# 2019 Mid-American Conference men's soccer season

The 2019 Mid-American Conference men's soccer season will be the 27th season of men's varsity soccer in the Mid-American Conference.
Akron enters the season as the conference tournament champions. West Virginia enters the season as the defending conference regular season champions.

## Background
### Previous season

The 2018 season was the 26th season of men's varsity soccer in the Mid-American Conference. Akron won the 2018 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament against Western Michigan. With the MAC Tournament title, Akron earned an automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. MAC regular season champions, West Virginia, earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. West Virginia and Akron were unseeded in the tournament meaning both programs began in the first round.
In the tournament, West Virginia advanced past LIU Brooklyn before losing in Georgetown in the second round. Akron reached the NCAA College Cup for the second consecutive season, and for the sixth time in program history. This came after defeating Rider, Syracuse, Wake Forest, three-time defending champions Stanford, and Michigan State. In the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Akron lost to Maryland, 0–1 off of a penalty kick from Amar Sejdič.

### Coaching changes

Ahead of the 2019 season, SIUE head coach Mario Sanchez was hired by professional soccer club, Louisville City FC. Cale Wassermann was hired to replace Sanchez.
| School | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| SIU Edwardsville | Mario Sanchez | Hired by Louisville City FC | November 30, 2018 | Preseason | Cale Wassermann | January 17, 2019 |

## Teams

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Coach | Uniforms supplier |
| Akron Zips | Akron, Ohio | FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field | 4,000 | Jared Embick | adidas |
| Bowling Green Falcons | Bowling Green, Ohio | Cochrane Stadium | 1,000 | Eric Nichols | Nike |
| Northern Illinois Huskies | DeKalb, Illinois | NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex | 1,500 | Ryan Swan | adidas |
| SIU Edwardsville Cougars | Edwardsville, Illinois | Ralph Korte Stadium | 4,000 | Cale Wassermann | adidas |
| West Virginia Mountaineers | Morgantown, West Virginia | Dlesk Stadium | 1,600 | Marlon LeBlanc | Nike |
| Western Michigan Broncos | Kalamazoo, Michigan | WMU Soccer Complex | 500 | Chad Wiseman | adidas |

## Preseason
### Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on August 26, 2019.
| | Team Ranking | Points | First |
| 1. | Akron | 35 | 5 |
| 2. | Western Michigan | 27 | 1 |
| 3. | West Virginia | 22 | 0 |
| 4. | SIUE | 15 | 0 |
| 5. | Bowling Green | 14 | 0 |
| 6. | Northern Illinois | 13 | 0 |

### Preseason national polls

The preseason national polls were released in July and August 2019. United Soccer Coaches, Soccer America, and TopDrawer Soccer have a Top 25 poll, while College Soccer News has a Top 30 poll.
| | United Soccer | CSN | Soccer America | Top Drawer Soccer |
| Akron | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Bowling Green | — | — | — | — |
| Northern Illinois | — | — | — | — |
| SIUE | — | — | — | — |
| West Virginia | 23 | 2 | — | 2 |
| Western Michigan | — | — | — | — |

## Regular season
### Early season tournaments

Early season tournaments will be announced in late Spring and Summer 2019.
| Team | Tournament | Finish |
| Bowling Green | Chicago Classic | 1st |
| SIUE | Michigan Classic | 3rd |
| Western Michigan | Bronco Soccer Fest | 1st |

### Conference results

Color Key: Home  • Away  • Win  • Loss  • Draw  • Postponed :
| Club | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match |
| Club | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Akron Zips (AKR) | BGSU | WMU | SIUE | NIU | WVU |
| Akron Zips (AKR) | Oct | Oct | Oct | Oct | Nov |
| Bowling Green Falcons (BGSU) | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Bowling Green Falcons (BGSU) | Oct | Oct | Oct | Oct | Nov |
| Northern Illinois Huskies (NIU) | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Northern Illinois Huskies (NIU) | Oct | Oct | Oct | Oct | Nov |
| SIU Edwardsville Cougars (SIUE) | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| SIU Edwardsville Cougars (SIUE) | Oct | Oct | Oct | Oct | Nov |
| West Virginia Mountaineers (WVU) | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| West Virginia Mountaineers (WVU) | Oct | Oct | Oct | Oct | Nov |
| Western Michigan Broncos (WMU) | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Western Michigan Broncos (WMU) | Oct | Oct | Oct | Oct | Nov |

### Standings

| Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Qualification |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Akron | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 13 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 21 | 23 | −2 | 20 | 2019 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament |
| 2 | Bowling Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2019 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament |
| 3 | Northern Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2019 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament |
| 4 | SIUE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2019 MAC Men's Soccer Tournament |
| 5 | West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Western Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Updated to match(es) played on August 3, 2019. Source: MAC

## Postseason
### MAC Tournament

The 2019 MAC Tournament was held from November 12–17, 2019.
| First Round | First Round | First Round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Championship | Championship | 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 | | | | | | |

### NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament will begin in November 2019 and conclude on December 17, 2019.
| Seed | Region | School | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |

## Rankings
### 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 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 |
| Akron | USC | 3 | 21 | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released |
| Akron | TDS | 2 | 2 | 12 | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | | | | |
| Bowling Green | USC | NV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released |
| Bowling Green | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | | | | |
| Northern Illinois | USC | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released |
| Northern Illinois | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | | | | |
| SIUE | USC | NV | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released |
| SIUE | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | | | | |
| West Virginia | USC | 23 | 21 | RV | 20 | RV | 23 | RV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released |
| West Virginia | TDS | 25 | 25 | 24 | NV | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | | | | |
| Western Michigan | USC | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | None released | None released | None released | None released |
| Western Michigan | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | | | | |

### Regional rankings - USC North 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' North Region includes teams from the Mid-American Conference, the Big Ten Conference, and the Horizon League.
| | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 |
| Akron | 6 | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Bowling Green | 8 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Northern Illinois | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| SIUE | 5 | 8 | NV | NV | NV | NV | 10 | 6 | 6 |
| West Virginia | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 10 | NV |
| Western Michigan | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | 10 | 7 | 4 | 4 |

## Awards and honors
### Player of the week honors

| Week | Player | Position | Team |
| Week 1 | Noah Heim | GK | SIUE |
| Week 2 | Anthony Bowie | FW | Western Michigan |
| Week 2 | Achille Robin | DF | Bowling Green |
| Week 3 | Robles Grajer | FW | West Virginia |
| Week 4 | Jorge Gonzalez | FW | SIUE |
| Week 5 | Andres Muriel Albino | MF | West Virginia |
| Week 6 | Anthony Bowie | FW | Western Michigan |
| Week 7 | Charlie Sharp | MF | Western Michigan |
| Week 8 | Alex Welch | MF | Northern Illinois |
| Week 9 | | | |
| Week 10 | | | |

### Postseason honors

2019 MAC Men's Soccer Individual Awards :
* Award
* Offensive Player of the Year
* Defensive Player of the Year
* Midfielder of the Year
* Goalkeeper of the Year
* Coach of the Year
* Freshman of the Year
2019 MAC Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams :
| First Team Honorees | Second Team Honorees | All-Freshman Team Honorees | Sportsmanship Award Honorees |

### National awards

| Award | Winner | School | Ref. |

## 2020 MLS Draft

The 2020 MLS SuperDraft will be held in January 2020.
| Rnd. | Pick | Player | Pos. | Team | School |

## Homegrown players

The Homegrown Player Rule is a Major League Soccer program that allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first team rosters. Before the creation of the rule in 2008, every player entering Major League Soccer had to be assigned through one of the existing MLS player allocation processes, such as the MLS SuperDraft.
To place a player on its homegrown player list, making him eligible to sign as a homegrown player, players must have resided in that club's home territory and participated in the club's youth development system for at least one year. Players can play college soccer and still be eligible to sign a homegrown contract.
| Original MLS team | Player | Pos. | School | Ref. |