Mid-American Conference men's soccer tournament

Mid-American Conference
men's soccer tournament (defunct)
SportCollege soccer
ConferenceMid-American Conference
Number of teams2 (in final season)
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Played1994–2019, 2021–2022
Last contest2022
Current championWestern Michigan
Most championshipsAkron (15)
TV partner(s)ESPN3
Official websitegetsomemaction.com

The Mid-American Conference men's soccer tournament was the conference championship tournament in soccer for the Mid-American Conference. The tournament was held every year from 1994 until 2019. It was a single-elimination tournament and seeding was based on regular season records. The winner, declared conference champion, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's soccer championship.

Starting in 2020, the tournament was canceled, and the regular-season champion was declared the conference champion, which was intended to remain in effect until at least 2024. This was in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] However, in 2021 the Conference resumed hosting the tournament.

The MAC discontinued sponsorship of men's soccer at the end of the 2022 season. Conference realignment in the 2020s had decimated MAC men's soccer, leaving it with only five members (four full members plus one single-sport affiliate) in 2022. With no prospect of adding the sixth member needed to preserve the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the MAC shut down its league.[2] In the final season, the tournament, which had featured four teams for its most recent editions, was reduced to a championship game featuring the top two teams in the conference standings.

Akron remains as the most winning team of the tournament with 15 titles.

Winners

The following is a list of MAC Tournament winners:[3]

Key
  • (1) – Title number
  •   – Match went to extra time
  •   – Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time
  •   – Winning team won regular season

Finals

Source:[4]

Ed. Year Champion Score Runner-up Venue City MVP
1
 1994 Miami (OH) (1) 3–1 (a.e.t.) Bowling Green Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Dan Creech (Miami)
2
 1995 Bowling Green (1) 2–0 Akron WMU Soccer Complex Kalamazoo, Mi Steve Klein (Bowling Green)
3
 1996 Bowling Green (2) 4–0 Kentucky Cochrane Stadium Bowling Green, Oh
4
 1997 Bowling Green (3) 1–0 Akron Miami Soccer Field Oxford, Oh
5
 1998 Akron (1) 4–1 Bowling Green Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Michael Apple (Akron)
6
 1999 Kentucky (1) 2–1 Northern Illinois UK Soccer Complex Lexington, Ky Lee Baker (Kentucky)
7
 2000 Kentucky (2) 1–0 Bowling Green Cochrane Stadium Bowling Green, Oh Ilkka Jäntti (Kentucky)
8
 2001 Kentucky (3) 1–0 (a.e.t.) Akron UK Soccer Complex Lexington, Ky John Monebrake (Kentucky)
9
 2002 Akron (2) 4–1 Bowling Green Cochrane Stadium Bowling Green, Oh Kirk Harwat (Akron)
10
 2003 Western Michigan (1) 5–0 Bowling Green WMU Soccer Complex Kalamazoo, Mi Scott Duhl (Western Michigan)
12
 2004 Akron (3) 6–1 Western Michigan Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Alex Odwell (Akron)
13
 2005 Akron (4) 0–0 (8–7 p) Buffalo Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Ross McKenzie (Akron)
14
 2006 Northern Illinois (1) 1–0 Akron NIU Soccer Complex DeKalb, Il Joe Zimka (Northern Illinois)
15
 2007 Akron (5) 1–0 (a.e.t.) Buffalo Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Cory Sipos (Akron)
16
 2008 Akron (6) 1–0 (a.e.t.) Northern Illinois Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Steve Zakuani (Akron)
17
 2009 Akron (7) 2–1 Hartwick Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Teal Bunbury (Akron)
18
 2010 Akron (8) 4–0 Western Michigan Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Darren Mattocks (Akron)
19
 2011 Northern Illinois (2) 1–0 Western Michigan Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Sean Totsch (Northern Illinois)
20
 2012 Akron (9) 2–0 Northern Illinois Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Scott Caldwell (Akron)
21
 2013 Akron (10) 2–1 West Virginia Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Aodhan Quinn (Akron)
22
 2014 Akron (11) 2–1 Bowling Green Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Adam Najem (Akron)
23
 2015 Akron (12) 1–0 Buffalo Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Adam Najem (Akron)
24
 2016 Akron (13) 2–1 Buffalo Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Nick Hinds (Akron)
25
 2017 Akron (14) 3–1 Western Michigan WMU Soccer Complex Kalamazoo, Mi Stuart Holthusen (Akron)
26
 2018 Akron (15) 3–0 Western Michigan Dlesk Stadium Morgantown, WV Marcel Zajac (Akron)
27
 2019 West Virginia (1) 1–0 Bowling Green Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Steven Tekesky (West Virginia)
–
 2020 (No tournament held due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United States)
28
 2021 Northern Illinois (3) 2–1 (a.e.t.) Georgia State NIU Soccer Complex DeKalb, Il Nick Markanich (NIU)
29
 2022 Western Michigan (2) 2–1 Akron Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Charlie Sharp (Western Michigan)

Performance by school

Source:[5]

School Titles Winning years
Akron 15 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Bowling Green 3 1995, 1996, 1997
Kentucky 3 1999, 2000, 2001
NIU 3 2006, 2011, 2021
Western Michigan 2 2003, 2022
Miami† 1 1994
West Virginia 1 2019
TOTAL 27

Italics indicate a school that was not a conference member in the MAC's final men's soccer season

† No longer sponsor men's soccer

References

  1. ^ Strack, Jordan (May 12, 2020). "Major changes coming to Mid-American Conference". Toledo, OH: WTOL. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "MAC to Suspend Sponsoring Men's Soccer Following 2022 Season" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  3. ^ "2015 Mid-American Conference Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. MAC-Sports.com. August 27, 2016. pp. 27–52. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  4. ^ "2016 MAC Men's Soccer Record Book - Mid-American Conference Championship Results" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. MAC-Sports.com. August 27, 2016. pp. 49–53. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  5. ^ "History of Mid-American Conference Champions: MAC Tournament Titles By School" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. MAC-Sports.com. August 27, 2016. p. 29. Retrieved January 9, 2017.