# 2012 NCAA Division I men's soccer season

The 2012 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 54th season of NCAA men's college soccer in the United States. The defending champions were the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels, who defeated sister school, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers in the previous College Cup championship.
Indiana defeated Georgetown, 1–0, in championship to win the title.

## Changes from 2011
### Coaching changes

| College | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Incoming coach | Former position |
| Michigan | Steve Burns | Resigned | Chaka Daley | Providence head coach |
| Providence | Chaka Daley | Took Michigan job | Craig Stewart | Franklin Pierce head coach |
| Stanford | Bret Simon | Resigned | Jeremy Gunn | Charlotte head coach |

## Season overview
### Pre-season polls

Several American soccer outlets posted their own preseason top 25 rankings of what were believed to be the strongest men's collegiate soccer teams entering 2012.
NSCAA :
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | North Carolina |
| 2 | UCLA |
| 3 | Creighton |
| 4 | Connecticut |
| 5 | South Florida |
| 6 | New Mexico |
| 7 | Louisville |
| 8 | Charlotte |
| 9 | Maryland |
| 10 | Akron |
| 11 | UC Santa Barbara |
| 12 | Indiana |
| 13 | UC Irvine |
| 14 | Boston College |
| 15 | St. John's |
| 16 | SMU |
| 17 | Coastal Carolina |
| 18 | Saint Mary's |
| 19 | James Madison |
| 20 | Northwestern |
| 21 | UAB |
| 22 | Brown |
| 23 | Old Dominion |
| 24 | Furman |
| 25 | Bradley |
Soccer America :
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | Connecticut |
| 2 | Akron |
| 3 | Maryland |
| 4 | UC Santa Barbara |
| 5 | Charlotte |
| 6 | North Carolina |
| 7 | New Mexico |
| 8 | UCLA |
| 9 | Indiana |
| 10 | South Florida |
| 11 | Boston College |
| 12 | Old Dominion |
| 13 | St. John's |
| 14 | Coastal Carolina |
| 15 | Creighton |
| 16 | Louisville |
| 17 | Northwestern |
| 18 | Notre Dame |
| 19 | Wake Forest |
| 20 | Furman |
| 21 | Duke |
| 22 | Xavier |
| 23 | West Virginia |
| 24 | SMU |
| 25 | UC Irvine |
Fox Soccer/SBI :
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | Akron |
| 2 | Connecticut |
| 3 | North Carolina |
| 4 | Maryland |
| 5 | UC Santa Barbara |
| 6 | Indiana |
| 7 | UCLA |
| 8 | Duke |
| 9 | West Virginia |
| 10 | Boston College |
| 11 | South Florida |
| 12 | St. John's |
| 13 | Louisville |
| 14 | Virginia |
| 15 | Xavier |
| 16 | New Mexico |
| 17 | Coastal Carolina |
| 18 | Creighton |
| 19 | SMU |
| 20 | Charlotte |
| 21 | CSU Bakersfield |
| 22 | Wake Forest |
| 23 | UC Irvine |
| 24 | Notre Dame |
| 25 | Georgetown |
College Soccer News :
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | North Carolina |
| 2 | New Mexico |
| 3 | Charlotte |
| 4 | Connecticut |
| 5 | Maryland |
| 6 | Akron |
| 7 | UCLA |
| 8 | South Florida |
| 9 | UC Santa Barbara |
| 10 | Coastal Carolina |
| 11 | Indiana |
| 12 | Boston College |
| 13 | Old Dominion |
| 14 | Creighton |
| 15 | UC Irvine |
| 16 | Northwestern |
| 17 | St. John's |
| 18 | Louisville |
| 19 | Wake Forest |
| 20 | UAB |
| 21 | SMU |
| 22 | Brown |
| 23 | Furman |
| 24 | Saint Mary's |
| 25 | Xavier |

## Regular season
### Standings

2012 America East men's soccer standings :
| 2012 America East men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Vermont 5 –0 –28 –5 –5 UMBC† 4 –2 –111 –4 –7 Stony Brook 4 –3 –011 –6 –1 Boston University 3 –2 –26 –8 –4 Albany 3 –4 –06 –11 –1 New Hampshire 2 –3 –27 –7 –6 Binghamton 2 –5 –06 –11 –1 Hartford 1 –5 –17 –9 –1 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NCSAA | 2012 ACC men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T No. 3 Maryland† 6 –1 –120 –1 –3 No. 5 North Carolina 6 –1 –116 –4 –3 No. 22 Wake Forest 4 –1 –311 –4 –5 Clemson 3 –2 –36 –9 –5 Boston College 3 –2 –37 –6 –5 Virginia 3 –4 –110 –7 –4 Duke 3 –4 –18 –8 –2 N.C. State 1 –7 –010 –10 –0 Virginia Tech 0 –7 –17 –10 –3 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NCSAA | 2012 Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T No. 23 Charlotte 7 –1 –115 –4 –3 No. 19 Saint Louis† 7 –2 –016 –5 –0 Xavier 6 –1 –214 –3 –5 No. 25 VCU 6 –1 –212 –4 –5 Temple 6 –1 –210 –6 –3 Dayton 5 –3 –111 –5 –2 La Salle 4 –4 –110 –7 –3 Duquesne 4 –4 –17 –12 –1 Butler 3 –5 –15 –8 –5 Rhode Island 3 –5 –14 –11 –3 St. Bonaventure 3 –6 –05 –14 –0 Fordham 2 –4 –36 –7 –4 Richmond 2 –6 –16 –11 –1 Massachusetts 2 –7 –05 –11 –2 George Washington 2 –7 –05 –13 –0 Saint Joseph's 1 –6 –25 –11 –2 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NCSAA |
| 2012 Atlantic Sun Conference men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T FGCU† 6 –1 –111 –5 –3 Mercer 6 –2 –011 –7 –2 East Tennessee State 5 –2 –110 –6 –4 Northern Kentucky 4 –3 –17 –10 –1 USC Upstate 3 –4 –15 –10 –2 Lipscomb 3 –4 –17 –10 –1 Jacksonville 3 –5 –04 –13 –1 Stetson 2 –5 –13 –10 –2 North Florida 1 –7 –04 –13 –0 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NCSAA | 2012 Big East men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Blue No. 2 Georgetown 6 –2 –019 –4 –3 No. 6 Connecticut 6 –2 –017 –4 –1 No. 15 Marquette 5 –2 –116 –4 –1 No. 8 Notre Dame† 5 –2 –117 –4 –1 Seton Hall 2 –6 –06 –12 –0 Providence 2 –6 –04 –10 –2 Pittsburgh 0 –8 –06 –9 –2 Red No. 9 Louisville 7 –1 –014 –6 –1 No. 17 Syracuse 5 –3 –014 –6 –1 St. John's 4 –3 –110 –5 –4 Villanova 3 –3 –212 –6 –2 Cincinnati 3 –3 –26 –9 –4 Rutgers 3 –4 –17 –7 –1 South Florida 2 –3 –38 –5 –4 DePaul 1 –6 –14 –10 –3 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NCSAA | 2012 Big South men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T No. 11 Coastal Carolina 10 –0 –020 –3 –2 Radford 7 –2 –110 –6 –4 Liberty 6 –1 –38 –7 –3 Campbell 7 –3 –012 –5 –2 High Point 5 –3 –212 –5 –3 Winthrop† 5 –4 –112 –9 –1 Gardner–Webb 3 –5 –24 –14 –2 Presbyterian 3 –7 –04 –16 –0 Longwood 2 –7 –13 –12 –3 VMI 1 –8 –12 –14 –1 UNC Asheville 0 –9 –11 –15 –1 As of November 9, 2012 Rankings from NCSAA |
| 2012 Big Ten Conference men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Penn State 3 –1 –29 –5 –3 No. 18 Northwestern 3 –1 –213 –6 –4 Michigan 3 –2 –111 –10 –1 No. 1 Indiana 3 –2 –116 –5 –3 Michigan State† 3 –3 –011 –10 –1 Wisconsin 1 –3 –26 –8 –5 Ohio State 0 –4 –26 –10 –3 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 Big West Conference men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T North UC Davis 7 –3 –010 –7 –4 Cal Poly 6 –3 –111 –7 –1 Sacramento State 5 –4 –18 –8 –2 UC Santa Barbara 4 –5 –110 –6 –3 South CSU Northridge† 7 –3 –015 –7 –0 CSU Fullerton 4 –5 –18 –12 –1 UC Riverside 3 –7 –010 –8 –0 UC Irvine 2 –8 –05 –14 –1 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 CAA men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Drexel 8 –1 –112 –4 –3 Northeastern† 6 –1 –314 –3 –4 James Madison 6 –2 –29 –7 –3 Old Dominion 5 –3 –211 –3 –4 Hofstra 5 –4 –111 –6 –4 George Mason 4 –5 –111 –6 –2 UNC Wilmington 4 –6 –07 –11 –1 William & Mary 2 –5 –34 –10 –4 Delaware 2 –5 –34 –11 –4 Towson 2 –6 –24 –10 –2 Georgia State 2 –8 –06 –12 –0 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA |
| 2012 Conference USA men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T SMU 6 –2 –010 –5 –5 No. 14 Tulsa† 5 –2 –114 –6 –1 UCF 5 –3 –08 –7 –3 Memphis 4 –2 –28 –7 –3 Kentucky 4 –3 –110 –9 –2 UAB 4 –4 –010 –8 –2 Marshall 3 –5 –011 –5 –1 South Carolina 2 –5 –15 –11 –2 FIU 0 –7 –18 –8 –2 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 Horizon League men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Detroit 6 –1 –010 –9 –0 Cleveland State† 4 –1 –211 –6 –3 UIC 3 –3 –17 –8 –2 Valparaiso 2 –2 –36 –9 –5 Milwaukee 2 –3 –28 –8 –2 Loyola Chicago 2 –3 –25 –11 –2 Wright State 2 –4 –14 –13 –1 Green Bay 0 –4 –32 –10 –4 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 Ivy League men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T No. 20 Cornell† 6 –1 –015 –2 –0 Dartmouth 5 –2 –09 –7 –0 No. 16 Brown 4 –1 –213 –3 –3 Princeton 4 –1 –28 –6 –2 Columbia 2 –3 –24 –8 –4 Yale 1 –3 –34 –8 –5 Penn 1 –6 –03 –13 –0 Harvard 0 –6 –13 –11 –3 $ – Conference championAs of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA |
| 2012 MAAC men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Loyola (Md.) 7 –1 –013 –6 –1 Siena 6 –1 –010 –7 –0 Niagara† 5 –1 –113 –2 –4 Iona 5 –2 –07 –11 –0 Fairfield 3 –4 –07 –8 –1 Saint Peter's 3 –4 –05 –11 –0 Rider 2 –5 –13 –13 –1 Manhattan 2 –5 –03 –12 –1 Canisius 1 –6 –08 –7 –2 Marist 1 –6 –05 –10 –1 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 Mid-American Conference men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T No. 7 Akron† 7 –0 –018 –1 –3 Northern Illinois 4 –2 –17 –10 –3 West Virginia 4 –2 –19 –6 –2 Bowling Green 3 –3 –18 –9 –3 Western Michigan 3 –3 –111 –6 –2 Buffalo 3 –4 –05 –11 –1 Hartwick 2 –5 –05 –10 –2 Florida Atlantic 0 –7 –02 –13 –1 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T No. 4 Creighton† 5 –0 –116 –4 –2 SIU Edwardsville 4 –2 –013 –7 –0 Bradley 3 –2 –110 –6 –4 Evansville 3 –2 –19 –8 –1 Drake 2 –2 –26 –11 –4 Central Arkansas 1 –4 –18 –9 –1 Missouri State 0 –6 –05 –8 –4 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA |
| 2012 MPSF men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Mountain No. 10 New Mexico 8 –2 –017 –4 –1 Air Force† 5 –3 –210 –9 –4 Denver 5 –4 –111 –6 –3 Houston Baptist 2 –6 –24 –10 –2 Pacific CSU Bakersfield 6 –3 –19 –5 –5 San Jose State 5 –4 –18 –9 –1 UNLV 4 –6 –06 –14 –1 Seattle 1 –8 –13 –13 –1 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 Northeast Conference men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Quinnipiac 8 –1 –110 –4 –3 No. 20 Fairleigh Dickinson† 6 –1 –311 –6 –6 Monmouth 6 –2 –211 –4 –4 Central Connecticut 6 –3 –18 –8 –2 Sacred Heart 5 –5 –09 –8 –0 Saint Francis (PA) 4 –3 –36 –7 –7 Bryant 4 –5 –16 –8 –2 St. Francis Brooklyn 4 –6 –07 –10 –1 Robert Morris 2 –7 –15 –12 –2 Mount St. Mary's 2 –7 –14 –12 –1 LIU Brooklyn 1 –8 –12 –14 –2 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 Pac-12 men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T No. 13 UCLA† 8 –1 –113 –3 –3 No. 24 Washington 7 –1 –213 –5 –3 Stanford 5 –4 –19 –8 –1 California 3 –5 –28 –7 –3 San Diego State 1 –7 –27 –9 –3 Oregon State 1 –7 –26 –9 –3 $ – Conference championAs of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA |
| 2012 Patriot League men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T American 5 –0 –211 –6 –2 Lafayette† 3 –1 –39 –8 –4 Colgate 3 –1 –35 –8 –6 Bucknell 2 –3 –27 –8 –5 Holy Cross 2 –3 –25 –10 –2 Lehigh 2 –4 –14 –12 –1 Army 1 –3 –34 –10 –3 Navy 1 –4 –27 –7 –3 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 Southern Conference men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Elon ‍‍‡‍$^y$ 5–2–0 .71415–5–2 .727 Furman ‍‍‍ 4–2–1 .64312–4–3 .711 College of Charleston ‍‍‍ 4–2–1 .6438–10–1 .447 Georgia Southern ‍‍‍ 3–3–1 .5006–12–1 .342 UNC Greensboro ‍‍‍ 3–4–0 .4295–10–2 .353 Appalachian State ‍‍‍ 2–3–2 .4298–7–4 .526 Wofford ‍‍‍ 2–4–1 .35710–9–2 .524 Davidson ‍‍‍ 2–5–0 .2866–11–1 .361 ‡ – 2012 SoCon Tournament champion y – Invited to the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 The Summit League men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Oakland 5 –1 –111 –7 –1 UMKC 5 –2 –07 –10 –2 Western Illinois† 3 –2 –27 –9 –5 IPFW 3 –3 –14 –15 –1 Nebraska–Omaha 3 –3 –15 –10 –1 IUPUI 3 –4 –06 –10 –2 Oral Roberts 2 –5 –04 –13 –0 Eastern Illinois 1 –5 –13 –13 –1 As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA |
| 2012 West Coast Conference men's soccer standings vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T No. 12 San Diego† 9 –3 –014 –9 –0 Santa Clara 8 –2 –211 –6 –2 Saint Mary's 5 –4 –39 –5 –5 Portland 5 –5 –27 –9 –3 San Francisco 4 –5 –36 –7 –5 Loyola Marymount 4 –5 –36 –10 –3 Gonzaga 0 –11 –14 –14 –1 $ – Conference championAs of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA | 2012 Division I men's soccer independents soccer records vteConfOverall TeamW L TW L T Adelphi 1 –1 –03 –13 –0 Belmont 0 –0 –06 –8 –3 Howard 1 –0 –03 –15 –1 NJIT 0 –1 –010 –9 –0 † No winner As of December 11, 2012 Rankings from NSCAA |

### Conference regular season and tournament winners

| Conference | Regular Season Winner | Conference Tournament | Tournament Venue (City) | Tournament Winner |
| America East | Vermont | 2012 America East Men's Soccer Tournament | Nickerson Field (Boston, Massachusetts) | UMBC |
| Atlantic Coast | Maryland | 2012 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament | Maryland SoccerPlex (Boyds, MD) | Maryland |
| Atlantic 10 | Charlotte | 2012 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Tournament | Transamerica Field (Charlotte, NC) | Saint Louis |
| Atlantic Sun | FGCU | 2012 Atlantic Sun Men's Soccer Tournament | Summers-Taylor Stadium (Johnson City, Tennessee) | FGCU |
| Big East | Red: Louisville Blue: Connecticut | 2012 Big East Men's Soccer Tournament | Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ) | Notre Dame |
| Big South | Coastal Carolina | 2012 Big South Conference Men's Soccer Tournament | Bryan Park (Greensboro, NC) | Winthrop |
| Big Ten | Penn State | 2012 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament | Lakeside Field (Evanston, IL) | Michigan State |
| Big West | North: UC Davis South: Cal State Northridge | 2012 Big West Conference Men's Soccer Tournament | Aggies Soccer Field Davis, CA | Cal State Northridge |
| Colonial | Drexel | 2012 CAA Men's Soccer Tournament | Vidas Athletic Center (Philadelphia, PA) | Northeastern |
| Conference USA | SMU | 2012 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament | West Campus Field (Birmingham, AL) | Tulsa |
| Horizon | Detroit | 2012 Horizon League Men's Soccer Tournament | Titan Field (Detroit, MI | Cleveland State |
| Ivy | Cornell | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Metro Atlantic | Loyola Maryland | 2012 MAAC Men's Soccer Tournament | Tenney Stadium (Poughkeepsie, NY) | Niagara |
| Mid-American | Akron | 2012 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament | FirstEnergy Stadium (Akron, Ohio) | Akron |
| Missouri Valley | Creighton | Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer tournament | Shea Stadium (Peoria, Illinois) | Creighton |
| Mountain Pacific | New Mexico | 2012 MPSF Men's Soccer Tournament | CIBER Field (Denver, Colorado) | Air Force |
| Northeast | Quinnipiac | 2012 Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Tournament | The Great Lawn (West Long Branch, New Jersey) | Fairleigh Dickinson |
| Pac-12 | UCLA | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Patriot | American | 2012 Patriot League Men's Soccer Tournament | Riggs Field (Washington, D.C.) | Lafayette |
| Southern | Elon | 2012 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Tournament | WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary, NC) | Elon |
| Summit | Oakland | 2012 The Summit League Men's Soccer Tournament | John MacKenzie Alumni Field (Macomb, IL) | Western Illinois |
| West Coast | San Diego | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |

## Statistics

    Regular season statistics only. See 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship#Statistical leaders for the tournament statistics.

### Overall
#### Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | College | Goals |
| 1 | Chris Thomas | Elon | 23 |
| 2 | Ryan Finley | Notre Dame | 20 |
| 3 | Daniel Haber | Cornell | 18 |
| 4 | Eriq Zavaleta | Indiana | 16 |
| 5 | Ashton Bennett | Coastal Carolina | 15 |
| 5 | Erik Hurtado | UC Santa Barbara | 15 |
| 5 | Gyasi Zardes | CSU Bakersfield | 15 |
| 8 | Don Anding | Northeastern | 14 |
| 8 | Pete Caringi | UMBC | 14 |
| 8 | Billy Schuler | North Carolina | 14 |
| 8 | Steven Evans | Portland | 14 |
| 8 | Sagi Lev-Ari | CSU Northridge | 14 |
| 8 | Devon Sandoval | New Mexico | 14 |
Last updated on November 13, 2012. Source: NCAA.com – Total Goals

#### Most assists

| Rank | Scorer | College | Assists |
| 1 | Mitchell Cardenas | Campbell | 14 |
| 2 | Kyle Bethel | Oakland | 13 |
| 2 | Milo Kapor | UMBC | 13 |
| 2 | Blake Smith | New Mexico | 13 |
| 5 | Chris Griebsch | Hofstra | 11 |
| 5 | Steve Neumann | Georgetown | 11 |
| 7 | Carlos Benavides | CSU Northridge | 10 |
| 7 | Zach Bolden | Denver | 10 |
| 7 | Scott Caldwell | Akron | 10 |
| 7 | Jared Martinelli | Temple | 10 |
| 7 | Alex Martinez | N.C. State | 10 |
| 7 | Pedro Ribeiro | Coastal Carolina | 10 |
| 7 | Shawn Sloan | High Point | 10 |
| 7 | Vaughn Spurrier | Temple | 10 |
Last updated on November 13, 2012. Source: NCAA.com – Total Assists

## NCAA tournament
### College Cup – Regions Park, Hoover, Alabama

| National Semifinals December 7 | National Semifinals December 7 | National Semifinals December 7 | National Championship December 9 | National Championship December 9 | National Championship December 9 |
| 16 | Indiana | 1 | | | |
| 12 | Creighton | 0 | | | |
| 12 | Creighton | 0 | 16 | Indiana | 1 |
| | | | 3 | Georgetown | 0 |
| 3 | Georgetown | 4(4) | 3 | Georgetown | 0 |
| 2 | Maryland | 4(3) | | | |