2021 Mid-American Conference men's soccer tournament

2021 Mid-American Conference Men's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams4
Matches3
Attendance1,011
SiteNIU Soccer Complex
DeKalb, Illinois
ChampionsNorthern Illinois (3rd title)
Winning coachRyan Swan (1st title)
MVPNick Markanich (Northern Illinois)
BroadcastNone
Mid-American Conference Men's soccer tournament
«2019 2022»
2021 Mid-American Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 21 Northern Illinois ‡ 4 – 0 – 2 15 – 3 – 2
No. 8 West Virginia + 4 – 1 – 1 12 – 3 – 6
Georgia State + 3 – 3 – 0 13 – 7 – 0
Bowling Green + 2 – 2 – 2 11 – 6 – 3
Western Michigan 2 – 3 – 1 7 – 6 – 5
Akron + 2 – 3 – 1 9 – 6 – 3
Georgia Southern 0 – 5 – 1 4 – 12 – 1
As of December 14, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: MAC

The 2021 Mid-American Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Mid-American Conference held from November 11 through November 14, 2021. The tournament took place at the NIU Soccer Complex in DeKalb, Illinois, home of the Northern Illinois Huskies, the regular season conference champions. The four-team single-elimination tournament consisted of two rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The West Virginia were the defending champions after having won the title in 2019. There was no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the 2019 champions were considered the defending champions.[1] West Virginia was unable to defend its title, losing to Georgia State in the Semifinals. Northern Illinois would go on to beat Georgia State in the final 2–1 in overtime.[2] The title was the third for the Northern Illinois men's soccer program and the first of which came under head coach Ryan Swan.[3] As tournament champions, Northern Illinois earned the Mid-American's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.

Seeding

Four of the seven Mid-American men's soccer programs qualified for the 2021 Tournament. Teams were seeded based on their regular season records. Tiebreakers were used to determine the seedings of teams who finished with identical conference records. No tiebreakers were required as each of the top four teams finished with unique records.[4]

Seed School Conference Record Points
1 Northern Illinois 4–0–2 14
2 West Virginia 4–1–1 13
3 Georgia State 3–3–0 9
4 Bowling Green 2–2–2 8

Bracket

Source:[5]

Semifinals
Thursday, Nov. 11 		Final
Sunday, Nov. 14
      
1 Northern Illinois 5
4 Bowling Green 2
1 Northern Illinois (a.e.t.) 2
3 Georgia State 1
2 West Virginia 0
3 Georgia State 1

Schedule

Semifinals

November 11, 2021 #2 West Virginia 0–1 #3 Georgia State DeKalb, IL
4:00 p.m. EST
  • Aaron Denk Gracia Yellow card 52'
 Report
  • Yellow card 64' Andrew Miller-Bell
  • 76' Justin Guest
 Stadium: NIU Soccer Complex
Attendance: 50
November 11, 2021 #1 Northern Illinois 5–2 #4 Bowling Green DeKalb, IL
7:00 p.m. EST
  • Zachariah Thomas 41'
  • Roque Viegas 53'
  • Nick Markanich 57'
  • Pepe Martinez 58'
  • Miguel Maynez 67'
 Report
Stadium: NIU Soccer Complex
Attendance: 435
Referee: Kevin Fikar
Assistant referees: Michael Nickerson
Assistant referees: Anthony Vasoli
Fourth official: Ted Grigoriou

Final

November 14, 2021 #1 Northern Illinois 2–1 (a.e.t.) #3 Georgia State DeKalb, IL
1:00 p.m. EST
  • Miguel Maynez 51'
  • Malcom Ward Yellow card 74'
  • Nick Markanich gold-colored soccer ball 105'
 Report
  • 22' Max Wilkins
  • Yellow card 34' Andrew Miller-Bell
  • Yellow card 49' Simon Carlson
 Stadium: NIU Soccer Complex
Attendance: 526
Referee: Calin Radosav
Assistant referees: Zachary Richter
Assistant referees: Besnik Rexhepi
Fourth official: Boris Vukovic

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 11 goals scored in 3 matches, for an average of 3.67 goals per match.

2 goals

  • Nick Markanich – Northern Illinois
  • Miguel Maynez – Northern Illinois

1 goal

  • Zach Buescher – Bowling Green
  • Jacob Erlandson – Bowling Green
  • Justin Guest – Georgia State
  • Max Wilkins – Georgia State
  • Pepe Martinez – Northern Illinois
  • Zachariah Thomas – Northern Illinois
  • Roque Viegas – Northern Illinois

All-Tournament team

Source:[6]

Player Team
Nick Markanich Northern Illinois
Pepe Martinez
Anthony Markanich
Roque Viegas
Ramon Munoz Georgia State
Gunther Rankenburg
Logan Luque
Jaker Erlandson Bowling Green
Zach Buescher
Ryan Baer West Virginia
Bjarne Thiesen

MVP in bold

References

  1. ^ "2019 Men's Soccer Championship". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  2. ^ "2021 Men's Soccer Championship". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  3. ^ "2019 Mid-American Conference Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  4. ^ "MAC Men's Soccer Regular Season Concludes, Championship Bracket is Set". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. November 4, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  5. ^ "2021 Mid-American Conference Men's Soccer Championship Bracket" (PDF). getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  6. ^ "NIU Claims First MAC Men's Soccer Title Since 2011". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. November 14, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2022.