2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament

2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament
Tournament Logo
ClassificationDivision I
Teams4
Matches3
SiteWestcott Field
Dallas, Texas
ChampionsSMU (1st title)
Winning coachKevin Hudson (1st title)
MVPEmil Cuello (Offensive) (SMU)
Jordan Cano (Defensive) (SMU)
BroadcastAmerican Digital Network, ESPNU
American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament
«2016  2018»
2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 SMU ‡ 5 – 1 – 1 17 – 3 – 1
UCF 4 – 2 – 1 8 – 6 – 2
Connecticut 4 – 3 – 0 8 – 8 – 2
Temple 4 – 3 – 0 9 – 8 – 1
South Florida 3 – 2 – 2 6 – 6 – 4
Tulsa 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 8 – 1
Memphis 2 – 3 – 2 4 – 8 – 4
Cincinnati 0 – 7 – 0 7 – 9 – 1
As of December 13, 2017
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The 2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament was the 5th edition of the American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament decides the American Athletic Conference champion and guaranteed representative into the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The tournament was played at Westcott Field on the campus of SMU in Dallas on November 10 and 12.[1]

Seeding and format

The teams are seeded based on their performance in the conference's round-robin regular season. The top four teams qualify for the event.

Seed Team W L T Pct Pts
1 SMU 5 1 1 .786 16
2 UCF 4 2 1 .643 13
3 Connecticut 4 3 0 .571 12
4 Temple 4 3 0 .571 12

Bracket

Semifinals Finals
      
1 SMU 4
4 Temple 0
1 SMU 2
2 UCF 1
2 UCF 1
3 Connecticut 0

Results

Semifinals

No. 2 UCF Knights1–0No. 3 Connecticut Huskies
Pyysalo Yellow card 42'
Sorokin 73'
Stiegwardt Yellow card 80'		 Report Burnett Yellow card 42'
Attendance: 264
Referee: Jorge Luna Hernandez
No. 1 SMU Mustangs4–0No. 4 Temple Owls
Cuello 3'
Cano 5'
Ponder Yellow card 53'
Hernandez 59'
Williams, Jr. 85'		 Sigthórsson Yellow card 5' Yellow-red card 35'
Grasella Yellow card 53'
Attendance: 512
Referee: Mark Allatin

Championship

No. 1 SMU Mustangs2–1 (a.e.t.)No. 2 UCF Knights
Cano 77'
Cuello Yellow card 80' gold-colored soccer ball 96'		 Report Steineger Yellow card 66'
Jennings Red card 86'
Ponder 87' (o.g.)
Attendance: 647
Referee: Khalaf Al-Latayfeh

Broadcasting

The semifinals were streamed live on the American Digital Network. The final was carried live on ESPNU.

Statistics

Shutouts

Rank Player College Shutouts[2][3]
1 United States Michael Nelson SMU 1
United States Matt Rosenberg UCF

Awards

Most valuable players

  • Emil Cuello (Offensive) (SMU)
  • Jordan Cano (Defensive) (SMU)

All-Tournament team

The following 11 players were named to the American Athletic Conference's All-Tournament team. A record six players from SMU were selected for the team.[4]

Player Nat. School Position Class Hometown (High school/Previous college/Previous club)
Louis Perez  FRA UCF MF Fr. Villennes-sur-Seine, France (Lycee Jeanne d'Albert)
Matias Pyysalo  FIN UCF MF Jr. Helsinki, Finland (HJK Helsinki)
Andreas Steineger  NOR UCF DF Fr. Oslo, Norway (The Norwegian High School for Elite Sports)
Yoni Sorokin  ISR UCF MF Fr. Jerusalem, Israel (Denmark High School)
Abdou Mbacke Thiam  SEN Connecticut FW Jr. Dakar, Senegal
Jordan Cano  USA SMU DF So. Frisco, Texas (Lone Star High School)
Bryce Clark  USA SMU MF So. Los Gatos, California (Los Gatos High School)
Emil Cuello  USA SMU MF So. Orem, Utah (Orem High School)
Nicky Hernandez  USA SMU FW Fr. Dallas, Texas (Dallas Texans)
Michael Nelson  USA SMU GK RS So. Katy, Texas (Seven Lakes)
Jared Rice  USA SMU DF Sr. Plano, Texas (Plano East Senior High School)

See also

References

  1. ^ "2017 American Men's Soccer Championship Bracket Announced". American Athletic Conference. theamerican.org. November 5, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Box Score: UConn (8-8-2) vs. UCF (8-5-2)". UCF Knights. ucfknights.com. November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "AAC Semifinal: No. 4 Temple vs. No. 1 SMU AAC Men's Soccer Championship". American Athletic Conference StatBroadcast. StatBroadcast® Systems. November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  4. ^ "SMU Wins 2017 American Men's Soccer Championship". theamerican.org.