The 2021 Southern Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Southern Conference held from November 1 through November 14, 2021. The tournament was held at campus sites, with the higher seed hosting. The seven-team single-elimination tournament consisted of four rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The UNC Greensboro Spartans were the defending champions but were unable to defend their crown, losing 2–1 in the Semifinals to the Belmont Bruins.[1] The Mercer Bears were the tournament champions, defeating Belmont 4–3 in the final.[2] This was the fourth Southern Conference tournament title for the Mercer men's soccer program, all four of which have come under coach Brad Ruzzo.[3] As tournament champions, Mercer earned the Southern Conference's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.
| 2021 Southern Conference men's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 7 | ||||
| Matches | 6 | ||||
| Attendance | 1,806 | ||||
| Site | Campus Sites (Higher seed) | ||||
| Champions | Mercer (4th title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Brad Ruzzo (4th title) | ||||
| MVP | Dylan Gaither (Mercer) | ||||
| Broadcast | ESPN+ | ||||
| |||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UNC Greensboro | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer ‡ | 4 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 8 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Belmont | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Furman | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 9 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Tennessee State | 1 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wofford | 1 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 10 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VMI | 0 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 16 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: SoCon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding
editAll seven Southern Conference men's soccer programs qualified for the 2021 Tournament. Teams were seeded based on their regular season records. Tiebreakers were used to determine the seedings of teams who finished with identical conference records. Tiebreakers were required to determine the third and fourth seeds as Belmont and Furman finished with identical 4–2–0 records. Furman earned the third seed by virtue of defeating Belmont during the regular season 2–1.[4]
| Seed | School | Conference Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UNC Greensboro | 5–1–0 | 15 |
| 2 | Mercer | 4–1–1 | 13 |
| 3 | Furman | 4–2–0 | 12 |
| 4 | Belmont | 4–2–0 | 12 |
| 5 | East Tennessee State | 1–3–2 | 5 |
| 6 | Wofford | 1–4–1 | 4 |
| 7 | VMI | 0–6–0 | 0 |
Bracket
editSource:[5]
Schedule
editFirst Round
edit| November 1, 2021 | #6 Wofford | 2–0 | #7 VMI | Spartanburg, SC |
| 7:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Snyder Field Attendance: 134 Referee: Kyle Johnston Assistant referees: Khadine Sabara Tarik Veledar Fourth official: Joe Kirkpatrick |
Quarterfinals
edit| November 5, 2021 | #4 Belmont | 1–0 | #5 East Tennessee State | Greensboro, NC |
| 6:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report | Stadium: UNCG Soccer Stadium Attendance: 259 Referee: Brandon Marion Assistant referees: Khadime Sabara Robert Velbis Fourth official: Jude Carr |
| November 5, 2021 | #3 Furman | 3–1 | #6 Wofford | Macon, GA |
| 7:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Betts Stadium Attendance: 40 Referee: Brian Miller Assistant referees: Rick Rogers James McKean Fourth official: Brandon Adams |
Semifinals
edit| November 7, 2021 | #2 Mercer | 4–0 | #3 Furman | Macon, GA |
| 2:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Betts Stadium Attendance: 200 Referee: David Erbacher Assistant referees: Kevin Flynn Benjamin Ellis Fourth official: Patrick Lama |
| November 7, 2021 | #1 UNC Greensboro | 1–2 | #4 Belmont | Greensboro, NC |
| 6:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: UNCG Soccer Stadium Attendance: 823 Referee: Dimitar Chavdarov Assistant referees: Benjamin Wooten Jeremy Smith Fourth official: Clive Edwards |
Final
edit| November 14, 2021 | #2 Mercer | 4–3 | #4 Belmont | Macon, GA |
| 2:00 p.m. |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Betts Stadium Attendance: 350 Referee: Brandon Adams Assistant referees: Zachary McWhorter John Rush Fourth official: Carmen Serbio |
Statistics
editGoalscorers
editThere were 21 goals scored in 6 matches, for an average of 3.5 goals per match.
5 goals
- Dylan Gaither – Mercer
3 goals
- Liam O'Brien – Belmont
1 goal
- AJ Chastonay – Belmont
- Esteban Lestido – Belmont
- Jack Shaw – Belmont
- Alfredo Diaz-Santillan – Furman
- Miles Fenton – Furman
- Jake Raine – Furman
- Michael Ille – Mercer
- Logan Longo – Mercer
- Trevor Martineau – Mercer
- Fernando Garcia – UNC Greensboro
- Charlie Harris – Wofford
- Nic Parker – Wofford
- Jackson Worbel – Wofford
All-Tournament team
editSource:[6]
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Jacob Garzon | Furman |
| Alfredo Diaz-Santillan | |
| JC Ngando | UNCG |
| Fernando Garcia | |
| Drew Romig | Belmont |
| Niccolo Dagnoni | |
| Liam O'Brien | |
| Ousman Jabang | Mercer |
| Trevor Martineau | |
| Bryant Jackson | |
| Dylan Gaither |
MVP in bold
References
edit- ^ "2020-21 Men's Soccer Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ "2021 Men's Soccer Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
- ^ "Southern Conference Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). soconsports.com. Southern Conference. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
- ^ "UNCG secures regular-season title; Spartans earn No. 1 seed". soconsports.com. Southern Conference. October 30, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
- ^ "2021 Men's Soccer Championship" (PDF). soconsports.com. Southern Conference. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
- ^ "No. 2 Mercer wins 2021 SoCon Men's Soccer Championship". Southern Conference. November 14, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.