2018 WAC men's soccer tournament

The 2018 WAC men's soccer tournament was the 11th edition of the tournament. It determined the Western Athletic Conference's automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.

2018 WAC men's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams7
Matches6
Attendance1,066
SiteChampionship Field
Seattle, Washington
ChampionsGrand Canyon (1st title)
Winning coachSchellas Hyndman (1st title)
MVPGeorge Tasouris (Grand Canyon)
BroadcastWAC Digital Network
WAC men's soccer tournament
«2017  2019»
2018 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 12 Air Force + 8 2 0 17 5 0
UTRGV 8 3 0 14 6 0
Seattle 7 4 0 13 6 1
Grand Canyon 6 4 0 12 8 1
Utah Valley 6 4 0 9 9 0
UNLV 5 5 1 10 10 1
San Jose State 5 5 1 8 10 3
Cal Baptist # 5 6 0 9 9 1
UMKC 4 7 0 5 12 0
Houston Baptist 3 6 1 5 8 3
Cal St. Bakersfield 3 7 1 5 12 1
Incarnate Word 2 9 0 2 14 1
As of December 11, 2018
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The defending champions were Seattle U. However, they were unable to defend their title, falling 5–6 in a penalty shootout against San Jose State in the semifinals. The eventual champions were the Grand Canyon Antelopes, who won the tournament after a 1–0 victory over San Jose State in the final.[1] This was the first WAC men's soccer title for Grand Canyon, and the first for coach Schellas Hyndman.[2]

Background edit

Seattle U won their third WAC title, defeating San Jose State, 2–1 in the championship game. With the win, Seattle U surpassed UNLV and Fresno State with the most WAC Tournament titles. With the berth, Seattle U earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. There, they upset city-rivals,[3] Washington, in the first round,[4][5] before falling to Akron in the second round.[6][7]

Seeding edit

The top seven teams will qualify for the tournament.[8]

Seed School Conf. Record Points
1 Air Force 8–0–2 26
2 UTRGV 6–1–3 21
3 Seattle U 7–3–0 21
4 Grand Canyon 5–4–1 16
5 Utah Valley 4–4–2 14
6 San Jose State 4–5–1 13
7 UNLV 4–5–1 13

Bracket edit

First round
Nov. 7
Semifinals
Nov. 9
Championship
Nov. 11
         
1 Air Force 0
4 Grand Canyon 1
4 Grand Canyon (OT) 1
5 Utah Valley 0
4 Grand Canyon 1
6 San Jose State 0
2 UTRGV 4
7 UNLV 1
2 UTRGV 0
6 San Jose State 1
3 Seattle U 3 (5)
6 San Jose State (pen.) 3 (6)

Schedule edit

Quarterfinals edit

No. 4 Grand Canyon1–0 (a.e.t.)No. 5 Utah Valley
Report

No. 2 UTRGV4–1No. 7 UNLV
Report

No. 3 Seattle U3–3 (a.e.t.)No. 6 San Jose State
Report
Penalties
5–6
Attendance: 588
Referee: Joe Pickens

Semifinals edit

No. 1 Air Force0–1No. 4 Grand Canyon
Report

No. 2 UTRGV0–1No. 6 San Jose State
Report
Attendance: 276
Referee: Leland Grand

Final edit

No. 4 Grand Canyon1–0No. 6 San Jose State
Report
Attendance: 202
Referee: Matthew Buckman

Statistics edit

Goalscorers edit

2 Goals
  • Rooby Dalusma - UTRGV
1 Goal
  • Marco Afonso - Grand Canyon
  • William Akio - UTRGV
  • Kyle Edwards - UTRGV
  • Sam Gardner - Grand Canyon
  • Bay Kurtz - UNLV
  • Omar Lemus - San Jose State
  • Noe Meza - Seattle U
  • Connor Noblat - Seattle U
  • Jonathan Partida - San Jose State
  • Zach Penner - San Jose State
  • Alex Radilla - Grand Canyon
  • Eddie Saylee - San Jose State
  • Kees Westra - Seattle U

All Tournament Team edit

2018 WAC Men's Soccer All-Tournament team[1]
  • Marco Afonso, Grand Canyon
  • Max Allen, San Jose State
  • Rooby Dalusma, UT Rio Grande Valley
  • Kyle Edwards, UT Rio Grande Valley
  • Sam Gardner, Grand Canyon
  • Omer Lemus, San Jose State
  • Connor Noblat, Seattle U
  • Alex Radilla, Grand Canyon
  • Andy Rios, San Jose State
  • Sergio Rivas, Seattle U
  • George Tasouris, Grand Canyon
MVP in Bold

References edit

  1. ^ a b "2018 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  2. ^ "2018 Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  3. ^ Hanson, Scott (November 17, 2017). "Seattle U ousts Washington from NCAA soccer tournament in overtime". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  4. ^ Mondello, Joseph (November 24, 2017). "Sounders on Campus: Academy products compete in NCAA Tournament". Seattle Sounders FC. Major League Soccer. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  5. ^ Hoffman, Jeff. "Huskies lose overtime thriller to Seattle U in NCAA Tournament opener". KHQ-TV. Cowles Company. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  6. ^ Beaven, Michael (November 19, 2017). "Akron 3, Seattle 0: Zips cruise to second-round win". Akron Beacon Journal. Black Press. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  7. ^ Newblom, Michelle (November 29, 2017). "Seattle U Soccer Season Ends in Second Round of NCAA Tournament". The Spectator. Seattle University. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "2017 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Western Athletic Conference. Archived from the original on November 2, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2017.

External links edit