The 2019 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer season will be the 37th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The regular season will begin on August 30, 2019 and conclude on November 2, 2019.
The regular season will culminate with the 2019 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament, which will begin on November 8 and conclude on November 16, 2019.
Background The 2018 season began in August 2018 and concluded in November 2018. The regular season champions, Air Force, enjoyed their best regular season ever, and their best NCAA Tournament berth since 1993. Air Force finished the season ranked 12th in the nation, and achieved a 17–5–0 record. In the 2018 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament, Air Force were eliminated by eventual tournament champions, Grand Canyon. Both teams earned berths into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, being the two WAC representatives in the tournament.
In the NCAA Tournament, Grand Canyon was eliminated on penalty kicks by UC Irvine in the first round. Air Force defeated Central Arkansas, 4–0 in the first round. In the second round, they played against in-state rivals, Denver, where they won 2–1. In the Sweet Sixteen, Air Force traveled out east to take on Indiana, where they lost 2–0. Indiana would end being the national runners-up.
At the end of the season, Air Force's Tucker Bone was named a Consensus All-American by earned first-team All-American honors by College Soccer News, Top Drawer Soccer, Soccer America, and United Soccer Coaches. Bone was the highest drafted WAC player selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, being drafted in the first round, twentieth overall by Seattle Sounders FC. Three other WAC players were drafted in the 2019 SuperDraft: Camden Riley (Sporting Kansas City), Nathan Aune (San Jose Earthquakes), and Mitch Osmond (Minnesota United FC).
Teams A total of 12 teams are due to take part in the conference this season.
On July 1, 2019, the University of Missouri–Kansas City announced that its athletic program, previously known as the UMKC Kangaroos, would be rebranded as the Kansas City Roos, with "Roos" having long been used as a short form of the historic "Kangaroos" nickname.
The 2019 season will be the last for both CSU Bakersfield and Kansas City as WAC members. On July 1, 2020, CSU Bakersfield will join the Big West Conference and Kansas City will return to the Summit League after a seven-year absence.
Stadiums and locations College Location Venue Capacity Air Force Falcons Colorado Springs, Colorado Cadet Soccer Stadium 1,000Cal Baptist LancersRiverside, CaliforniaCalifornia Baptist Soccer Field250CSU Bakersfield RoadrunnersBakersfield, CaliforniaCSUB Main Soccer Field2,500Grand Canyon AntelopesPhoenix, ArizonaGCU Stadium6,000Houston Baptist HuskiesHouston, TexasSorrels Field500Incarnate Word CardinalsSan Antonio, TexasGayle and Tom Benson StadiumKansas City RoosKansas City, MissouriDurwood Soccer Stadium3,200San Jose State SpartansSan Jose, CaliforniaSpartan Soccer Field1,000Seattle RedhawksSeattle, WashingtonChampionship Field1,000UNLV RebelsLas Vegas, NevadaPeter Johann Soccer Field500Utah Valley WolverinesOrem, UtahClyde Field1,000UTRGV Vaqueros Edinburg, TexasSoccer and Track & Field Complex2,000
Head coaches
Team Head coach Previous job Years atschool Overall record Record atschool WACrecord NCAATournaments NCAACollege Cups NCAATitles Ref. Air Force Air Force (asst.) 13 3 0 0 Cal Baptist Northwest Nazarene 4 1 0 0 CSU Bakersfield Memphis 5 0 0 0 Grand Canyon FC Dallas 5 30 4 0 Houston Baptist Houston Baptist (asst.) 1 0 0 0 Incarnate Word 0 Kansas City 0 0 0 0 San Jose State 0 0 0 0 Seattle U 0 0 0 0 UNLV 0 0 0 0 Utah Valley 0 0 0 0 UTRGV 0 0 0 0
Preseason Preseason poll The preseason poll was released on August 21, 2019. Team ranking PointsFirst place votes 1. Seattle U1125 2.UTRGV1042 T-3.Air Force883 T-3. Grand Canyon881 5. UNLV870 6. San José State771 7.Utah Valley750 8.Cal Baptist490 9. CSU Bakersfield3870 T-10. Houston Baptist270 T-10. Kansas City270 12. Incarnate Word200
Preseason national polls The preseason national polls were released in July and August 2019. UnitedSoccer CSN SoccerAmericaTop DrawerSoccerAir Force 19 RV RV 23Cal Baptist — — — —CSU Bakersfield — — — —Grand Canyon — — — —Houston Baptist — — — —Incarnate Word — — — —Kansas City — — — —San Jose State — — — —Seattle U RV RV — —UNLV — — — —Utah Valley RV RV — —UTRGV — RV — —
Preseason awards
Listed in the order that they were released
Regular season Early season tournaments
Team Tournament FinishCal State Bakersfield John Rennie Nike Invitational 4thCopa de Causeway3rd
Conference results
Color Key: Home Away Win Loss Draw PostponedClubMatch 1234567891011Air Force Falcons(AFA) KC UIW RGV CBU CSUB HBU SU SJSU GCU UNLV UVU 4–1 3–1 0–2 1–2 6–0 3–1 1–2 0–2 4–3 3–2 1–4Cal Baptist Lancers(CBU) SU GCU UNLV AFA UVU SJSU RGV UIW HBU KC CSUB 0–2 0–0 4–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 0–1 3–0 1–2 0–1 3–1CSU Bakersfield(CSUB) SJSU UNLV GCU UVU AFA SU UIW RGV KC HBU CBU 2–3 1–0 2–1 0–2 0–6 2–3 4–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 1–3Grand Canyon Antelopes(GCU) UIW CBU CSUB SJSU SU RGV HBU KC AFA UVU UNLV 1–0 0–0 1–2 2–2 0–1 0–0 3–4 0–2 3–4 2–3 1–2Houston Baptist Huskies(HBU) UVU SU SJSU RGV UIW AFA GCU UNLV CBU CSUB KC 0–3 0–5 3–2 0–4 0–1 1–3 4–3 3–1 2–1 0–2 2–0Incarnate Word Cardinals(UIW) GCU AFA UVU KC HBU UNLV CSUB CBU SU SJSU RGV 0–1 1–3 0–1 1–2 1–0 0–1 0–4 0–3 0–1 1–2 2–0Kansas City Roos(KC) AFA SJSU SU UIW RGV UVU UNLV GCU CSUB CBU HBU 1–4 0–6 1–4 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–4 2–0 1–2 1–0 0–2San Jose State Spartans(SJSU) CSUB KC HBU GCU UNLV CBU UVU AFA RGV UIW SU 3–2 6–0 2–3 2–2 1–2 1–2 3–0 2–0 0–0 2–1 1–3Seattle Redhawks(SU) CBU HBU KC UNLV GCU CSUB AFA UVU UIW RGV SJSU 2–0 5–0 4–1 2–2 1–0 3–2 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–1UNLV Rebels(UNLV) RGV CSUB CBU SU SJSU UIW KC HBU UVU AFA GCU 0–2 0–1 0–4 2–2 2–1 1–0 4–1 1–3 1–3 2–3 2–1Utah Valley(UVU) HBU RGV UIW CSUB CBU KC SJSU SU UNLV GCU AFA 3–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–2 0–3 1–2 3–1 3–2 4–1UTRGV Vaqueros(RGV) UNLV UVU AFA HBU KC GCU CBU CSUB SJSU SU UIW 2–0 1–2 2–0 4–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 0–1 0–2
Postseason WAC Tournament
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 4 Seattle UW, 3–1 at Loyola MarymountT, 2–3 (L, 1–2 PK) at Stanford————
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 FinalAir Force 1925NVNVNVNVNVNVNone released 232323NVNVNVNVNVNVCal Baptist NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVCSU Bakersfield NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVGrand Canyon NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVHouston Baptist NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVIncarnate Word NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV Kansas City NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVSan Jose State NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVSeattle U RVRVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVRVNVNVNVNVNVNVUNLV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVUtah Valley RVNVNVNVNVNVNVRVNone released NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVUTRGV NVNVNVNVNVRVNVNVNone released NVNVNVNVNVRV2424NV
Regional rankings Improvement in ranking Drop in rankingRVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 10NVNo votes received The Far West region of the United Soccer poll ranks teams across the Pac-12, WAC, and Big West. Wk 1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12Air Force5NVNVNVNVNVNVCal BaptistNVNVNVNVNVNVNVCSU BakersfieldNVNVNVNVNVNVNVGrand CanyonNVNV10109NVNVHouston BaptistNVNVNVNVNVNVNVIncarnate WordNVNVNVNVNVNVNVKansas CityNVNVNVNVNVNVNVSan Jose StateNVNVNVNVNVNVNVSeattle U488NVNV56UNLVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVUtah Valley610NVNVNV85UTRGVNVNVNV6569
Awards and honors Preseason honors Postseason honors 2019 WAC Men's Soccer Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Player of the YearCoach of the YearDefensive Player of the YearRookie of the Year
2019 WAC Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team Rookie Team
2020 MLS Draft
The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was held on January 9, 2020.
Total picks by school
TeamRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4TotalAir Force–––––Cal Baptist–––––CSU Bakersfield–––––Grand Canyon–––––Houston Baptist–––––Incarnate Word–––––Kansas City–––––San Jose State–––––Seattle U1–1–2UNLV–1––1Utah Valley–––––UTRGV–––11
List of selections
Player Team School114DFFC DallasSeattle U252MFSeattle Sounders FCUNLV378MFSeattle Sounders FCSeattle U486FWHouston DynamoUTRGV
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 WAC Men's Soccer