2020 ACC men's soccer tournament

The 2020 ACC men's soccer tournament was the 34th edition of the ACC Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament decided the Atlantic Coast Conference champion and guaranteed representative into the 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. The final will be played at Sahlen's Stadium in Cary, North Carolina.[1][2]

2020 ACC men's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams8
Matches7
Attendance677
SiteSahlen's Stadium
Cary, North Carolina
ChampionsClemson (4th title)
Winning coachMike Noonan (2nd title)
MVPKimarni Smith (Clemson)
BroadcastESPNU (Final), ACC Network Extra (all other rounds)
ACC men's soccer tournament
«2019  2021»
2020 ACC men's fall soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
North
No. 2 Pittsburgh 4 0 0 7 1 0
No. 4 Virginia Tech 3 1 2 3 2 2
Notre Dame 3 2 0 5 4 0
Virginia 2 3 1 3 4 1
Louisville 1 4 1 1 6 1
Syracuse 0 3 2 0 3 2
South
No. 3 Wake Forest 5 1 0 7 2 0
North Carolina 3 1 2 3 2 2
No. 1 Clemson 3 2 1 8 2 1
Duke 2 4 0 2 6 0
NC State 0 5 1 0 6 1
Boston College 0 0 0 0 0 0
As of March 9, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source:The ACC
Note: † Due to COVID-19, Boston College suspended the Fall 2020 men's soccer season; begins play in March.

Background

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The format of the tournament was announced in conjunction with all other ACC fall sports on July 29, 2020.[3]

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the format of the 2020 tournament changed multiple times. Originally, the 2020 ACC Tournament was to only feature 4 teams with all matches played at Sahlen's Stadium to create an "isolation zone" (similar to the 2020 NBA Bubble) to minimize the spread of the pandemic. The semifinals were to be played on November 13, 2020, with the final was to be played on November 15, 2020.[4]

On September 4, 2020, the format again changed, expanding the tournament from four to eight teams. The quarterfinals to be played on November 15, the semifinals on November 18, and the championship game on November 22.[1]

Qualification

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Due to the aforementioned COVID-19 pandemic, only eleven teams participated in the regular season, with Boston College electing to not play. The teams were also divided into a North and South region as opposed to the normal Atlantic and Coastal Divisions. Eight teams qualified for the tournament, the top four teams in each region. In the tournament, teams were paired against the opposite region in the bracket. Higher seeds hosted the quarterfinals and semifinals.[5]

South Region
Finish Team Conference Record
1 Wake Forest 5–1–0
2 North Carolina 3–1–2
3 Clemson 3–2–1
4 Duke 2–4–0
5 NC State 0–5–1
North Region
Finish Team Conference Record
1 Pittsburgh 4–0–0
2 Virginia Tech 3–1–2
3 Notre Dame 3–2–0
4 Virginia 2–3–1
5 Louisville 1–4–1
6 Syracuse 0–3–2

Fall tournament

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Quarterfinals
November 15
Semifinals
November 18
Final
November 22
         
N1 Pittsburgh 2
S4 Duke 1
N1 Pittsburgh 3
N3 Notre Dame 1
S2 North Carolina 0
N3 Notre Dame 1OT
N1 Pittsburgh 1
S3 Clemson 2
S1 Wake Forest 0
N4 Virginia 2
N4 Virginia 1
S3 Clemson 2
N2 Virginia Tech 1
S3 Clemson 4

Quarterfinals

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Virginia Tech1–4Clemson
Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Mike Stutt

North Carolina0–1 (a.e.t.)
OT
Notre Dame
Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: John McCloskey

Wake Forest0–2Virginia
Report
  •   30', 51',   45' Cabrel Happi Kamseu
  •   75' Jeremy Verley
  •   78' Andreas Ueland
  •   88' Kevin Ogudugu
Attendance: 100
Referee: David Erbacher

Pittsburgh2–1Duke
Report
  •   7' Antonio Lopez
  •   13'   90' Matthias Frick
  •   43',   58' Stephen O'Connell
  •   55' Scotty Taylor
Attendance: 77
Referee: Sorin Stoica

Semifinals

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Clemson2–1Virginia
Report
  •   77' Jeremy Verley
  •   84' Axel Gunnarsson
  •   86' Colin Shutler
Attendance: 50
Referee: John Brady

Pittsburgh3–1Notre Dame
Report
Attendance: 100
Referee: Carmen Serbio

Final

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Pittsburgh1–2Clemson
  • Raphael Crivello   38'
  • Valentin Noël   47'
  • Filip Mirkovic   48'
  • Anass Amrani   87'
Report
  •   13' Mohamed Seye
  •   71' James Brighton
  •   83' John Martin
  •   84' Kimarni Smith
Attendance: 350
Referee: Nikola Aleksic

Spring Tournament

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The ACC played a six-game conference schedule in the spring. The division winners, along with the fall tournament winners, Clemson, played for the ACC's automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament. As a result of Clemson winning the Atlantic division in the spring, Pittsburgh and Clemson played one game to determine the conference's automatic qualifier.

Semifinal Final
1 Clemson 2
2 Clemson - Pittsburgh 0
3 Pittsburgh -

Semifinal

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Clemsonx–xPittsburgh

Final

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NCAA Play-In Final
Clemson2–0Pittsburgh
  • Quinn McNeill   16',   83'
  • Isaiah Reid   82',   87'
Report
  •   78' Raphael Crivello
  •   80' Luke Mort
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: David Erbacher

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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4 Goals
3 Goals
2 Goals
1 Goal

All-Tournament team

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Player Team
2020 ACC Men's Soccer All-Tournament team[6]
Kimarni Smith Clemson
Justin Malou
Grayson Barber
Philip Mayaka
Nico Campuzano Pitt
Valentin Noël
Veljko Petković
Mohamed Omar Notre Dame
Jack Lynn
Andreas Ueland Virginia
Bret Halsey

MVP in Bold

References

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  1. ^ a b "ACC Announces Fall Olympic Sports Schedules". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. September 4, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  2. ^ "2020 ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  3. ^ Clark, Travis (July 30, 2020). "ACC announces fall soccer plans". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  4. ^ "ACC Announces Plans for Football and Fall Olympic Sports". TheACC.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  5. ^ "Wake Forest, Pitt Pick Up Top Seeds for 2020 ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  6. ^ "Clemson Downs Pitt, 2-1, to Win ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 22, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.