Mid-American Conference men's soccer tournament explained

Mid-American Conference
men's soccer tournament
Defunct:yes
Sport:College soccer
Conference:Mid-American Conference
Number Of Teams:2 (in final season)
Format:Single-elimination tournament
Years:1994–2019, 2021–2022
Most Recent:2022
Current Champion:Western Michigan
Most Championships:Akron (15)
Television:ESPN3
Website:getsomemaction.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]

Finals

Source:[4]

width= px style=""Ed.width= px style=""Yearwidth= px style=""Championwidth= px style=""Scorewidth= px style=""Runner-upwidth= px style=""Venue width= px style=""Citywidth= px style=""
1994Miami (OH) align=center bgcolor="FBCEB1"3–1 Akron, OhDan Creech (Miami)
1995Bowling Green 2–0Kalamazoo, MiSteve Klein (Bowling Green)
1996Bowling Green 4–0KentuckyBowling Green, Oh
1997Bowling Green 1–0Miami Soccer Field Oxford, Oh
1998Akron 4–1Bowling GreenAkron, Oh Michael Apple (Akron)
1999Kentucky 2–1Northern IllinoisLexington, KyLee Baker (Kentucky)
2000Kentucky 1–0Bowling GreenBowling Green, Oh Ilkka Jäntti (Kentucky)
2001Kentucky align=center bgcolor="FBCEB1"1–0 AkronUK Soccer Complex Lexington, KyJohn Monebrake (Kentucky)
2002Akron 4–1Bowling GreenCochrane Stadium Bowling Green, OhKirk Harwat (Akron)
2003Western Michigan 5–0Bowling GreenKalamazoo, MiScott Duhl (Western Michigan)
2004Akron 6–1Cub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Alex Odwell (Akron)
2005Akron align=center bgcolor=cedff20–0 BuffaloCub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Ross McKenzie (Akron)
2006Northern Illinois 1–0AkronJoe Zimka (Northern Illinois)
2007Akron align=center bgcolor="FBCEB1"1–0 BuffaloCub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Cory Sipos (Akron)
2008Akron align=center bgcolor="FBCEB1"1–0 Northern IllinoisCub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Steve Zakuani (Akron)
2009Akron 2–1HartwickCub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Teal Bunbury (Akron)
2010Akron 4–0Western MichiganCub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Darren Mattocks (Akron)
2011Northern Illinois 1–0Western MichiganCub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Sean Totsch (Northern Illinois)
2012Akron 2–0Northern IllinoisCub Cadet Field Akron, Oh Scott Caldwell (Akron)
2013Akron 2–1West VirginiaCub Cadet Field Akron, OhAodhan Quinn (Akron)
2014Akron 2–1Bowling GreenCub Cadet Field Akron, OhAdam Najem (Akron)
2015Akron 1–0BuffaloCub Cadet Field Akron, OhAdam Najem (Akron)
2016Akron 2–1BuffaloCub Cadet Field Akron, OhNick Hinds (Akron)
2017Akron 3–1WMU Soccer Complex Kalamazoo, MiStuart Holthusen (Akron)
2018Akron 3–0Western MichiganMorgantown, WVMarcel Zajac (Akron)
2019West Virginia 1–0Bowling GreenCub Cadet Field Akron, OhSteven Tekesky (West Virginia)
2020(No tournament held due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United States)
2021Northern Illinois align=center bgcolor="FBCEB1"2–1 Georgia StateNIU Soccer Complex DeKalb, IlNick Markanich (NIU)
2022Western Michigan align=center 2–1Cub Cadet Field Akron, OhCharlie Sharp (Western Michigan)

Performance by school

Source:[5]

width= px style=""Schoolwidth= px style=""Titleswidth= px style=""Winning years
Akronalign=center 151998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Bowling Greenalign=center 31995, 1996, 1997
Kentuckyalign=center 31999, 2000, 2001
NIUalign=center 32006, 2011, 2021
Western Michiganalign=center 22003, 2022
Miamialign=center 11994
West Virginiaalign=center 12019
TOTALalign=center 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

External links

Notes and References

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