2023 Horizon League men's soccer tournament

2023 Horizon League men's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams6
Matches5
Attendance1,387
SiteOakland Soccer Field
Rochester, Michigan
(Semifinals & Final)
ChampionsGreen Bay (2nd title)
Winning coachJeremy Bonomo (1st title)
MVPKeegan Walker (Green Bay)
BroadcastESPN+
Horizon League men's soccer tournament
«2022  2024»
2023 Horizon League men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Oakland 6 3 0 8 9 2
Green Bay 5 2 2 10 4 5
IUPUI 4 2 3 7 7 5
Detroit Mercy 4 3 2 5 10 3
Purdue Fort Wayne 3 3 3 7 6 4
Wright State 3 4 2 4 9 5
Robert Morris 3 4 2 5 6 5
Cleveland State 2 3 4 3 8 5
Northern Kentucky 3 6 0 4 10 3
Milwaukee 2 5 2 4 9 4
As of December 12, 2023
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: Horizon

The 2023 Horizon League men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Horizon League. It was held from November 5 through November 11, 2023. The quarterfinals of the tournament were held at campus sites, while semifinals and final took place at Oakland Soccer Field in Rochester, Michigan. The six team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Cleveland State Vikings were the defending champions.[1] They were unable to defend their crown, as they didn't qualify for the tournament with their eighth place regular season finish. Green Bay would finish as tournament champions after defeating top seed Oakland 1–0 in the Final.[2][3] This was the second overall title for Green Bay and first for head coach Jeremy Bonomo.[4] As tournament champions, Green Bay earned the Horizon League's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.

Seeding

Six Horizon League schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record. The top two seeds received byes to the Semifinals and the number one seed hosted the Semifinals and Final. A tiebreaker was required to determine the sixth seed as Robert Morris and Wright State finished the regular season with identical 3–4–2 regular season records. The two teams played to a 1–1 draw on October 7 in their regular season match up. Both teams lost to top seed Oakland, so record versus the second seed, Green Bay, was the third tiebreaker. Robert Morris drew with Green Bay 1–1 and Wright State defeated Green Bay 2–0 and therefore was the sixth seed. Robert Morris was the seventh seed and did not qualify for the tournament.[5]

Seed School Conference Record Points
1 Oakland 6–3–0 18
2 Green Bay 5–2–2 17
3 IUPUI 4–2–3 15
4 Detroit Mercy 4–3–2 14
5 Purdue Fort Wayne 3–3–3 12
6 Wright State 3–4–2 11

Bracket

Source:[6]

Quarterfinals
Sunday, Nov. 5
Semifinals
Thursday, Nov. 9
Final
Saturday, Nov. 11
1 Oakland 1
4 Detroit Mercy 0 5 Purdue Fort Wayne 0
5 Purdue Fort Wayne 1 1 Oakland 0
2 Green Bay 1
2 Green Bay 2
3 IUPUI 1 3 IUPUI 1
6 Wright State 0

Schedule

Quarterfinals

November 5 #3 IUPUI 1–0 #6 Wright State Indianapolis, IN
1:00 p.m. ET
  • Dominic Breidenbach Yellow card 23'
  • Kenshiro Yamaguchi 41'
  • Gjis Velings Yellow card 81'
Report
  • Yellow card 19' Jacob Adams
  • Yellow card 44' Chris Geddis
  • Yellow card 83' Cole Werthmuller
Stadium: Carroll Stadium
Attendance: 254
Referee: Nick Balcer
Assistant referees: Justin Tatsak
Assistant referees: Christian Little
Fourth official: Brian Alvarez
November 5 #4 Detroit Mercy 0–1 #5 Purdue Fort Wayne Detroit, MI
1:00 p.m. ET
  • Marco Navarro Yellow card 69'
Report
  • Yellow card 27' Clayton Lafayette
  • Yellow card 66' Saeid Jannoun
  • 67' Marco Valencia
Stadium: Titan Field
Attendance: 430
Referee: Donovan Noocha
Assistant referees: Jacob Little
Assistant referees: Steve Seward
Fourth official: Eshan Varzidehkartehrani

Semifinals

November 9 #1 Oakland 1–0 #5 Purdue Fort Wayne Rochester, MI
1:00 p.m. ET
  • Ville Ahloa Yellow card 14'
  • Owen Smith 25'
  • Micah Sonnenberg Yellow card 64'
  • Marco Mazzei Yellow card 76'
Report
  • Yellow card 17' Daniel Tareke
  • Yellow card 62' Marc Rodriguez
  • Yellow card 63' Luke Morrell
  • Yellow card 63' Adam Hunt
  • Yellow card 73' Juan Romero
Stadium: Oakland Soccer Field
Attendance: 259
Referee: Calin Radosav
Assistant referees: Eulogio Villalpando
Assistant referees: Adam Herges
Fourth official: Steve Besk
November 9 #2 Green Bay 2–1 #3 IUPUI Rochester, MI
4:00 p.m. ET
  • Chris Album Yellow card 21'
  • Luca Contestabile Yellow card 22'
  • Keegan Walker 33'
  • Andrew Paolucci 41'
Report
  • Yellow card 40' Josemir Gomez
  • 66' Logan Finnegan
  • Yellow card 68' Ethan Vermillion
Stadium: Oakland Soccer Field
Attendance: 64
Referee: Dimitrios Kastimingos
Assistant referees: Art Arustamyan
Assistant referees: Khalaf Al-Latayefh Malkawi
Fourth official: Steve Besk

Final

November 11 #1 Oakland 0–1 #2 Green Bay Rochester, MI
1:00 p.m. ET
  • Sebastian Nuzzo Yellow card 89'
Report
  • 25', Yellow card 47' Chris Album
  • Yellow card 75' Hesron Barry
Stadium: Oakland Soccer Field
Attendance: 380
Referee: Sorin Stoica
Assistant referees: Ali Zolgharnain
Assistant referees: Vincent Ragone
Fourth official: Steve Besk

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 7 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 1.4 goals per match (as of November 11, 2023).

1 goal

  • Chris Album – Green Bay
  • Andrew Paolucci – Green Bay
  • Keegan Walker – Green Bay
  • Logan Finnegan – IUPUI
  • Kenshiro Yamaguchi – IUPUI
  • Owen Smith – Oakland
  • Marco Valencia – Purdue Fort Wayne

All-Tournament team

Source:[7]

Player Team
Chris Album Green Bay
Rohin Kapila
Christoph Schurz
Keegan Walker
Josemir Gomez IUPUI
Lukas Hackaa
Carson Ballagh Oakland
Marco Mazzei
Owen Smith
Max Collingwood Purdue Fort Wayne
Juan Romero

MVP in bold

References

  1. ^ "2022 Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship". horizonleague.org. Horizon League. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  2. ^ "2023 Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship". horizonleague.org. Horizon League. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  3. ^ Venci, Scott (November 13, 2023). "The UWGB men's soccer team clinched an NCAA tournament berth behind its star defense. Now, the Phoenix wants a win". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  4. ^ "Horizon League Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). horizonleague.org. Horizon League. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  5. ^ "Oakland Earns No. 1 Seed as 2023 #HLMSOC Championship Bracket Revealed". horizonleague.com. Horizon League. November 1, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  6. ^ "2023 Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship Bracket" (PDF). horizonleague.org. Horizon League. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  7. ^ "Green Bay Claims 2023 #HLMSOC Championship". horizonleague.org. Horizon League. November 11, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2024.