# 2019 Conference USA men's soccer season

The 2019 Conference USA men's soccer season was the 25th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season began on August 25 and concluded on November 12.
The defending regular season and tournament champions were Kentucky.

## Background
### Previous season

Ahead of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, FIU was ranked 20th in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. As the season progressed, Kentucky emerged as one of the strongest teams in the nation, being ranked as third in the country. Kentucky finished the season with a program best record of 19–2–1. Kentucky would also go on to win the C-USA regular season, win the 2018 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament, and reach the Elite Eight of the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Additionally, C-USA runners-up, Charlotte earned an at-large bit into the NCAA Tournament. Old Dominion, who had one point been ranked as high as 18th in the nation, were one of the first teams out of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

### Head coaching changes

The New Mexico Lobos men's soccer program was relegated from a varsity to a club sport. Head coach Jeremy Fishbein's contract expired with the termination of the New Mexico varsity program.
Long-time UAB Blazers men's soccer head coach, Mike Getman, retired following the conclusion of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. Getman was replaced by Virginia Tech assistant coach, Jeff Kinney.
| School | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| UAB | Mike Getman | Retired | November 26, 2019 | Preseason | Jeff Kinney | December 21, 2018 |
| New Mexico | Jeremy Fishbein | Program terminated | January 1, 2019 | Preseason | — | — |

## Head coaches

    As of 2018 season
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | C-USA record | NCAA Tournaments | NCAA College Cups | NCAA Titles |
| Charlotte | Kevin Langan | Charlotte (asst.) | 8 | 86–34–20 (.686) | 86–34–20 (.686) | 38–10–10 (.741) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| FIU | Kevin Nylen | Orlando City SC (scout) | 3 | 19–12–4 (.600) | 19–12–4 (.600) | 11–3–2 (.750) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Florida Atlantic | Joey Worthen | South Carolina (asst.) | 3 | 4–27–0 (.129) | 4–27–0 (.129) | 3–13–0 (.188) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | Johan Cedergren | Dartmouth | 8 | 128–72–31 (.621) | 76–42–17 (.626) | 35–14–8 (.684) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Marshall | Chris Grassie | Charleston (WV) | 3 | 115–39–12 (.729) | 16–19–4 (.462) | 6–8–2 (.438) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Old Dominion | Alan Dawson | North Carolina (asst.) | 23 | 373–166–51 (.675) | 244–136–41 (.628) | 28–17–3 (.615) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | Mark Berson | The Citadel | 41 | 507–250–73 (.655) | 496–245–73 (.654) | 53–42–19 (.548) | 22 | 3 | 0 |
| UAB | Jeff Kinney | Virginia Tech (asst.) | 1 | 0–0–0 (–) | 0–0–0 (–) | 0–0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Preseason
### Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on August 13, 2019.
| | Team Ranking | First Place Votes |
| 1. | Kentucky | 5 |
| 2. | Charlotte | 2 |
| 3. | Old Dominion | 0 |
| 4. | Marshall | 1 |
| 5. | FIU | 0 |
| 6. | South Carolina | 0 |
| 7. | UAB | 0 |
| 8. | Florida Atlantic | 0 |

### Preseason national rankings

The preseason national rankings will be announced in August 2019. United Soccer Coaches, Soccer America, and TopDrawerSoccer.com do a Top-25 preseason poll. CollegeSoccerNews.com and Hero Sports do a Top-30 preseason poll.
| | UnitedSoccer | CSN | SoccerAmerica | TopDrawerSoccer |
| Charlotte | 21 | 23 | 20 | 20 |
| FIU | RV | — | — | — |
| Florida Atlantic | — | — | — | — |
| Kentucky | 8 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Marshall | — | — | — | — |
| Old Dominion | RV | — | — | RV |
| South Carolina | — | — | — | — |
| UAB | — | — | — | — |

### Preseason All-Conference teams

| Honor | Recipient |
| Preseason Co-Offensive Player of the Year | Kalil El-Medkhar, Kentucky |
| Preseason Co-Offensive Player of the Year | Jason Reyes, Kentucky |
| Preseason Defensive Player of the Year | Aimé Mabika, Kentucky |

#### Preseason All-CUSA Team

| Player | School | Class | Position |
| Teddy Chaouche | Charlotte | Sr. | MF |
| Elliot Panicco | Charlotte | R-Sr. | GK |
| Andrew Booth | FIU | R-Sr. | MF/D |
| Alonso Coello | Florida Atlantic | So. | MF |
| Kalil El-Medkhar | Kentucky | Jr. | MF |
| Enrique Facusse | Kentucky | Jr. | GK |
| Aimé Mabika | Kentucky | R-Jr. | D |
| Jason Reyes | Kentucky | So. | F |
| Daniel Corona | Old Dominion | So. | F |
| Sebastien Hauret | Old Dominion | R-Sr. | MF |
| Luca Mayr | South Carolina | Sr. | MF/F |

## Regular season
### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| FIU | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Marshall | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Charlotte | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Old Dominion | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 |
| UAB | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| South Carolina | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
| Florida Atlantic | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
* 2019 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament semifinals
* 2019 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament quarterfinals
* Eliminated

### Rankings
#### National

| | 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 |
| Charlotte | USC | 21 | 17 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 15 | None released | None released | None released | None released | 21 |
| Charlotte | TDS | 20 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 22 | 25 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
| FIU | USC | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 19 | 23 | RV | None released | None released | None released | None released | RV |
| FIU | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | 21 | 23 | 21 | 24 | 17 | RV | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Florida Atlantic | USC | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released | NV |
| Florida Atlantic | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Kentucky | USC | 8 | 9 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 19 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 19 | None released | None released | None released | None released | 23 |
| Kentucky | TDS | 6 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 23 | 25 | 18 | 23 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV |
| Marshall | USC | NV | NV | NV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 21 | 15 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 11 | None released | None released | None released | None released | 11 |
| Marshall | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Old Dominion | USC | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released | NV |
| Old Dominion | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| South Carolina | USC | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released | NV |
| South Carolina | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| UAB | USC | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | None released | None released | None released | None released | NV |
| UAB | TDS | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |

#### Regional - United Soccer Southeast

The United Soccer Southeast regional rankings contain teams from Conference USA, the Atlantic 10 Conference, Sun Belt Conference, and Missouri Valley Conference.
| | 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 |
| Charlotte | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| FIU | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Florida Atlantic | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| Kentucky | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Marshall | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Old Dominion | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| South Carolina | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |
| UAB | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV |

## Postseason
### Conference USA Tournament

The Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament was held from November 13–16, 2019 on the campus of Old Dominion University. Marshall won their first ever Conference USA Championship, beating Charlotte in the final.
| Quarterfinals November 13 | Quarterfinals November 13 | Quarterfinals November 13 | Semifinals November 15 | Semifinals November 15 | Semifinals November 15 | C-USA Championship November 16 | C-USA Championship November 16 | C-USA Championship November 16 |
| | | | 1 | Marshall | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Kentucky | 2 | 4 | Kentucky | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Florida Atlantic | 0 | | | | 1 | Marshall | 1 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Charlotte | 0 |
| | | | 2 | Charlotte | 1 | | | |
| 3 | FIU | 3 | 3 | FIU | 0 | | | |
| 6 | South Carolina | 0 | | | | | | |

### NCAA Tournament

| Seed | Region | School | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round |
| 11 | 3 | Marshall | BYE | W 2–1 vs. West Virginia – (Huntington, WV) | L 1–4 vs. #6 Washington – (Seattle, WA) |
| — | 4 | Charlotte | W 3–1 vs. Mercer – (Charlotte, NC) | L 1–2 (OT) vs. #2 Clemson – (Clemson, SC) | |
| — | 2 | Kentucky | W 2–1 (OT) vs. Loyola Chicago – (Lexington, KY) | L 0–3 vs. #5 Indiana – (Bloomington, IN) | |

## Awards and honors
### Players of the Week

| Week | Offensive | Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Defensive | Ref. |
| Week | Player | Position | Team | Player | Position | Team | Ref. |
| Sep. 2 | Andrew Booth | FW | FIU | Hagay Jalon | GK | Florida Atlantic | |
| Sep. 9 | Teddy Chaouche | MF | Charlotte | Patrick Hogan | DF | Charlotte | |
| Sep. 16 | Alessandro Campoy | FW | FIU | Delasi Batse | DF | Charlotte | |
| Sep. 23 | Caleb Franke | FW | FIU | Nick O’Callaghan | DF | FIU | |
| Sep. 30 | Ivan Mykhailenko | FW | Florida Atlantic | Daniel Gagliardi | GK | FIU | |
| Oct. 7 | Axel Sigurdarson | MF | Charlotte | Illal Osmanu | DF | Marshall | |
| Oct. 14 | Mohamed Conde | FW | FIU | Elliot Panicco | DF | Charlotte | |
| Oct. 21 | Milo Yosef | FW | Marshall | Paulo Pita | GK | Marshall | |
| Oct. 28 | Daniel Evans | FW | Kentucky | Hagay Jalon | GK | Florida Atlantic | |
| Nov. 4 | Milo Yosef | FW | Marshall | Paulo Pita | GK | Marshall | |
| Nov. 11 | Jamil Roberts | MF | Marshall | Paulo Pita | GK | Marshall | |

### Postseason awards
#### Conference awards

2019 C-USA Men's Soccer Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Player of the Year | Aimé Mabika, Kentucky |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Milo Yosef, Marshall |
| Co-Defensive Players of the Year | Nick O'Callaghan, FIU Aimé Mabika, Kentucky |
| Midfielder of the Year | Andrew Booth, FIU |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Elliot Panicco, Charlotte |
| Freshman of the Year | Milo Yosef, Marshall |
| Co-Golden Glove Award | Elliot Panicco, Charlotte Paulo Pita, Marshall |
| Golden Boot Award | Alessandro Campoy, FIU |
| Coach of the Year | Chris Grassie, Marshall |
2019 C-USA Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team | Rookie Team |
| GK: Elliot Panicco, Charlotte D: Patrick Hogan, Charlotte D: Nick O'Callaghan, FIU D: Aimé Mabika, Kentucky D: Illal Osmanu, Marshall MF: Teddy Chaouche, Charlotte MF: Andrew Booth, FIU MF: Alonso Coello, Florida Atlantic MF: Kalil El-Medkhar, Kentucky F: Alessandro Campoy, FIU F: Milo Yosef, Marshall | GK: Enrique Facusse, Kentucky GK: Paulo Pita, Marshall D: Jimmy Filerman, Old Dominion D: Frano Buhovac, South Carolina MF: Alban Rousselet, FIU MF: Alex Alexis, Florida Atlantic MF: Marcel Meinzer, Kentucky MF: Pedro Dolabella, Marshall MF: Deniz Dogan, Old Dominion F: Ivan Mykhailenko, Florida Atlantic F: Daniel Evans, Kentucky F: Jamil Roberts, Marshall | GK: Daniel Gagliardi, FIU D: Luke Johnson, Charlotte D: David Garcia, FIU D: Tom Abrahamsson, Florida Atlantic D: Jan-Erik Leinhos, Marshall D: Chris Reichman, UAB MF: Joe Brito, Charlotte MF: Xavi Olmos Ferris, FIU MF: Sebastien Hauret, Old Dominion MF: Logan Hitzeman, South Carolina MF: Chase Rushing, UAB F: Kameron Lacey, Charlotte F: Brian Banahan, South Carolina | Kameron Lacey, F, Charlotte Axel Sigurdarson, MF, Charlotte AJ Cousins, D, FIU David Garcia, D, FIU Tom Abrahamsson, D, Florida Atlantic John Michael Bandy, D, Kentucky Eythor Bjorgolfsson, MF, Kentucky Max Schneider, MF, Marshall Milo Yosef, F, Marshall Jose Olmos, D, Old Dominion Brian Banahan, F, South Carolina Logan Hitzeman, MF, South Carolina |

#### Regional awards

| Award | Recipients |
| CoSIDA Academic All-District | Hagay Jalon, Florida Atlantic |
| CoSIDA Academic All-District | Carlos Diaz-Salcedo, Marshall |
| CoSIDA Academic All-District | Jonas Westmeyer, Marshall |
| CoSIDA Academic All-District | Luca Mayr, South Carolina |
| United Soccer All-Southeast First-Team | Elliot Panicco, Charlotte |
| United Soccer All-Southeast First-Team | Aimé Mabika, Kentucky |
| United Soccer All-Southeast First-Team | Nick O'Callaghan, FIU |
| United Soccer All-Southeast First-Team | Illal Osmanu, Marshall |
| United Soccer All-Southeast First-Team | Andrew Booth, FIU |
| United Soccer All-Southeast First-Team | Kalil El-Medkhar, Kentucky |
| United Soccer All-Southeast First-Team | Jamil Roberts, Marshall |
| United Soccer All-Southeast First-Team | Milo Yosef, Marshall |
| United Soccer All-Southeast Second-Team | Enrique Facusse, Kentucky |
| United Soccer All-Southeast Second-Team | Patrick Hogan, Charlotte |
| United Soccer All-Southeast Second-Team | Jan-Erik Leinhos, Marshall |
| United Soccer All-Southeast Second-Team | Teddy Chaouche, Charlotte |
| United Soccer All-Southeast Third-Team | Paulo Pita, Marshall |
| United Soccer All-Southeast Third-Team | Marcel Meinzer, Kentucky |
| United Soccer All-Southeast Third-Team | Alessandro Campoy, FIU |

#### National awards

| Award | Recipients |
| Senior CLASS Award | Elliot Panicco, Charlotte |

#### All-Americans

* Consensus All-Americans
* None
To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors based on a point system computed from the four different all-America teams. The point system consists of three points for first team, two points for second team and one point for third team. No honorable mention or fourth team or lower are used in the computation. The top five totals plus ties are first team and the next five plus ties are second team.
| College Soccer News | Soccer America | Top Drawer Soccer | United Soccer Coaches |
| First Team ||||
| None | None | None | None |
| Second Team ||||
| None | Milo Yosef – Marshall | None | Milo Yosef – Marshall |
| Third Team ||||
| Elliot Panicco – Charlotte Milo Yosef – Marshall | None | None | None |

## 2020 MLS Draft

The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was held in January 2020. Five players from Conference USA were selected.
| Rnd. | Pick | Player | Pos. | Team | School |
| 1 | 13 | Elliot Panicco | GK | Nashville SC | Charlotte |
| 1 | 24 | Paulo Pita | GK | Los Angeles FC | Marshall |
| 2 | 32 | Daniel Gagliardi | GK | Vancouver Whitecaps | FIU |
| 3 | 57 | Nick O'Callaghan | DF | Orlando City | FIU |
| 4 | 96 | Andrew Booth | MF | Minnesota United | FIU |

## 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.
No players from Conference USA signed homegrown contracts following the 2019 season ahead of the 2020 MLS season.