2019 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament

The 2019 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament was the 27th and final edition of the MAC Men's Soccer Tournament, a post-season college soccer conference tournament to determine the MAC champion, and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. The 2019 edition of the tournament began on November 12 and concluded on November 17, 2019.

2019 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams6
Matches5
Attendance2,421
Quarterfinals siteHigher seeds
Semifinals siteFirstEnergy Stadium
Akron, OH
Finals siteFirstEnergy Stadium
Akron, OH
ChampionsWest Virginia (1st title)
Winning coachMarlon LeBlanc (1st title)
MVPSteven Tekesky (West Virginia)
BroadcastESPN+
MAC Men's Soccer Tournament
«2018  2020»
2019 Mid-American Conference men's soccer standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Akron 4 –0 –1  6 –10 –2
Western Michigan 2 –1 –2  11 –6 –2
SIUE 2 –1 –2  8 –5 –4
Northern Illinois 2 –3 –0  7 –10 –1
Bowling Green 2 –3 –0  13 –7 –1
West Virginia ‡ 0 –4 –1  10 –9 –2
As of 25 November 2019; Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: MAC

The lowest seeded team in the tournament, West Virginia, won the MAC title, giving the program their first MAC championship, and their first overall conference championship since 1992. It was the first year since 2011 that a team other than Akron won the MAC Tournament. Marlon LeBlanc earned his first conference championship with the program. With the title, West Virginia earned their second consecutive berth into the NCAA Tournament, and their 14th overall berth. West Virginia defeated Butler 5–1 in the opening round[1][2] before losing to in-state rivals, Marshall, 1–2.[3][4][5]

On May 12, 2020 it was announced that the 2019 edition of the tournament would be the final tournament until at least 2024. From 2020 going forward, the regular season champion would be declared the MAC champion, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

Seeds
Seed School Conference Tiebreaker
1 Akron 4–0–1
2 Western Michigan 2–1–2 Goal difference
3 SIUE 2–1–2
4 Bowling Green 2–3–0 BGSU 1–0 vs. NIU
5 Northern Illinois 2–3–0 NIU 0–1 vs. BGSU
6 West Virginia 0–4–1

Bracket
  First Round     Semifinals     Championship
                           
      1 Akron 0  
  4 Bowling Green 2     4 Bowling Green 1    
  5 Northern Illinois 1         4 Bowling Green 0
      6 West Virginia 1
      2 Western Michigan 2    
  3 SIUE 0     3 West Virginia 3  
  6 West Virginia 1  

Schedule

First round
No. 4 Bowling Green2–1 (a.e.t.)No. 5 Northern Illinois
  • Montemurri  8'
  • Robin  95'  (pen.)
 Report
  • Maertins  22'
Attendance: 174
Referee: Donovan Noocha
No. 3 SIUE0–1No. 6 West Virginia
Report
  • Grajera  43'
Attendance: 77

Semifinals
No. 2 Western Michigan2–3No. 6 West Virginia
  • Liagre  58'
  • Nimick  86'
 Report
  • DiMatteo  24', 27'
  • Andres-Llop  66'
Attendance: 828
Referee: Kevin Fikar
No. 1 Akron0–1No. 4 Bowling Green
Report
  • Sullivan  18'
Attendance: 828
Referee: Nikola Aleksic

Championship
No. 1 Bowling Green0–1No. 6 West Virginia
Report McCormick  86'
Attendance: 514
Referee: Sorin Stoica

Statistics

Goalscorers
2 Goals
  • Josh DiMatteo – West Virginia
1 Goal

All-Tournament Team
PlayerTeam
2020 MAC Men's Soccer All-Tournament Team[7]
Skye HarterAkron
Diogo Pacheco
Jaylen ShannonWestern Michigan
Daniel Nimick
Chris SullivanBowling Green
Anthony Mwembia
Achille Robin
Luke McCormickWest Virginia
Josh DiMatteo
Ryan Kellogg
Steven Tekesky

MVP in bold.

References
  1. "West Virginia men's soccer team routs Butler 5-1 in NCAA first round". The Dominion Post. November 21, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  2. Burkitt, Quinn (November 21, 2019). "West Virginia advances to second round with 5-1 win over Butler". The DA. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  3. Hendrick, Chris (November 24, 2019). "Marshall beats WVU in NCAA soccer tournament". WSAZ-TV. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  4. Caridi, Tony (November 24, 2019). "Marshall knocks off West Virginia in NCAA men's soccer tournament". West Virginia MetroNews Network. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  5. "Marshall Thundering Herd vs. West Virginia Mountaineers - NCAA College Soccer". ESPN FC. ESPN. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  6. Strack, Jordan (May 12, 2020). "Major changes coming to Mid-American Conference". Toledo, OH: WTOL. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  7. "West Virginia Captures 2019 MAC Men's Soccer Title". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
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