2020 Southern Conference men's soccer season

The 2020 Southern Conference men's soccer season will be the 25th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season was originally slated to begin on August 28 and conclude on November 4, 2020, culminating with the 2020 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Tournament.

2020 Southern Conference men's soccer season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Soccer
Duration	February 3 – April 17, 2021
Number of teams	6
2021 MLS SuperDraft
Regular Season
Season MVP	Offensive: Defensive: Goalkeeper:
Tournament

2020 Southern Conference men's soccer standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Mercer	0	–	0	–	0			1	–	4	–	0
Belmont	0	–	0	–	0			0	–	0	–	0
Furman	0	–	0	–	0			0	–	0	–	0
UNC Greensboro	0	–	0	–	0			0	–	0	–	0
Wofford	0	–	0	–	0			0	–	0	–	0
VMI	0	–	0	–	0			0	–	0	–	0
East Tennessee State	0	–	0	–	0			0	–	1	–	0
‡ – 2020 SoCon Tournament Champion + – Also invited to the 2020 NCAA Tournament As of February 5, 2021; Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

On August 13, 2020, the NCAA suspended all fall championships, which coincided with the SOuthern Conference suspending all fall sports through the end of the calendar year. On September 16, 2020 the NCAA voted on men's soccer resuming play for the 2020–21 academic year on February 3, 2021 as the earliest date to schedule fixtures and April 17, 2021 as the latest date to schedule fixtures.

Despite the delay, teams on an individual basis can schedule competitive fixtures during the Fall 2020 semester. Thus far, Mercer is the only SoCon team that has opted to play games in the fall.

Background

Previous season

The 2019 season saw Furman win the SoCon regular season championship, posting a 5–1–0 SoCon record and a 11–7–1 season record.[1] Mercer successfully three-peated in the SoCon Tournament, winning their third consecutive SoCon Tournament championship.

In the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Mercer lost in the opening round to Charlotte.[2]

Coaching changes

The 2019–20 offseason saw Charlie Hubbard depart VMI as a head coach. On March 5, 2020, Hubbard resigned to take an assistant coach position with James Madison University.[3] Hubbard coached VMI for one season and finished with an overall record of 1–16–0. On March 23, 2020, VMI assistant coach, Max Watson, was promoted to head coach.[4]

School	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
VMI	Charlie Hubbard	Hired by James Madison (asst.)	March 5, 2020	Preseason	Max Watson	March 23, 2020

Head coaches

As of the 2019 season

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	SoCon record	NCAA Tournaments[5]	NCAA College Cups[5]	NCAA Titles[5]	Ref.
Belmont	David Costa	Xavier (asst.)	2	5–12–2 (.316)	5–12–2 (.316)	1–4–1 (.250)	0	0	0	[6]
East Tennessee State	David Casper	Kentucky (asst.)	3	17–15–3 (.529)	17–15–3 (.529)	8–3–1 (.708)	0	0	0	[7]
Furman	Doug Allison	South Carolina (asst.)	25	296–138–55 (.662)	296–138–55 (.662)	119–44–18 (.707)	10	0	0	[8]
Mercer	Brad Ruzzo	Bradley (asst.)	13	124–97–26 (.555)	124–97–26 (.555)	32–16–4 (.654)	3	0	0	[9]
UNC Greensboro	Chris Rich	Duke (asst.)	2	8–9–1 (.472)	8–9–1 (.472)	5–1–0 (.833)	0	0	0	[10]
VMI	Max Watson	VMI (asst.)	1	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0	[11]
Wofford	Joel Tyson	Charlotte Independence (asst.)	2	4–13–1 (.250)	4–13–1 (.250)	2–3–1 (.417)	0	0	0	[12]

Fall 2020 season

Fall matches

Mercer University played competitive matches during the fall.

Index to colors and formatting
SoCon member won
SoCon member lost
SoCon member tied
SoCon teams in bold

All times Eastern time.

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
September 18	7:00 p.m.	Georgia State	Mercer	Betts Stadium  • Macon, GA	L 1–2	161
September 22	7:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Mercer	Betts Stadium  • Macon, GA	W 3–0	161
October 6	7:00 p.m.	Mercer	Georgia State	GSU Soccer Field  • Atlanta, GA	L 0–2	298
October 9	6:00 p.m.	South Carolina	Mercer	Betts Stadium  • Macon, GA	L 0–1	116
October 14	7:00 p.m.	Mercer	No. 4 Kentucky	Bell Soccer Complex  • Lexington, KY	L 1–3	97

United Soccer Coaches

During the fall 2020 season, United Soccer Coaches ran a Top 5 poll for the programs playing in fall.

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 5
NV		No votes received

	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12
Mercer	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV

TopDrawerSoccer.com

During the fall 2020 season, United Soccer Coaches ran a Top 10 poll for the programs playing in fall.

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

	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12
Mercer	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV

Awards and honors

Date	Player	Position	School	Honor	Ref.
September 22, 2020	Trevor Martineau	FW	Mercer	TopDrawer Soccer Team of the Week	[13]

Spring 2021 season

Preseason poll

The preseason poll will be released in December 2020 or January 2021.

	Team Ranking	Points	First Place Votes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Preseason national polls

The preseason national polls were originally to be released in July and August 2020. Only CollegeSoccerNews.com released a preseason poll for 2020.

	United Soccer	CSN	Soccer America	Top Drawer Soccer
Belmont	—	—	—	—
ETSU	—	—	—	—
Furman	—	—	—	—
Mercer	—	—	—	—
UNCG	—	—	—	—
VMI	—	—	—	—
Wofford	—	—	—	—

Early season tournaments

Early season tournaments will be announced in late Spring and Summer 2019.

Team	Tournament	Finish

Results

Index to colors and formatting
SoCon member won
SoCon member lost
SoCon member tied
SoCon teams in bold

All times Eastern time.† denotes Homecoming game

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 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
Belmont	USC														None released
	TDS
East Tennessee State	USC														None released
	TDS
Furman	USC														None released
	TDS
Mercer	USC														None released
	TDS
UNC Greensboro	USC														None released
	TDS
VMI	USC														None released
	TDS
Wofford	USC														None released
	TDS

Regional rankings - South 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' south region ranks teams among the ACC, Atlantic Sun, and SoCon.

	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12
Belmont
East Tennessee State
Furman
Mercer
UNC Greensboro
VMI
Wofford

Players of the Week

Week	Offensive			Defensive			Ref.
	Player	Position	Team	Player	Position	Team

Postseason

Awards and honors

2020 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Individual Awards
Award	Recipient(s)
Offensive Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Goalkeeper of the Year
Coach of the Year
Newcomer of the Year

2020 SoCon Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams
First Team	Second Team	Newcomer Team

SoCon Tournament

	Semifinals					Championship
	1
	4
	2
	3

NCAA Tournament

Seed	Region	School	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Championship
TBD

2021 MLS Draft

The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was held on January 21, 2021. No players from the SoCon were selected in the draft.[14]

References

1. "Furman earns No. 1 seed for SoCon tournament". soconsports.com. November 2, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
2. "Charlotte men's soccer scores 3-1 win in NCAA first round". WBTV. November 22, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
3. "James Madison University men's soccer program adds Charlie Hubbard to coaching staff". Newsbreak. March 6, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
4. "VMI promotes Watson to men's soccer coach". Roanoke News. March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
5. "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
6. "David Coast - Belmont Soccer". belmontbruins.com. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
7. "David Casper | Men's Soccer Coaches". ETSUBucs.com. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
8. "Doug Allison - Head Coach - Men's Soccer Coaches". Furman University. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
9. "Brad Ruzzo - Men's Soccer Coach". Mercer University Athletics. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
10. "Chris Rich named UNCG men's soccer head coach". newsandfeatures.uncg.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
11. "Max Watson - Head Men's Soccer Coach - Staff Director". vmikeydets.com. Virginia Military Institute Athletics. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
12. "Joel Tyson - Men's Soccer Coach". Wofford College Athletics. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
13. "Men's Team of the Week: September 22". Top Drawer Soccer. September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
14. "2021 SuperDraft Tracker". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved January 23, 2021.

External links

• Southern Conference Men's Soccer