2021 Southern Conference men's soccer tournament

2021 Southern Conference men's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams7
Matches6
Attendance1,806
SiteCampus Sites (Higher seed)
ChampionsMercer (4th title)
Winning coachBrad Ruzzo (4th title)
MVPDylan Gaither (Mercer)
BroadcastESPN+
Southern Conference men's soccer tournament
«2020  2022»
2021 Southern Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
UNC Greensboro 5 – 1 – 0 13 – 4 – 1
Mercer ‡ 4 – 1 – 1 10 – 8 – 1
Belmont 4 – 2 – 0 13 – 4 – 1
Furman 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 9 – 1
East Tennessee State 1 – 3 – 2 4 – 7 – 3
Wofford 1 – 4 – 1 5 – 10 – 1
VMI 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 16 – 1
As of December 14, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: SoCon

The 2021 Southern Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Southern Conference held from November 1 through November 14, 2021. The tournament was held at campus sites, with the higher seed hosting. The seven-team single-elimination tournament consisted of four rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The UNC Greensboro Spartans were the defending champions but were unable to defend their crown, losing 2–1 in the Semifinals to the Belmont Bruins.[1] The Mercer Bears were the tournament champions, defeating Belmont 4–3 in the final.[2] This was the fourth Southern Conference tournament title for the Mercer men's soccer program, all four of which have come under coach Brad Ruzzo.[3] As tournament champions, Mercer earned the Southern Conference's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.

Seeding

All seven Southern Conference 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. Tiebreakers were required to determine the third and fourth seeds as Belmont and Furman finished with identical 4–2–0 records. Furman earned the third seed by virtue of defeating Belmont during the regular season 2–1.[4]

Seed School Conference Record Points
1 UNC Greensboro 5–1–0 15
2 Mercer 4–1–1 13
3 Furman 4–2–0 12
4 Belmont 4–2–0 12
5 East Tennessee State 1–3–2 5
6 Wofford 1–4–1 4
7 VMI 0–6–0 0

Bracket

Source:[5]

Schedule

First Round

November 1, 2021 #6 Wofford 2–0 #7 VMI Spartanburg, SC
7:00 p.m. ET
  • Jackson Worbel 13'
  • Charlie Harris 88'
 Report
  • Yellow card 76' Jakub Mihulka
  • Yellow card 78' Drew Menges
  • Yellow card 84' Nathan Lam
 Stadium: Snyder Field
Attendance: 134
Referee: Kyle Johnston
Assistant referees: Khadine Sabara
Assistant referees: Tarik Veledar
Fourth official: Joe Kirkpatrick

Quarterfinals

November 5, 2021 #4 Belmont 1–0 #5 East Tennessee State Greensboro, NC
6:00 p.m. ET
  • AJ Chastonay 18', Yellow card 75'
  • Niccolo Dagnoni Yellow card 74'
 Report Stadium: UNCG Soccer Stadium
Attendance: 259
Referee: Brandon Marion
Assistant referees: Khadime Sabara
Assistant referees: Robert Velbis
Fourth official: Jude Carr
November 5, 2021 #3 Furman 3–1 #6 Wofford Macon, GA
7:00 p.m. ET
  • Miles Fenton 10'
  • Alfredo Diaz-Santillan 48'
  • Jake Raine 56'
 Report
  • Red card 17' Christoffer Saietz
  • Yellow card 29' Jackson Wrobel
  • Yellow card 36' Hugo Moldin
  • 80' Nic Parker
 Stadium: Betts Stadium
Attendance: 40
Referee: Brian Miller
Assistant referees: Rick Rogers
Assistant referees: James McKean
Fourth official: Brandon Adams

Semifinals

November 7, 2021 #2 Mercer 4–0 #3 Furman Macon, GA
2:00 p.m. ET
Report
  • Yellow card 62' Arnor Adalsteinsson
  • Yellow card 68' Ivan Agyaakwah
  • Red card 77' Josh Hosie
  • Yellow card 77' Jacob Garzon
  • Yellow card 78' Garrett Singletary
 Stadium: Betts Stadium
Attendance: 200
Referee: David Erbacher
Assistant referees: Kevin Flynn
Assistant referees: Benjamin Ellis
Fourth official: Patrick Lama
November 7, 2021 #1 UNC Greensboro 1–2 #4 Belmont Greensboro, NC
6:00 p.m. ET
  • Emmanuel Hagan Yellow card 84'
  • Fernando Garcia 86'
 Report
  • Yellow card 40' Davis Eddleman
  • 59' Jack Shaw
  • 72' Liam O'Brien
 Stadium: UNCG Soccer Stadium
Attendance: 823
Referee: Dimitar Chavdarov
Assistant referees: Benjamin Wooten
Assistant referees: Jeremy Smith
Fourth official: Clive Edwards

Final

November 14, 2021 #2 Mercer 4–3 #4 Belmont Macon, GA
2:00 p.m.
Report
  • 20', 21' Liam O'Brien
  • 80', Yellow card 83' Esteban Lestido
 Stadium: Betts Stadium
Attendance: 350
Referee: Brandon Adams
Assistant referees: Zachary McWhorter
Assistant referees: John Rush
Fourth official: Carmen Serbio

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 21 goals scored in 6 matches, for an average of 3.5 goals per match.

5 goals

3 goals

  • Liam O'Brien – Belmont

1 goal

  • AJ Chastonay – Belmont
  • Esteban Lestido – Belmont
  • Jack Shaw – Belmont
  • Alfredo Diaz-Santillan – Furman
  • Miles Fenton – Furman
  • Jake Raine – Furman
  • Michael Ille – Mercer
  • Logan Longo – Mercer
  • Trevor Martineau – Mercer
  • Fernando Garcia – UNC Greensboro
  • Charlie Harris – Wofford
  • Nic Parker – Wofford
  • Jackson Worbel – Wofford

All-Tournament team

Source:[6]

Player Team
Jacob Garzon Furman
Alfredo Diaz-Santillan
JC Ngando UNCG
Fernando Garcia
Drew Romig Belmont
Niccolo Dagnoni
Liam O'Brien
Ousman Jabang Mercer
Trevor Martineau
Bryant Jackson
Dylan Gaither

MVP in bold

References

  1. ^ "2020-21 Men's Soccer Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  2. ^ "2021 Men's Soccer Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "Southern Conference Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). soconsports.com. Southern Conference. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  4. ^ "UNCG secures regular-season title; Spartans earn No. 1 seed". soconsports.com. Southern Conference. October 30, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  5. ^ "2021 Men's Soccer Championship" (PDF). soconsports.com. Southern Conference. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  6. ^ "No. 2 Mercer wins 2021 SoCon Men's Soccer Championship". Southern Conference. November 14, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.