2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament
The 2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament was the 5th edition of the American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament decides the American Athletic Conference champion and guaranteed representative into the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The tournament was played at Westcott Field on the campus of SMU in Dallas on November 10 and 12.[1]
| 2017 American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tournament Logo | |||||
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 4 | ||||
| Matches | 3 | ||||
| Site | Westcott Field Dallas, Texas | ||||
| Champions | SMU (1st title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Kevin Hudson (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Emil Cuello (Offensive) (SMU) Jordan Cano (Defensive) (SMU) | ||||
| Broadcast | American Digital Network, ESPNU | ||||
| |||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 SMU ‡ | 5 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 17 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCF | 4 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 8 | – | 6 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connecticut | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 8 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temple | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 8 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Florida | 3 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 6 | – | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 8 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis | 2 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 4 | – | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | 0 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 9 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding and format
The teams are seeded based on their performance in the conference's round-robin regular season. The top four teams qualify for the event.
| Seed | Team | W | L | T | Pct | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMU | 5 | 1 | 1 | .786 | 16 |
| 2 | UCF | 4 | 2 | 1 | .643 | 13 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 12 |
| 4 | Temple | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 12 |
Results
Semifinals
| No. 2 UCF Knights | 1–0 | No. 3 Connecticut Huskies |
|---|---|---|
| Pyysalo 42' Sorokin 73' Stiegwardt 80' |
Report | Burnett 42' |
| No. 1 SMU Mustangs | 4–0 | No. 4 Temple Owls |
|---|---|---|
| Cuello 3' Cano 5' Ponder 53' Hernandez 59' Williams, Jr. 85' |
Sigthórsson 5' 35' Grasella 53' |
Championship
| No. 1 SMU Mustangs | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | No. 2 UCF Knights |
|---|---|---|
| Cano 77' Cuello 80' 96' |
Report | Steineger 66' Jennings 86' Ponder 87' (o.g.) |
Broadcasting
The semifinals were streamed live on the American Digital Network. The final was carried live on ESPNU.
Statistics
Awards
Most valuable players
- Emil Cuello (Offensive) (SMU)
- Jordan Cano (Defensive) (SMU)
All-Tournament team
The following 11 players were named to the American Athletic Conference's All-Tournament team. A record six players from SMU were selected for the team.[4]
| Player | Nat. | School | Position | Class | Hometown (High school/Previous college/Previous club) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Perez | FRA | UCF | MF | Fr. | Villennes-sur-Seine, France (Lycee Jeanne d'Albert) |
| Matias Pyysalo | FIN | UCF | MF | Jr. | Helsinki, Finland (HJK Helsinki) |
| Andreas Steineger | NOR | UCF | DF | Fr. | Oslo, Norway (The Norwegian High School for Elite Sports) |
| Yoni Sorokin | ISR | UCF | MF | Fr. | Jerusalem, Israel (Denmark High School) |
| Abdou Mbacke Thiam | SEN | Connecticut | FW | Jr. | Dakar, Senegal |
| Jordan Cano | USA | SMU | DF | So. | Frisco, Texas (Lone Star High School) |
| Bryce Clark | USA | SMU | MF | So. | Los Gatos, California (Los Gatos High School) |
| Emil Cuello | USA | SMU | MF | So. | Orem, Utah (Orem High School) |
| Nicky Hernandez | USA | SMU | FW | Fr. | Dallas, Texas (Dallas Texans) |
| Michael Nelson | USA | SMU | GK | RS So. | Katy, Texas (Seven Lakes) |
| Jared Rice | USA | SMU | DF | Sr. | Plano, Texas (Plano East Senior High School) |
References
- "2017 American Men's Soccer Championship Bracket Announced". American Athletic Conference. theamerican.org. November 5, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- "Box Score: UConn (8-8-2) vs. UCF (8-5-2)". UCF Knights. ucfknights.com. November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
- "AAC Semifinal: No. 4 Temple vs. No. 1 SMU AAC Men's Soccer Championship". American Athletic Conference StatBroadcast. StatBroadcast® Systems. November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
- "SMU Wins 2017 American Men's Soccer Championship". theamerican.org.