# 2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season

The 2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season was the 19th season of men's varsity soccer in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The regular season began on September 18 and concluded on November 6, 2020. The season culminated with the Sun Belt Tournament which began on November 13 and concluded on November 15, 2020.

## Background
### Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the season

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected the landscape of men's soccer in the Sun Belt Conference. Long-time program, Appalachian State suspended its men's varsity soccer program in the wake of the pandemic, due to anticipated budget cuts in the athletics program. Additionally, Sun Belt associate member Howard opted out of playing during the fall season due to concerns with the ongoing pandemic.
The SBC and Atlantic Coast Conference were the only two men's soccer conferences that played during fall 2020.
The conference opted to play a six-match season with all programs doing a home-and-home series, or double round robin against every program in the conference. Most teams completed the fall season playing only 8–12 matches instead of the normal 15–18 matches.

### Discontinuation of men's soccer

Appalachian State's decision to drop men's soccer was the first move that led to the discontinuation of SBC men's soccer after the 2020–21 school year. In July 2020, Howard announced that it would become an associate member of the Northeast Conference in six sports, with men's soccer being one of four sports moving in July 2021. This left the SBC with only four men's soccer members, two less than the six required to maintain an automatic NCAA tournament berth. The next move that affected SBC men's soccer came in January 2021, when the ASUN Conference announced three schools as incoming full members, including SBC associate Central Arkansas. The following month saw Coastal Carolina announce that it would become a single-sport member of Conference USA (C-USA), joining another in-state C-USA associate in South Carolina. This left Georgia Southern and Georgia State as the only remaining Sun Belt men's soccer programs, and those two schools announced they would move that sport to the Mid-American Conference in late May 2021.

### Return of Sun Belt men's soccer

A major conference realignment initially triggered in July 2021 when Oklahoma and Texas announced their plans to leave the Big 12 Conference for the Southeastern Conference eventually led to the reinstatement of Sun Belt men's soccer. Further moves in this realignment cycle saw three men's soccer schools announce that they would join the SBC no later than 2023: Colonial Athletic Association member James Madison, and then-reigning national champion Marshall and Old Dominion from Conference USA. Accordingly, league commissioner Keith Gill announced on November 1, 2021 that SBC men's soccer would be reinstated no later than 2023.
Later developments in the realignment cycle led the SBC to reinstate men's soccer in 2022 instead of 2023.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Central Arkansas Bears | Conway, Arkansas | Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex | 1,000 |
| Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | Conway, South Carolina | Coastal Carolina University Soccer Field | 1,000 |
| Georgia Southern Eagles | Statesboro, Georgia | Eagle Field | 3,500 |
| Georgia State Panthers | Decatur, Georgia | GSU Soccer Complex | 1,892 |
| Georgia State Panthers | Atlanta | Center Parc Stadium | 24,333 |

## Head coaches

    As of the 2019 season
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | Sun Belt record | NCAA Tournaments | NCAA College Cups | NCAA Titles |
| Central Arkansas | Ross Duncan | Vermont (asst.) | 9 | 33–66–9 (.347) | 33–66–9 (.347) | 13–25–6 (.364) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Coastal Carolina | Shaun Docking | Charleston Southern | 22 | 296–144–37 (.659) | 276–125–35 (.673) | 9–4–1 (.679) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia Southern | John Murphy | Anderson (SC) | 4 | 90–67–22 (.564) | 24–23–7 (.509) | 8–4–2 (.643) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia State | Brett Surrency | Jacksonville (asst.) | 10 | 89–75–12 (.540) | 89–75–12 (.540) | 15–6–3 (.688) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Howard | Phillip Gyau | St. John's College High School | 6 | 8–72–13 (.156) | 8–72–13 (.156) | 2–19–3 (.146) | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Preseason
### Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on August 27, 2020.
| | Team Ranking | Points | First Place Votes |
| 1. | Central Arkansas | 12 | 1 |
| 2. | Coastal Carolina | 10 | 1 |
| 2. | Georgia State | 10 | 1 |
| 4. | Georgia Southern | 8 | 1 |

### Preseason national polls

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, only College Soccer News released a preseason poll.
| | United Soccer | CSN | SoccerAmerica | Top DrawerSoccer |
| Central Arkansas | N/A | — | N/A | N/A |
| Coastal Carolina | N/A | RV | N/A | N/A |
| Georgia Southern | N/A | — | N/A | N/A |
| Georgia State | N/A | — | N/A | N/A |

### Preseason honors
#### Defensive Player – Preseason All-Conference

* Alberto Suarez, Central Arkansas

#### Offensive Player – Preseason All-Conference

* Aris Briggs, Georgia State
Preseason All-Conference Team :
| Position | Nat. | Player | Team |
| FW | USA | Aris Briggs | Georgia State |
| FW | ENG | Adam Davie | Georgia Southern |
| FW | ITA | Claudio Repetto | Coastal Carolina |
| MF | DEN | Soren Jenson | Central Arkansas |
| MF | ENG | Matthew Fearnley | Georgia State |
| MF | SCO | Ross Finnie | Georgia State |
| DF | ESP | Alberto Suárez | Central Arkansas |
| DF | MEX | Aldair Cortes | Georgia Southern |
| DF | ITA | Edoardo Calzola | Central Arkansas |
| GK | ENG | Paul Tyson | Georgia State |
| GK | BRA | Jose Eduardo Bomfim | Georgia Southern |

## Regular season
### Conference results

For the 2020 season, each team plays every other conference team twice; once home and once away.
| Home \ Away | UCA | CCU | GSO | GSU |
| Central Arkansas | — | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Coastal Carolina | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Georgia Southern | 1–4 | 0–3 | — | 0–3 |
| Georgia State | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — |

### Weekly results
#### Legend

* Index to colors and formatting
* SBC member won
* SBC member lost
* SBC member tied
* SBC teams in bold
All times Eastern time.

#### Week 1 (Sep. 14 – Sept. 20)

| Date | Time (ET) | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 18 | 7:00 p.m. | Georgia State | Mercer | Bear Field • Macon, GA | W 2–1 | 161 |
| September 19 | 5:00 p.m. | UAB | Central Arkansas | Bill Stephens Soccer Complex • Conway, AR | L 2–3 | 105 |
| September 19 | 7:00 p.m. | Georgia Southern | South Carolina | Eugene Stone Stadium • Columbia, SC | L 0–2 | 320 |

#### Week 2 (Sep. 21 – Sept. 27)

| Date | Time (ET) | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 22 | 7:00 p.m. | Georgia Southern | Mercer | Betts Stadium • Macon, GA | L 0–3 | 161 |
| September 24 | 7:00 p.m. | Georgia State | South Carolina | Stone Soccer Stadium • Columbia, SC | W 3–1 | 320 |
| September 26 | 6:00 p.m. | UAB | Georgia Southern | Eagle Field • Statesboro, GA | W 3–2 | 266 |

#### Week 3 (Sep. 28 – Oct. 4)

| Date | Time (ET) | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 30 | 5:00 p.m. | UAB | Georgia State | Center Parc Stadium • Atlanta, GA | W 4–0 | 214 |
| October 2 | 2:00 p.m. | Central Arkansas | Kentucky | Bell Soccer Complex • Lexington, KY | L 1–2 (OT) | 83 |
| October 4 | 2:00 p.m. | Georgia Southern | Georgia State | GSU Soccer Field • Atlanta, GA | GSU 2–0 | 377 |

#### Week 4 (Oct. 5 – Oct. 11)

| Date | Time (ET) | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result | Attendance |
| October 6 | 7:00 p.m. | Mercer | Georgia State | GSU Soccer Field • Atlanta, GA | W 2–0 | 298 |
| October 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Georgia State | Coastal Carolina | CCU Soccer Field • Conway, SC | CCU 1–0 | 150 |
| October 10 | 7:00 p.m. | Central Arkansas | Georgia Southern | Eagle Field • Statesboro, GA | UCA 4–1 | 233 |

#### Week 5 (Oct. 12 – Oct. 18)

| Date | Time (ET) | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result | Attendance |
| October 13 | 8:00 p.m. | Georgia State | UAB | BBVA Field • Birmingham, AL | W 4–1 | 195 |
| October 16 | 2:00 p.m. | Central Arkansas | Coastal Carolina | GSU Soccer Field • Atlanta, GA | CCU 3–2 | 50 |
| October 16 | 7:00 p.m. | Georgia State | Georgia Southern | Eagle Field • Statesboro, GA | GSU 3–0 | 273 |
| October 18 | 1:00 p.m. | Coastal Carolina | Central Arkansas | GSU Soccer Field • Atlanta, GA | CCU 1–0 (OT) | 62 |

#### Week 6 (Oct. 19 – Oct. 25)

| Date | Time (ET) | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result | Attendance |
| October 24 | 2:00 p.m. | Georgia State | Central Arkansas | Bill Stephens Soccer Complex • Conway, AR | UCA 2–0 | 84 |
| October 25 | 2:00 p.m. | Coastal Carolina | Georgia Southern | Eagle Field • Statesboro, GA | CCU 2–1 (OT) | 150 |

#### Week 7 (Oct. 26 – Nov. 1)

| Date | Time (ET) | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result | Attendance |
| October 31 | 2:00 p.m. | Georgia Southern | Central Arkansas | Bill Stephens Soccer Complex • Conway, AR | UCA 1–0 | 96 |
| November 1 | 2:00 p.m. | Coastal Carolina | Georgia State | GSU Soccer Field • Atlanta, GA | GSU 2–0 | 223 |

#### Week 8 (Nov. 2 – Nov. 8)

| Date | Time (ET) | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result | Attendance |
| November 6 | 12:00 p.m. | Central Arkansas | Georgia State | GSU Soccer Field • Atlanta, GA | GSU 1–0 | 194 |
| November 6 | 6:00 p.m. | Coastal Carolina | Georgia Southern | Eagle Field • Statesboro, GA | CCU 3–0 | 291 |

### Players of the Week honors

| Week | Offensive | Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Defensive | Ref. |
| Week | Player | Position | Team | Player | Position | Team | Ref. |
| Sep. 23 | Aris Briggs | FW | Georgia State | Paul Tyson | GK | Georgia State | |
| Sep. 30 | Matthew Fearnley | MF | Georgia State | George Proctor | DF | Georgia State | |
| Oct. 7 | Aris Briggs | FW | Georgia State | Gunther Rankenburg | GK | Georgia State | |
| Oct. 14 | Soren Jensen | MF | Central Arkansas | Tor Saunders | GK | Coastal Carolina | |
| Oct. 21 | Andrew Bennett | MF | Georgia State | Tor Saunders | GK | Coastal Carolina | |
| Oct. 28 | Soren Jensen | MF | Central Arkansas | Zach Schawl | GK | Central Arkansas | |
| Oct. 28 | Ethan Hackenberg | FW | Coastal Carolina | Zach Schawl | GK | Central Arkansas | |
| Nov. 4 | Matthew Fearnley | MF | Georgia State | George Proctor | DF | Georgia State | |
| Nov. 10 | Marcello Jones | MF | Coastal Carolina | George Proctor | DF | Georgia State | |

## Postseason
### Sun Belt Tournament

All four teams qualified for the modified Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament was played from November 13–15, with Coastal Carolina winning the championship in penalties over Georgia State.
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Coastal Carolina | 6 | | | |
| 4 | Georgia Southern | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Georgia Southern | 0 | 1 | Coastal Carolina (pen.) | 0 (4) |
| | | | 2 | Georgia State | 0 (3) |
| 2 | Georgia State (pen.) | 1 (4) | 2 | Georgia State | 0 (3) |
| 3 | Central Arkansas | 1 (2) | | | |

### NCAA Tournament

The winner of the 2020 SBC Tournament will earn an automatic berth into the 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was postponed from November/December 2020 to April/May 2021.
| Seed | Region | School | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |
| TBD | | Coastal Carolina | | | | | | |

### Postseason awards and honors

2020 Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Player of the Year | George Proctor, Georgia State |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Aris Briggs, Georgia State |
| Newcomer of the Year | Tor Saunders, Coastal Carolina |
| Freshman of the Year | Jason Kemble, Coastal Carolina |
| Coach of the Year | Shaun Docking, Coastal Carolina |
* 2020 Sun Belt Men's Soccer All-Conference Team
* Aris Briggs, Georgia State (F)
* Adam Davie, Georgia Southern (F)
* Kasper Andersen, Central Ark. (F)
* Matthew Fearnley, Georgia State (MF)
* Soren Jensen, Central Ark. (MF)
* Marcello Jones, Coastal Carolina (MF)
* Ross Finnie, Georgia State (MF)
* George Proctor, Georgia State (D)
* Alberto Suarez, Central Ark. (D)
* Mael Couteau, Coastal Carolina (D)
* Ramon Munoz, Georgia State (D)
* Tor Saunders, Coastal Carolina (GK)
* Paul Tyson, Georgia State (GK)

## MLS SuperDraft

The 2021 MLS SuperDraft will be held in January 2021.

### Total picks by school

| Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Comp. | Total |
| Central Arkansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coastal Carolina | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Georgia State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Georgia Southern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Howard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |

### List of selections

| Round | Pick # | MLS team | Player | Position | College | Ref. |
| 3 | 61 | Real Salt Lake | Aris Briggs | FW | Georgia State | |
| 3 | 74 | Nashville SC | Tor Saunders | GK | Coastal Carolina | |

### Notable undrafted players

The following players went pro after the 2020 season despite not getting drafted in the 2021 MLS draft.
| Player | Nationality | Position | College | Team | League |