2017 Conference USA men's soccer season

The 2017 Conference USA men's soccer season was the 23rd season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season began on August 25 and concluded on November 12.

2017 Conference USA men's soccer season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Soccer
Duration	August 25, 2017 – November 12, 2017
Number of teams	8
2018 MLS SuperDraft
Top draft pick	Paul Marie, FIU
Picked by	San Jose Earthquakes, 12th overall
Regular Season
Season champions	FIU
Runners-up	Old Dominion
Season MVP	Santiago Patino, FIU
Tournament
Champions	Old Dominion
Runners-up	Charlotte
Finals MVP	O: Niko Klosterhalfenm D: Mercan Akar

2017 Conference USA men's soccer standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 20 FIU +	6	–	0	–	2			12	–	2	–	4
Old Dominion ‡	6	–	2	–	0			13	–	6	–	2
Kentucky	4	–	2	–	2			8	–	6	–	4
New Mexico	3	–	3	–	2			8	–	6	–	4
Charlotte	2	–	1	–	5			8	–	5	–	6
Marshall	3	–	5	–	0			8	–	10	–	1
South Carolina	2	–	4	–	2			6	–	9	–	2
Florida Atlantic	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	14	–	0
UAB	1	–	6	–	1			5	–	7	–	4
‡ – 2017 CUSA Tournament champion + – Invited to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship As of December 13, 2017; Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The regular season was won by FIU, while the tournament was won by Old Dominion. Both school's were the conference's bids into the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. There, the two programs reached the round of 32 before being eliminated.

Niko Klosterhalfenm and Mercan Akar were named the conference's offensive and defensive most valuable players, respectively. Paul Marie and Alex Bumpus were drafted in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft following the end of the season. Jason Beaulieu and Aaron Herrera signed homegrown contracts with their parent MLS clubs.

Background

Head coaches

Three programs had first-year head coaches heading into the 2017 season. Former University of Charleston head coach, Chris Grassie was hired as the head coach for Marshall.[1] Former Orlando City SC scout, Kevin Nylen was named the head coach for FIU. Finally, former South Carolina assistant coach, Joey Worthen, was named head coach for Florida Atlantic.

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	C-USA record	NCAA Tournaments[2]	NCAA College Cups[2]	NCAA Titles[2]
Charlotte	Kevin Langan	Charlotte (asst.)	6	64–24–12 (.700)	64–24–12 (.700)	30–7–5 (.774)	5	0	0
FIU	Kevin Nylen	Orlando City SC (scout)	1	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Florida Atlantic	Joey Worthen	South Carolina (asst.)	1	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Kentucky	Johan Cedergren	Dartmouth	6	102–64–26 (.599)	50–34–12 (.583)	24–11–6 (.659)	9	0	0
Marshall	Chris Grassie	Charleston (WV)	1	99–20–8 (.811)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
New Mexico	Jeremy Fishbein	Incarnate Word	16	294–133–46 (.670)	199–73–36 (.705)	17–12–4 (.576)	12	2	0
Old Dominion	Alan Dawson	North Carolina (asst.)	21	349–155–47 (.676)	220–125–37 (.624)	16–13–3 (.547)	13	0	0
South Carolina	Mark Berson	The Citadel	39	494–231–71 (.665)	483–226–71 (.665)	49–32–17 (.587)	22	3	0
UAB	Mike Getman	Harvard	25	311–202–49 (.597)	269–176–40 (.596)	101–67–16 (.592)	8	0	0

Preseason

Recruiting

National Rankings

Team	CSN[3]	TDS[4]
Charlotte	NR	NR
FIU	NR	36
Florida Atlantic	NR	NR
Kentucky	NR	NR
Marshall	NR	NR
New Mexico	NR	NR
Old Dominion	NR	NR
South Carolina	NR	NR
UAB	NR	NR

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was announced on August 11, 2017. Charlotte was voted to win the Conference USA regular season. New Mexico, FIU and UAB received first place votes.[5]

	CUSA Coaches
1.	Charlotte (4)
2.	New Mexico (2)
3.	FIU (2)
4.	Kentucky
5.	South Carolina
6.	UAB (1)
7.	Old Dominion
8.	Marshall
9.	Florida Atlantic

Preseason team

On August 11, the preseason team was announced.[5]

Recipient	School	Grade	Pos.
^Elliot Panicco^	Charlotte	R-So.	GK
Santiago Patino*	FIU	Jr.	FW
Paul Marie	FIU	Sr.	DF
Bjorn Gudjonsson	South Carolina	Jr.	FW
David Valverde	UAB	Sr.	MF
Julian Veen Uldal	South Carolina	So.	MF
Alex Bumpus	Kentucky	Sr.	DF
Peyton Ericson	South Carolina	Jr.	MF / DF
Joris Ahlinvi	FIU	So.	MF
Niko Klosterhalfen	ODU	Jr.	MF
Tom Smart	New Mexico	R-So.	D
Matthew Constant	New Mexico	So.	D

*Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
^Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Three programs participated in early season tournaments. FIU and New Mexico finished undefeated in their respective tournaments, while ODU finished in third place.

Team	Tournament	Finish
FIU	Wolstein Classic	1-0-1 (2nd)
New Mexico	Grange and Ashwill Invitational	2-0-0 (1st)
Old Dominion	ODU Soccer Classic	0-1-1 (3rd)

Rankings

United Soccer Coaches National

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week

Main article: List of NCAA Division I men's soccer teams ranked in the 2017 Top 25 coaches poll

		Pre[6]	Wk 1[7]	Wk 2[8]	Wk 3[9]	Wk 4[10]	Wk 5[11]	Wk 6[12]	Wk 7[13]	Wk 8[14]	Wk 9[15]	Wk 10[16]	Wk 11[17]	Wk 12[18]	Final
Charlotte	C	15	16	25	RV	RV	RV
FIU	C		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	17	14	11	8	7	8	13	20
Florida Atlantic	C
Kentucky	C		RV	19	13	15	13	20	21	NR		RV
Marshall	C
New Mexico	C	20	RV	RV				RV	RV		RV
Old Dominion	C		20	NR			RV	RV	18	NR	RV			25	RV
South Carolina	C		RV
UAB	C		RV	RV

Results

Team/Opponent	CHA	FIU	FAU	KTY	MAR	UNM	ODU	USC	UAB
Charlotte				1–1	1–0		1–2	1–1
FIU	2–2				4–0	4–0	3–1
Florida Atlantic	1–3	1–4			2–1		0–3
Kentucky		2–2	4–0					1–0	1–0
Marshall				1–0		1–2		2–1	2–1
New Mexico	0–0		3–1	0–1					2–0
Old Dominion				2–0	1–0	1–0			3–2
South Carolina		2–5	1–2			2–2	3–2
UAB	1–1	1–2	2–0					0–1

Postseason

C-USA Tournament

Main article: 2017 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
	4	Charlotte	1
	5	New Mexico	0
						1	FIU	1
						4	Charlotte	3
											2	Old Dominion	1
	2	Old Dominion	2								4	Charlotte	0
	7	South Carolina	0
						2	Old Dominion	1
						6	Marshall	0
	3	Kentucky	0
	6	Marshall	1

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament

Seed	Region	School	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Championship
N/A	Chapel Hill	FIU	W, 2–0 vs. Omaha – (Miami)	L, 1–2 vs. #6 Duke – (Durham)
N/A	Bloomington	Old Dominion	W, 2–0 vs. NC State – (Norfolk)	L, 0–3 vs. #2 Indiana – (Bloomington)

Awards

Regular season awards

Players of the Week

Week	Offensive			Defensive			Goalkeeper		Rookie			Ref.
	Player	Position	Team	Player	Position	Team	Player	Team	Player	Position	Team

Postseason awards

All-C-USA awards and teams

2017 C-USA Men's Soccer Individual Awards[19]
Award	Recipient(s)
Player of the Year	Santiago Patino, FIU
Offensive Player of the Year	Aaron Herrera, New Mexico
Defensive Player of the Year	Santiago Patino, FIU
Freshman of the Year	Enrique Facusse, Kentucky
Golden Glove Award	Mertcan Akar, Old Dominion Enrique Facusse, Kentucky
Coach of the Year	Kevin Nylen, FIU

2017 C-USA Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams[19]
First Team	Second Team	Third Team	Rookie Team
F: Luca Mayr, South Carolina F: Santiago Patino, FIU F: Daniel Bruce, Charlotte MF: Paul Marie, FIU MF: Joris Ahlinvi, FIU MF: Tommy Madden, Charlotte D: Aaron Herrera, New Mexico D: Alex Bumpus, Kentucky D: Callum Montgomery, Charlotte GK: Mertcan Akar, Old Dominion GK: Enrique Facusse, Kentucky	F: Brandon Perdue, Old Dominion F: Lewis Knight, Marshall MF: Niko Klosterhalfen, Old Dominion MF: David Valverde, UAB MF: Massimo Ferrin, UAB D: Chris Wallander-Ianev, South Carolina D: Tom Smart, New Mexico D: Fox Slotemaker, Old Dominion D: Carlos Diaz-Salcedo, Marshall D: Marvin Hezel, FIU D: Mathieu Laurent, UAB GK: Jason Beaulieu, New Mexico	F: JJ Williams, Kentucky F: Max Wilschrey, Old Dominion F: Sam Gleadle, New Mexico MF: Sebastien Hauret, Old Dominion MF: Aaron Scott, New Mexico MF: Kevin Barajas, Kentucky MF: Teddy Chaouche, Charlotte MF: Donald Tomlinson, FIU D: Leon Jones, Kentucky GK: Hugo Fauroux, FIU	Enrique Facusse, Kentucky Lewis Knight, Marshall Alessandro Campoy, FIU Justin Sukow, South Carolina Brandon Perdue, Old Dominion Joe Brito, Charlotte Billy Jones, New Mexico Ferdinand Solberg, Florida Atlantic Leon Jones, Kentucky Matias Barraza, FIU Aime Mabika, Kentucky Hans Kroschwitz, Old Dominion Nick Barreiro, New Mexico

All-Americans

College Soccer News

Three players in the conference were named All-Americans by CollegeSoccerNews.com.[20]

• Santiago Patino, FIU — Second team All-American
• Paul Marie, FIU — Third team All-American

United Soccer Coaches

Further information: List of NCAA Division I men's soccer First-Team All-America teams

One player in the conference were named All-Americans by United Soccer Coaches.[21]

• Santiago Patino, FIU — First team All-American

MLS SuperDraft

Main article: 2018 MLS SuperDraft

Total picks by school

Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total
Charlotte	0	0	0	0	0
FIU	1	0	0	0	1
Florida Atlantic	0	0	0	0	0
Kentucky	0	0	1	0	0
Marshall	0	0	0	0	0
New Mexico	0	0	0	0	0
Old Dominion	0	0	0	0	0
South Carolina	0	0	0	0	0
UAB	0	0	0	0	0

List of selections

Round	Pick #	MLS team	Player	Position	College	Ref.
1	12	San Jose Earthquakes	Paul Marie	Midfielder	FIU	[22]
3	52	New York City FC	Alex Bumpus	Defender	Kentucky	[23]

Homegrown contracts

Main article: Homegrown Player Rule (Major League Soccer)

Original MLS team	Player	Position	College	Notes	Ref.
Montreal Impact	Jason Beaulieu	Goalkeeper	New Mexico		[24]
Real Salt Lake	Aaron Herrera	Defender	New Mexico	2017 C-USA Defender of the Year[25]	[26][27]

See also

• 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
• 2017 Conference USA women's soccer season

References

1. Carvelli, Michael (January 10, 2017). "Marshall hires University of Charleston's Chris Grassie as new men's soccer coach". Charleston Gazette-Mail. The Daily Gazette Company. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
2. "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. NCAA.org. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
3. "2017 Team Recruiting Classes". College Soccer News. March 3, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
4. Clark, Travis (July 10, 2017). "2017 Boys Recruiting Rankings: July update". Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
5. "MSOC: Preseason Team & Poll Announced". conferenceusa.com. Conference USA. August 11, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
6. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Preseason Ranking - Aug. 3, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. August 3, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
7. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 1 - August 29, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. August 29, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
8. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 2 - September 5, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. September 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
9. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 3 - September 12, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. September 12, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
10. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 4 - September 19, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. September 19, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
11. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 5 - September 26, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. September 26, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
12. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 6 - October 3, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. October 3, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
13. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 7 - October 10, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. October 10, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
14. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 8 - October 17, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. October 17, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
15. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 9 - October 24, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. October 24, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
16. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 10 - October 31, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. October 31, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
17. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 11 - November 7, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. November 7, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
18. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 12 - November 14, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. November 14, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
19. "MSOC: 2017 All-Conference Awards Announced". conferenceusa.com. Conference USA. November 7, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
20. "College Soccer News 2017 All-America Teams". collegesoccernews.com. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
21. "NCAA DI Men's All-America Teams Announced by United Soccer Coaches". unitedsoccercoaches.com. United Soccer Coaches. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
22. Gallegos, Martin (January 19, 2018). "San Jose Earthquakes select Paul Marie in MLS draft". The Mercury News. Digital First Media. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
23. Most, Jake (January 21, 2018). "UK Men's Soccer's Alex Bumpus Drafted by NYCFC". ukathletics.com. University of Kentucky Athletics. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
24. Stejskal, Sam (January 9, 2018). "Montreal Impact sign goalkeepers Clement Diop, Jason Beaulieu". MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
25. Goeldner, Cameron (December 16, 2017). "Men's Soccer: Herrera signs pro contract with Real Salt Lake". The Daily Lobo. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
26. Soria, Joel (December 19, 2017). "RSL signs U.S. U-20 defender Aaron Herrera to Homegrown contract". SBISoccer.com. Goal. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
27. Lee, Maddie (December 14, 2017). "Academy product Aaron Herrera leaves New Mexico, is likely headed to RSL". The Salt Lake Tribune. Huntsman Family Investments, LLC. Retrieved February 2, 2018.