeeper of the YearCoach of the YearFreshman of the Year

2019 MAC Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams First Team Honorees Second Team Honorees All-Freshman Team Honorees Sportsmanship Award Honorees

National awards

Award Winner School Ref.

2020 MLS Draft

The 2020 MLS SuperDraft will be held in January 2020.

Total picks by school TeamRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4TotalAkron 0 1 0 0 1Bowling Green 0 0 0 0 0Northern Illinois 0 0 0 0 0SIUE 0 0 1 0 1West Virginia 0 0 0 0 0Western Michigan 0 0 0 0 0

List of selections Player Team School245DFLA GalaxyAkron376MFLos Angeles FCSIUE

Homegrown players

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 team Player SchoolRef.

References

External links MAC Men's Soccer