2021 WAC men's soccer tournament

2021 WAC men's soccer tournament
2021 WAC men's soccer tournament
Classification	Division I
Teams	6
Matches	5
Attendance	905
Site	GCU Stadium; Phoenix, Arizona
Champions	Seattle (5th title)
Winning coach	Pete Fewing (5th title)
MVP	Noe Meza (Seattle)
Broadcast	ESPN+
WAC men's soccer tournament
«2020	2022»

The 2021 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Western Athletic Conference held from November 10 to November 14, 2021. The five-match tournament took place at GCU Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona on the campus of Grand Canyon University. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular-season divisional conference play. The defending champions were the Air Force Falcons.^[1] Air Force was unable to defend their crown, falling 2–2 in a penalty shoot-out against San Jose State in the First Round. Seattle went on to win the title over Grand Canyon in a penalty shoot-out.^[2] This was Seattle's fifth WAC Tournament victory in program history all of which have come under head coach Pete Fewing.^[3] As tournament champions, Seattle earned the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

2021 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Grand Canyon +	9	–	2	–	0	15	–	4	–	1
Seattle †	8	–	3	–	0	13	–	8	–	1
Air Force	8	–	3	–	0	10	–	8	–	1
San Jose State	7	–	2	–	2	10	–	7	–	3
California Baptist ^#	6	–	3	–	2	11	–	4	–	3
Utah Valley	6	–	4	–	0	9	–	6	–	2
Texas–Rio Grande Valley	5	–	5	–	0	8	–	9	–	0
Incarnate Word	4	–	6	–	1	5	–	10	–	2
Dixie State ^#	3	–	7	–	1	4	–	13	–	1
UNLV	3	–	8	–	0	7	–	11	–	0
Houston Baptist	2	–	9	–	0	4	–	14	–	0
Chicago State	0	–	9	–	2	2	–	13	–	3


† – 2021 WAC Tournament Champion + – At-large invitation to the 2021 NCAA tournament # – Ineligible (In transition) As of December 14, 2021 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: WAC

Seeding

Six of the twelve Western Athletic Conference men's soccer programs qualified for the 2021 Tournament. California Baptist and Dixie State were not eligible for the tournament as they transition to Division I. California Baptist would have been the 5th seed if they were eligible. Teams were seeded based on their regular season records. Tiebreakers were used to determine the seedings of teams who finished with identical conference records. A tiebreaker was required to determine the 2nd and 3rd seed as Seattle and Air Force finished with identical 8–3–0 records. Seattle earned the second seed by virtue of a 2–1 victory over Seattle on October 16.^[4]

Seed	School	Conference Record	Points
1	Grand Canyon	9–2–0	27
2	Seattle	8–3–0	24
3	Air Force	8–3–0	24
4	San Jose State	7–2–2	23
5	Utah Valley	6–4–0	24
6	Texas–Rio Grande Valley	5–5–0	15

Bracket

Source:^[5]

First round Wednesday, Nov. 10			Semifinals Friday, Nov. 12			Final Sunday, Nov. 14

			1	Grand Canyon	4
4	San Jose State	4	4	San Jose State	1
5	Utah Valley	3				1	Grand Canyon	2 (3)
						2	Seattle (pen.)	2 (4)
			2	Seattle	4
3	Air Force	1	3	Air Force	3
6	Texas–Rio Grande Valley	0

Schedule

First round

November 10, 2021	#4 San Jose State	4–3	#5 Utah Valley	Phoenix, AZ
4:30 p.m.	Max Allen 21' (pen.) Ryota Nakashima 29' Rudi Casto 41', 49' Willy Miranda 55', 60'	Report	4' James Pena 13' Aaron Nixon 23' Jojea Kwizera 81' Mark Brown 90' Min Kang	Stadium: GCU Stadium Referee: Arturo Ibarra Assistant referees: Robi Hullner Assistant referees: Edwin Jimenez Fourth official: Anthony Bersano

November 10, 2021	#3 Air Force	1–0	#6 Texas–Rio Grande Valley	Phoenix, AZ
7:30 p.m.	Ayman Bushara 71' Jake Chaffetz 86', 90'	Report		Stadium: GCU Stadium Attendance: 195 Referee: Jeff Artholtz Assistant referees: Paul Nothman Assistant referees: Corey Rockwell Fourth official: Charles Farr

Semifinals

November 12, 2021	#1 Grand Canyon	4–1	#4 San Jose State	Phoenix, AZ
4:30 p.m.	Shaun-Chris Joash 56' Rey Gaytan 75' Cameron Weller 83' Justin Rasmussen 88'	Report	77' Rudi Castro 77' Kameron Bolden	Stadium: GCU Stadium Referee: Jeff Arthurholtz Assistant referees: Jason Ulrich Assistant referees: Mark Novosel Fourth official: Richard Gramolini

November 12, 2021	#2 Seattle	4–3	#3 Air Force	Phoenix, AZ
7:30 p.m.	Hal Uderitz 23' (pen.), 38' Noe Meza 34' Levonte Johnson 87' James Morris 90'	Report	57', 59' Thaddaeus Dewing 63' Tristan Trager 88' Tyler Johnson	Stadium: GCU Stadium Attendance: 710 Referee: Arturo Ibarra Assistant referees: Mario Coss Assistant referees: Keaton Jarvis Fourth official: Sam McConnell

Final

November 14, 2021	#1 Grand Canyon	2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	#2 Seattle	Phoenix, AZ
	Marios Andreou 35' Hugo Logan 37' Miguel Prado 63' Georg Bjarnason 71' Alejandro Fernandez Alcaide 73' Esai Easley 73' Shaun-Chris Joash 86', 110'	Report	57' Alex Acton-Petronotis 83' Hal Uderitz 83' Habib Barry 87' Sam Tessler 89' Noe Meza 110' Christian Koontz	Stadium: GCU Stadium Referee: Travis Haight Assistant referees: Corey Rockwell Assistant referees: Edwin Jimenez Fourth official: Mike Ambrose
	Penalties
	Justin Rasmussen Tosh Yasuda Esai Easley Maximilian Moeller Shaun-Chris Joash		James Morris Hal Uderitz Declan McGlynn Alex Acton-Petronotis

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 24 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 4.8 goals per match.

2 goals

Thaddaeus Dewing – Air Force
Shaun-Chris Joash – Grand Canyon
Rudi Castro – San Jose State
Noe Meza – Seattle

1 goal

Jake Chaffetz – Air Force
Tristan Trager – Air Force
Rey Gaytan – Grand Canyon
Hugo Logan – Grand Canyon
Justin Rasmussen – Grand Canyon
Cameron Weller – Grand Canyon
Max Allen – San Jose State
Willy Miranda – San Jose State
Ryota Nakashima – San Jose State
Levonte Johnson – Seattle
James Morris – Seattle
Sam Tessler – Seattle
Hal Uderitz – Seattle
Jojea Kwizera – Utah Valley
Aaron Nixon – Utah Valley
James Pena – Utah Valley

All-Tournament team

Source:^[6]

Player	Team
Noe Meza	Seattle
Hal Udertiz
James Morris
Levonte Johnson
Esai Easley	Grand Canyon
Rey Gaytan
Shaun-Chris Joash
Thaddeus Dewing	Air Force
Kainoa Likewise	Air Force
Rudi Casto	San Jose State
Jojea Kwizera	Utah Valley

MVP in bold

References

^ Western Athletic Conference. "2020-21 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved March 5, 2022.
^ Western Athletic Conference. "2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved March 5, 2022.
^ Western Athletic Conference. "2021 Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved March 5, 2022.
^ "Bracket Set for 2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. November 7, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
^ "2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament Bracket" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
^ "2021 WAC All-Tournament team Men's Soccer" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 5, 2022.

[1] Western Athletic Conference. "2020-21 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved March 5, 2022.

[2] Western Athletic Conference. "2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved March 5, 2022.

[3] Western Athletic Conference. "2021 Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved March 5, 2022.

[4] "Bracket Set for 2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. November 7, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.

[5] "2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament Bracket" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 5, 2022.

[6] "2021 WAC All-Tournament team Men's Soccer" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 5, 2022.

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