2022 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season

2022 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season
2022 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Soccer
Number of teams	9
Regular Season
Tournament
Sun Belt Conference men's soccer seasons
	← 2020 2023 →

The 2022 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season was the 20th season of men's varsity soccer in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), marking the return of SBC men's soccer after a one-season hiatus.^[1] The season ended with the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament.

2022 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Kentucky‡	5	–	0	–	3	15	–	1	–	5
No. 12 Marshall+	4	–	1	–	3	11	–	4	–	4
Georgia State	4	–	2	–	2	12	–	4	–	3
West Virginia	3	–	1	–	4	7	–	7	–	4
Coastal Carolina	2	–	1	–	5	5	–	5	–	6
Old Dominion	3	–	4	–	1	6	–	8	–	2
James Madison	2	–	3	–	3	8	–	8	–	4
South Carolina	1	–	4	–	3	5	–	8	–	4
Georgia Southern	0	–	8	–	0	1	–	14	–	1

‡ – 2022 Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion + – At-large invitation to the 2022 NCAA tournament As of December 13, 2022 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: Sun Belt

Background

A major conference realignment initially triggered in July 2021 when Oklahoma and Texas announced their plans to leave the Big 12 Conference for the Southeastern Conference eventually led to the reinstatement of Sun Belt men's soccer. Further moves in this realignment cycle saw three men's soccer schools announce that they would join the SBC no later than 2023: Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) member James Madison, and then-reigning national champion Marshall and Old Dominion from Conference USA (C-USA). Accordingly, league commissioner Keith Gill announced on November 1, 2021, that SBC men's soccer would be reinstated no later than 2023.^[2]

Shortly after James Madison announced its departure for the SBC, the CAA invoked a provision of its bylaws to bar JMU from its conference championship events. This led the SBC to announce on February 2, 2022, that JMU would join the conference in July 2022 instead of 2023.^[3] The following month saw a legal dispute between C-USA and the three schools set to leave that league for the SBC (Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, with Southern Miss sponsoring soccer only for women) over their departure date. On March 29, C-USA and those schools reached a settlement that allowed them to join the SBC in July 2022.^[4] A little more than a week later on April 6, the SBC announced that men's soccer would be reinstated in 2022. The three incoming members were joined by existing full members Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, and Georgia State plus new associate members Kentucky, South Carolina, and West Virginia.^[5]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers	Conway, South Carolina	Coastal Carolina University Soccer Field	1,000
Georgia Southern Eagles	Statesboro, Georgia	Eagle Field	3,500
Georgia State Panthers	Decatur, Georgia	GSU Soccer Complex	1,892
James Madison Dukes	Harrisonburg, Virginia	Sentara Park	1,500
Kentucky Wildcats	Lexington, Kentucky	Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex	3,368
Marshall Thundering Herd	Huntington, West Virginia	Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex	1,006
Old Dominion Monarchs	Norfolk, Virginia	Old Dominion Soccer Complex	4,000
South Carolina Gamecocks	Columbia, South Carolina	Stone Stadium	5,700
West Virginia Mountaineers	Morgantown, West Virginia	Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium	1,600

Head coaches

Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2021 season

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	SBC record	NCAA Tournaments^[6]	NCAA College Cups^[6]	NCAA Titles^[6]
Coastal Carolina	Shaun Docking	Charleston Southern	24	318–159–45 (.652)	298–140–43 (.664)	17–7–1 (.700)	15	0	0
Georgia Southern	John Murphy	Anderson (SC)	7	102–97–25 (.511)	36–53–10 (.414)	10–13–2 (.440)	0	0	0
Georgia State	Brett Surrency	Jacksonville (asst.)	12	123–88–18 (.576)	123–88–16 (.577)	21–11–3 (.643)	3	0	0
James Madison	Paul Zazenski	James Madison (asst.)	5	112–41–14 (.713)	42–18–10 (.671)	0–0–0 (–)	3	0	0
Kentucky	Johan Cedergren	Dartmouth (asst.)	11	116–54–26 (.658)	116–54–26 (.658)	0–0–0 (–)	8	0	0
Marshall	Chris Grassie	Charleston (WV)	6	155–48–22 (.738)	56–28–14 (.643)	0–0–0 (–)	3	1	1
Old Dominion	Alan Dawson	North Carolina (asst.)	25	380–190–57 (.652)	251–160–46 (.600)	0–0–0 (–)	12	0	0
South Carolina	Tony Annan	Atlanta United Academy	2	5–9–2 (.375)	5–9–2 (.375)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
West Virginia	Dan Stratford	Charleston (WV)	3	79–10–12 (.842)	18–6–7 (.694)	0–0–0 (–)	1	0	0

Preseason

Recruiting classes

Rankings
Team	TDS	CSN	Signees
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
James Madison
Kentucky
Marshall
Old Dominion
South Carolina
West Virginia

Preseason Coaches polls

The 2022 SBC Preseason Poll was released on August 15, 2022. The league's head coaches ranked West Virginia as the preseason favorite, with 5 out of 9 first place votes.^[7] Full results of the poll are shown below:

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	West Virginia	5
2	Marshall	3
3	Kentucky	1
4	South Carolina
T-5	Coastal Carolina
T-5	James Madison
7	Georgia State
8	Old Dominion
9	Georgia Southern

Preseason awards

All−American Teams

	USC 1st Team	USC 2nd Team	TDS 1st Team	TDS 2nd Team	CSN 1st Team	CSN 2nd Team

Preseason All SBC

Position	Player	Class	School
Goalkeeper	Oliver Semmle	5th Year	Marshall
Defender	Luis Grassow	Senior	Kentucky
	Robert Screen	5th Year	Kentucky
	Gabriel Alves	Junior	Marshall
	Bjarne Thiesen	Junior	West Virginia
Midfielder	Ross Finnie	Senior	Georgia State
	Rodrigo Robles	Junior	James Madison
	Vinicius Fernandes	5th Year	Marshall
Forward	Alvaro Garcia-Pascual	Sophomore	Coastal Carolina
	Luca Erhardt	Senior	James Madison
	Eythor Bjorgolfsson	Senior	Kentucky
	Milo Yosef	Senior	Marshall

Preseason exhibitions

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
August 12	7:00 p.m.	No. 14 Marshall	Rio Grande (OH)	Evan Davis Soccer Field • Rio Grande, OH		Not reported
August 12	7:00 p.m.	UNCG	Old Dominion	ODU Soccer Complex • Norfolk, VA		T 0–0		[1]
August 12	7:00 p.m.	No. 6 West Virginia	Duquesne	Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field • Pittsburgh, PA		Not reported
August 13	7:00 p.m.	James Madison	VCU	Sports Backers Stadium • Richmond, VA	ESPN+	Not reported
August 14	7:00 p.m.	No. 15 Wake Forest	Coastal Carolina	CCU Soccer Field • Conway, SC		T 1–1
August 14	7:00 p.m.	Winthrop	Georgia Southern	Eagle Field at Erk Park • Statesboro, GA
August 14	7:15 p.m.	Radford	No. 14 Marshall	Hoops Family Field • Huntington, WV
August 16	11:00 a.m.	Richard Bland	Old Dominion	ODU Soccer Complex • Norfolk, VA		W 6–0
August 16	3:00 p.m.	Navy	James Madison	Sentara Park • Harrisonburg, VA
August 17	7:00 p.m.	No. 19 Virginia Tech	No. 6 West Virginia	Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium • Morgantown, WV (Rivalry)	B12N+
August 19	7:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	North Georgia	UNG Soccer Field • Dahlonega, GA
August 19	7:00 p.m.	No. 24 North Carolina	James Madison	Sentara Park • Harrisonburg, VA
August 19	7:30 p.m.	No. 14 Marshall	No. 20 Maryland	Ludwig Field • College Park, MD	BTN+	L 1–2	2,393	[2]
August 20	7:00 p.m.	NC State	Coastal Carolina	CCU Soccer Field • Conway, SC
August 20	7:00 p.m.	Old Dominion	UNCW	UNCW Soccer Stadium • Wilmington, NC
August 20	7:00 p.m.	No. 6 West Virginia	No. 15 Wake Forest	Spry Stadium • Winston-Salem, NC	ACCNX	T 0–0
^#Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. All times are in Eastern Time.

Regular season

The regular season will begin on August 25, 2022.

Rankings

National rankings

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25
NV		No votes received

		Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 13
Coastal Carolina	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
	CSN	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Georgia Southern	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
	CSN	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Georgia State	USC	RV	NV	NV	RV	RV	RV	NV	NV	NV	None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
	CSN	30	NV	NV	NV	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV
James Madison	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
	CSN	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Kentucky	USC	8	6	5	6	5	5	3	2	2	None released
	TDS	15	11	9	6	6	4	3	3	4
	CSN	10	6	3	5	7	5	5	3	3
Marshall	USC	14	11	8	7	4	3	6	4	6	None released
	TDS	RV	18	13	9	9	5	7	4	8
	CSN	17	12	11	8	8	6	8	4	6
Old Dominion	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
	CSN	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
South Carolina	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
	CSN	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
West Virginia	USC	6	18	23	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	None released
	TDS	7	4	10	21	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
	CSN	5	3	29	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV

Regional rankings - USC Southeast Region

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 10
NV		No votes received

The United Soccer Coaches' Southeast region ranks teams across the Atlantic 10 Conferences.

	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8
Coastal Carolina	6	7	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Georgia Southern	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Georgia State	9	6	6	5	5	5	7	6
James Madison	10	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Kentucky	3	1	2	2	2	1	1	1
Marshall	1	2	1	1	1	2	2	2
Old Dominion	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	10
South Carolina	NV	NV	9	10	8	7	8	8
West Virginia	2	5	7	7	NV	NV	NV	NV

References

^ "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall". April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
^ Traylor, Grant (November 1, 2021). "Sun Belt confirms men's soccer being reinstated". The Herald-Dispatch. Huntington, WV. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
^ "James Madison to Compete in the Sun Belt Conference Beginning Fall 2022" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. February 2, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
^ Thamel, Pete (March 29, 2022). "Move of Marshall, Old Dominion, Southern Miss from Conference USA to Sun Belt now complete". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
^ "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
^ "Sun Belt Announces Men's Soccer Preseason Awards & Poll". sunbeltsports.org. Sun Belt Conference. August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.

External links

Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer

[1] "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall". April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.

[2] Traylor, Grant (November 1, 2021). "Sun Belt confirms men's soccer being reinstated". The Herald-Dispatch. Huntington, WV. Retrieved November 2, 2021.

[3] "James Madison to Compete in the Sun Belt Conference Beginning Fall 2022" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. February 2, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2022.

[4] Thamel, Pete (March 29, 2022). "Move of Marshall, Old Dominion, Southern Miss from Conference USA to Sun Belt now complete". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 29, 2022.

[5] "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.

[ncaa_brackets-6] "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. Retrieved July 17, 2017.

[pre-7] "Sun Belt Announces Men's Soccer Preseason Awards & Poll". sunbeltsports.org. Sun Belt Conference. August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.

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