The 2023 Horizon League men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Horizon League. It was held from November 5 through November 11, 2023. The quarterfinals of the tournament were held at campus sites, while semifinals and final took place at Oakland Soccer Field in Rochester, Michigan. The six team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Cleveland State Vikings were the defending champions.[1] They were unable to defend their crown, as they didn't qualify for the tournament with their eighth place regular season finish. Green Bay would finish as tournament champions after defeating top seed Oakland 1–0 in the Final.[2][3] This was the second overall title for Green Bay and first for head coach Jeremy Bonomo.[4] As tournament champions, Green Bay earned the Horizon League's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.
| 2023 Horizon League men's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 6 | ||||
| Matches | 5 | ||||
| Attendance | 1,387 | ||||
| Site | Oakland Soccer Field Rochester, Michigan (Semifinals & Final) | ||||
| Champions | Green Bay (2nd title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Jeremy Bonomo (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Keegan Walker (Green Bay) | ||||
| Broadcast | ESPN+ | ||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oakland | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 9 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Green Bay ‡ | 5 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 4 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IUPUI | 4 | – | 2 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Detroit Mercy | 4 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 5 | – | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue Fort Wayne | 3 | – | 3 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wright State | 3 | – | 4 | – | 2 | 4 | – | 9 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Robert Morris | 3 | – | 4 | – | 2 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cleveland State | 2 | – | 3 | – | 4 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Kentucky | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Milwaukee | 2 | – | 5 | – | 2 | 4 | – | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: Horizon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding
editSix Horizon League schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record. The top two seeds received byes to the Semifinals and the number one seed hosted the Semifinals and Final. A tiebreaker was required to determine the sixth seed as Robert Morris and Wright State finished the regular season with identical 3–4–2 regular season records. The two teams played to a 1–1 draw on October 7 in their regular season match up. Both teams lost to top seed Oakland, so record versus the second seed, Green Bay, was the third tiebreaker. Robert Morris drew with Green Bay 1–1 and Wright State defeated Green Bay 2–0 and therefore was the sixth seed. Robert Morris was the seventh seed and did not qualify for the tournament.[5]
| Seed | School | Conference Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oakland | 6–3–0 | 18 |
| 2 | Green Bay | 5–2–2 | 17 |
| 3 | IUPUI | 4–2–3 | 15 |
| 4 | Detroit Mercy | 4–3–2 | 14 |
| 5 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 3–3–3 | 12 |
| 6 | Wright State | 3–4–2 | 11 |
Bracket
editSource:[6]
| Quarterfinals Sunday, Nov. 5 | Semifinals Thursday, Nov. 9 | Final Saturday, Nov. 11 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Oakland | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Detroit Mercy | 0 | 5 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 0 | |||||||||
| 5 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 1 | 1 | Oakland | 0 | |||||||||
| 2 | Green Bay | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Green Bay | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | IUPUI | 1 | 3 | IUPUI | 1 | |||||||||
| 6 | Wright State | 0 | ||||||||||||
Schedule
editQuarterfinals
edit| November 5 | #3 IUPUI | 1–0 | #6 Wright State | Indianapolis, IN |
| 1:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Carroll Stadium Attendance: 254 Referee: Nick Balcer Assistant referees: Justin Tatsak Christian Little Fourth official: Brian Alvarez |
| November 5 | #4 Detroit Mercy | 0–1 | #5 Purdue Fort Wayne | Detroit, MI |
| 1:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Titan Field Attendance: 430 Referee: Donovan Noocha Assistant referees: Jacob Little Steve Seward Fourth official: Eshan Varzidehkartehrani |
Semifinals
edit| November 9 | #1 Oakland | 1–0 | #5 Purdue Fort Wayne | Rochester, MI |
| 1:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Oakland Soccer Field Attendance: 259 Referee: Calin Radosav Assistant referees: Eulogio Villalpando Adam Herges Fourth official: Steve Besk |
| November 9 | #2 Green Bay | 2–1 | #3 IUPUI | Rochester, MI |
| 4:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Oakland Soccer Field Attendance: 64 Referee: Dimitrios Kastimingos Assistant referees: Art Arustamyan Khalaf Al-Latayefh Malkawi Fourth official: Steve Besk |
Final
edit| November 11 | #1 Oakland | 0–1 | #2 Green Bay | Rochester, MI |
| 1:00 p.m. ET |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Oakland Soccer Field Attendance: 380 Referee: Sorin Stoica Assistant referees: Ali Zolgharnain Vincent Ragone Fourth official: Steve Besk |
Statistics
editGoalscorers
editThere were 7 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 1.4 goals per match (as of November 11, 2023).
1 goal
- Chris Album – Green Bay
- Andrew Paolucci – Green Bay
- Keegan Walker – Green Bay
- Logan Finnegan – IUPUI
- Kenshiro Yamaguchi – IUPUI
- Owen Smith – Oakland
- Marco Valencia – Purdue Fort Wayne
All-Tournament team
editSource:[7]
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Chris Album | Green Bay |
| Rohin Kapila | |
| Christoph Schurz | |
| Keegan Walker | |
| Josemir Gomez | IUPUI |
| Lukas Hackaa | |
| Carson Ballagh | Oakland |
| Marco Mazzei | |
| Owen Smith | |
| Max Collingwood | Purdue Fort Wayne |
| Juan Romero |
MVP in bold
References
edit- ^ "2022 Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship". horizonleague.org. Horizon League. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship". horizonleague.org. Horizon League. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
- ^ Venci, Scott (November 13, 2023). "The UWGB men's soccer team clinched an NCAA tournament berth behind its star defense. Now, the Phoenix wants a win". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
- ^ "Horizon League Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). horizonleague.org. Horizon League. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
- ^ "Oakland Earns No. 1 Seed as 2023 #HLMSOC Championship Bracket Revealed". horizonleague.com. Horizon League. November 1, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
- ^ "2023 Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship Bracket" (PDF). horizonleague.org. Horizon League. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
- ^ "Green Bay Claims 2023 #HLMSOC Championship". horizonleague.org. Horizon League. November 11, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2024.