2023 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season

2023 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportSoccer
DurationAugust 24, 2023 - October 31, 2023
Number of teams10
2024 MLS SuperDraft
Top draft pickMatthew Bell, 16th overall
Picked byReal Salt Lake
Regular Season
Season championsMarshall
Season MVPOffensive:Matthew Bell
Defensive:Morris Duggan
Goalkeeper:Gabriel Perrotta
Top scorerMarcus Caldeira (12)
Yutaro Tsukada (12)[1]
Tournament
ChampionsMarshall
  Runners-upWest Virginia
Finals MVPÁlvaro García Pascual
Sun Belt Conference men's soccer seasons
2023 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Marshall ‡ 7 – 2 – 0 18 – 3 – 0
No. 19 UCF + 6 – 2 – 1 10 – 4 – 2
No. 3 West Virginia + 5 – 1 – 3 17 – 3 – 4
No. 18 James Madison + 4 – 2 – 3 10 – 5 – 5
Kentucky + 3 – 3 – 3 8 – 8 – 4
Georgia State 3 – 4 – 2 6 – 7 – 5
South Carolina 3 – 4 – 2 6 – 9 – 3
Old Dominion 2 – 6 – 1 5 – 7 – 5
Georgia Southern 1 – 5 – 3 2 – 9 – 6
Coastal Carolina 1 – 6 – 2 3 – 9 – 3
As of December 12, 2023
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: Sun Belt

The 2023 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season will the 21st season of men's varsity soccer in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), as part of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season.

Previous season

Main article: 2022 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season

Kentucky won both the Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championship, marking the first time they have won either of the Sun Belt titles. It was Kentucky's seventh overall regular season championship and their sixth overall tournament championship. Kentucky earned the Sun Belt's automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, and Marshall earned an at-large bid. Kentucky was the top-overall seeded team in the entire tournament while Marshall was unseeded. Both teams reached the third round (Sweet 16) of the NCAA tournament before being eliminated.

Milo Yosef of Marshall was named the SBC Player of the Year. Oliver Semmle of Marshall was the first Sun Belt player to be selected in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, being drafted in the second round with the 41st overall pick by the Colorado Rapids.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Conway, South Carolina Coastal Carolina University Soccer Field 1,000
Georgia Southern Eagles Statesboro, Georgia Eagle Field 3,500
Georgia State Panthers Decatur, Georgia GSU Soccer Complex 1,892
James Madison Dukes Harrisonburg, Virginia Sentara Park 1,500
Kentucky Wildcats Lexington, Kentucky Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex 3,368
Marshall Thundering Herd Huntington, West Virginia Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex 1,006
Old Dominion Monarchs Norfolk, Virginia Old Dominion Soccer Complex 4,000
South Carolina Gamecocks Columbia, South Carolina Stone Stadium 5,700
UCF Knights Orlando, Florida UCF Soccer and Track Stadium 2,000
West Virginia Mountaineers Morgantown, West Virginia Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium 1,600

Coaches

Lee Squires was hired in December 2022 to become the Head Coach of the Georgia Southern Eagles.[2] Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2022 season

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Record at school SBC record Ref.
Coastal Carolina Shaun Docking Charleston Southern 26 326–167–52 (.646) 306–148–50 (.657) 19–8–6 (.667) [3]
Georgia Southern Lee Squires Lander 0 140–56–26 (.689) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) [4]
Georgia State Brett Surrency Georgia State (asst.) 14 135–92–16 (.588) 135–92–16 (.588) 25–13–5 (.640) [5]
James Madison Paul Zazenski James Madison (asst.) 6 – (–) – (–) – (–)
Kentucky Johan Cedergren Dartmouth (asst.) 12 – (–) – (–) – (–)
Marshall Chris Grassie Charleston (WV) 7 166–52–26 (.734) 67–32–18 (.650) 4–1–3 (.688) [6]
Old Dominion Alan Dawson North Carolina (asst.) 26 – (–) – (–) – (–)
South Carolina Tony Annan Atlanta United Academy 3 – (–) – (–) – (–)
UCF Scott Calabrese FIU 6 – (–) – (–) 0–0–0 (–)
West Virginia Dan Stratford Charleston (WV) 4 – (–) – (–) – (–)

Preseason

Preseason poll

The preseason poll will be released in late August 2023.

SBC preseason poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Kentucky 93 (6)
2 Marshall 91 (2)
3 West Virginia 77 (1)
4 UCF 68 (1)
5 South Carolina 49
6T Coastal Carolina 45
6T Georgia State 45
8 James Madison 40
9 Old Dominion 26
10 Georgia Southern 16

[7]

Preseason national polls

The preseason national polls were released in July and August 2023.[8]

United
Soccer 		Top Drawer
Soccer
Coastal Carolina — —
Georgia Southern — —
Georgia State — —
James Madison — —
Kentucky 3 (1) 6
Marshall 11 9
Old Dominion — —
South Carolina — —
UCF — —
West Virginia — —

Preseason awards

All−American Teams

USC 1st Team USC 2nd Team TDS 1st Team TDS 2nd Team CSN 1st Team CSN 2nd Team

Preseason All SBC

Position Player Class School
Goalkeeper Casper Mols So. Kentucky
Defender Anderson Rosa Sr. UCF
Max Miller So. Kentucky
Morris Duggan Sr. Marshall
Midfielder Gavin Williams So. Georgia State
Alex Karkowiak R-Jr. James Madison
Eythor Kjartansson So. Coastal Carolina
Andrew Erickson Sr. Kentucky
Forward Casper Grening Jr. Kentucky
Lucca Dourado Sr. UCF
Simon Carlson Sr. Georgia State
Matthew Bell So. Marshall

Regular season

National rankings

Main article: 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
NR Not Ranked
  Pre Wk
1		 Wk
2		 Wk
3		 Wk
4		 Wk
5		 Wk
6		 Wk
7		 Wk
8		 Wk
9		 Wk
10		 Wk
11		 Wk
12		 Wk
13		 Wk
14		 Wk
15		 Final
Coastal Carolina USC NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR None released NR
TDS NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Georgia Southern USC NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR None released NR
TDS NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Georgia State USC NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR None released NR
TDS NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
James Madison USC NR 17 8 9 12 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR None released 18
TDS NR NR NR 24 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 13 13 14 14 14
Kentucky USC 3 2 19 24 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR None released NR
TDS 6 5 9 11 25 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Marshall USC 11 5 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 6 4 1 None released 8
TDS 9 6 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 6 6 3 1 1 9 9 9
Old Dominion USC NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR None released NR
TDS NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
South Carolina USC NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR None released NR
TDS NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
UCF USC NV 13 6 5 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 12 None released 19
TDS NR NR 17 15 4 3 2 2 2 2 1 9 14 21 21 21 21
West Virginia USC NR NR 16 4 2 4 3 7 5 2 7 5 None released 3
TDS NR NR NR 10 2 7 4 10 6 1 4 2 2 2 1 1 3

Awards

Source:[9]

2023 Sun Belt Men's Soccer Individual Awards
Award Recipient(s)
Coach of the Year Scott Calabrese – UCF
Offensive Player of the Year Matthew Bell – Marshall
Defensive Player of the Year Morris Duggan – Marshall
Goalkeeper of the Year Gabriel Perrotta – Marshall
Newcomer of the Year Saku Heiskanen – UCF
Freshman of the Year Saku Heiskanen – UCF
2023 Sun Belt Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams
First Team Second Team

Player – School
Player - School
etc

Player - School
Player - School

MLS SuperDraft

Main article: 2024 MLS SuperDraft

The 2024 MLS SuperDraft was held on December 19, 2023.

Total picks by school

Team Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Comp. Total
Coastal Carolina 0 0 0 0 0
Georgia State 0 0 0 0 0
Georgia Southern 0 0 0 0 0
James Madison 0 0 0 0 0
Kentucky 0 0 1 0 1
Marshall 1 0 1 0 2
Old Dominion 0 0 0 0 0
South Carolina 0 0 0 0 0
UCF 0 1 0 0 1
West Virginia 3 0 0 0 3

List of selections

Round Pick # MLS team Player Position College Nationality Ref.
1 16 Real Salt Lake Matthew Bell FW Marshall Jamaica [10]
1 20 Minnesota United FC Marcus Caldeira FW West Virginia Canada [11]
1 25 Orlando City SC Yutaro Tsukada FW West Virginia Japan [12]
1 28 Los Angeles FC Jackson Lee GK West Virginia Australia [13]
2 43 Colorado Rapids Anderson Rosa DF UCF Brazil [14]
3 67 Minnesota United FC Morris Duggan DF Marshall Germany [15]
3 77 Atlanta United FC Casper Mols GK Kentucky Denmark [16]

References

  1. ^ https://sunbeltsports.org/documents/2023/8/24//2023_SBC_Men_s_Soccer_Statistics.pdf
  2. ^ "Georgia Southern Tabs Lee Squires as Men's Soccer Coach". 14 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Shaun Docking - Men's Soccer Coach". goccusports.com.
  4. ^ "Lee Squires - Men's Soccer Coach". gseagles.com.
  5. ^ "2022 MSOC Record Book" (PDF). georgiastatesports.com. December 12, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  6. ^ "Chris Grassie - Men's Soccer Coach". herdzone.com.
  7. ^ "Sun Belt Announces Men's Soccer Preseason Awards & Poll". 14 August 2023.
  8. ^ "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 DI Men — National". United Soccer Coaches. Kansas City, Missouri. August 1, 2023. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  9. ^ "2023 Sun Belt Men's Soccer Awards and All-Conference Teams Announced". 3 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Real Salt Lake Signs First-Round 2024 Draft Pick Matthew Bell". Major League Soccer. February 19, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  11. ^ Blain, Luke (January 9, 2024). "Marcus Caldeira announces return to WVU Men's Soccer". TheDAonline.com. The DA. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  12. ^ "Orlando City B signs MLS SuperDraft selection Yutaro Tsukada". OrlandoCitySC.com. Orlando City. March 15, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  13. ^ "Rhode Island FC Signee Drafted in First Round of MLS SuperDraft". RhodeIslandFC.com. Rhode Island FC. December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  14. ^ "Anderson Rosa Selected by Rapids in MLS SuperDraft 2024 Second Round".
  15. ^ "Minnesota United Signs MLS SuperDraft 2024 Pick Morris Duggan". Major League Soccer. February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  16. ^ "Casper Mols Drafted to Atlanta United FC in 2024 adidas MLS SuperDraft". 19 December 2023.