The 2018 American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament was the 6th edition of the American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament decided the American Athletic Conference champion and guaranteed representative into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The tournament began on November 6 and concluded on November 10.[1]
| 2018 American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tournament Logo | |||||
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 6 | ||||
| Matches | 5 | ||||
| Site | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium Orlando, Florida | ||||
| Champions | SMU (2nd title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Kevin Hudson (2nd title) | ||||
| MVP | Offensive: Emil Cuello (SMU) Defensive: Grant Makela (SMU) | ||||
| Broadcast | American Digital Network, ESPN3 | ||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 UCF + | 5 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 13 | – | 3 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SMU ‡+ | 5 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 5 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Florida | 4 | – | 1 | – | 2 | 7 | – | 8 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connecticut + | 3 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 12 | – | 6 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis | 2 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 8 | – | 7 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temple | 2 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 10 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 9 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 14 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In a rematch of the 2017 AAC championship, defending champions, SMU, successfully defended their title. The final match was a 1-1 draw in regulation before SMU bested UCF in penalty kicks to claim their second-ever AAC championship. SMU midfielder, Emil Cuello was named the Offensive Most valuable player of the tournament, while SMU's Grant Makela was named the Defensive Most valuable player of the tournament.
As champions, SMU earned the conference's automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Tournament. In addition to SMU, regular season champions and tournament runners-up, UCF earned an at-large bid, as well as Connecticut. In the NCAA Tournament, SMU was eliminated in the first round by Oregon State. Connecticut beat Rhode Island in the first round before losing to Indiana in the second round. UCF was seeded 14th in NCAA Tournament, and earned a second round bye. There, UCF lost to Lipscomb in overtime.
Seeds
edit| Seed[2] | School | Conference | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCF | 5–1–1 | UCF 1–0 vs. SMU[3] |
| 2 | SMU | 5–1–1 | SMU 0–1 vs. UCF[3] |
| 3 | South Florida | 4–1–2 | |
| 4 | Connecticut | 3–2–2 | |
| 5 | Temple | 2–4–1 | Goal differential |
| 6 | Memphis | 2–4–1 | Goal differential |
Bracket
edit| First round Nov. 6 | Semifinals Nov. 8 | Final Nov. 10 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | UCF (2OT) | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Connecticut | 3 | 4 | Connecticut | 2 | |||||||||
| 5 | Temple | 1 | 1 | UCF | 1 (4) | |||||||||
| 2 | SMU (pen.) | 1 (5) | ||||||||||||
| 2 | SMU (OT) | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | South Florida | 1 | 6 | Memphis | 1 | |||||||||
| 6 | Memphis | 3 | ||||||||||||
Results
editFirst round
edit| No. 3 South Florida | 1–3 | No. 6 Memphis |
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Report |
| No. 4 Connecticut | 3–1 | No. 5 Temple |
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| Report |
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Semifinals
edit
| No. 1 UCF | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | No. 4 Connecticut |
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Report |
Final
edit
Statistics
editTop goalscorers
edit- 1 Goal
Christian Boorom – SMU- Josh Burnett – Connecticut
Dayonn Harris – Connecticut
Alexandros Ierides – Memphis- Cal Jennings – UCF
Andrés Hernández – UCF- Chris Mikus – Memphis
- Belal Mohamed — Temple
- Philip Ponder – SMU
- Gurman Sangha – Memphis
Max Stiegwardt – UCF
Akean Shackleford – SMU
Yoni Sorokin – UCF
Abdou Mbacke Thiam – Connecticut
Cole Venner – Connecticut
David Zalzman – Memphis- Alex Zis – South Florida
- Own goals
- Nick Sarver — Temple (playing against Connecticut)
Awards and honors
edit- Tournament Offensive MVP: Emil Cuello, SMU
- Tournament Defensive MVP: Grant Makela, SMU
All-Tournament team:[4]
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References
edit- ^ "2018 Men's Soccer Championship Central". theamerican.org. September 11, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^ "Bracket Set for the 2018 Men's Soccer Championship". theamerican.org. November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
- ^ a b "Mustangs Drop 2-0 Decision to Knights". smumustangs.com. September 28, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
- ^ "UNH Wins First-Ever #AEMSOC Title". theamerican.org. American Athletic Conference. November 11, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.