2018 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season

The 2018 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season was the 6th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season began on August 24 and concluded on November 11, 2018.

2018 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportSoccer
DurationAugust 24, 2018 – November 11, 2018
Number of teams8
2019 MLS SuperDraft
Top draft pickEmil Cuello, 19th overall
Picked byLA Galaxy
Regular Season
Season championsUCF
  Runners-upSMU
Tournament
ChampionsSMU
  Runners-upUCF
Finals MVPOffensive: Emil Cuello
Defensive: Grant Makela
AAC men's soccer seasons
2018 American Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 18 UCF + 5 1 1 13 3 3
SMU ‡+ 5 1 1 10 5 3
South Florida 4 1 2 7 8 2
Connecticut + 3 2 2 12 6 2
Memphis 2 4 1 8 7 4
Temple 2 4 1 5 10 4
Tulsa 2 5 0 6 9 2
Cincinnati 1 6 0 3 14 1
As of December 11, 2018
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The regular season was won by UCF, who finished conference play with a 5–1–1 record, and won on tiebreakers against SMU. SMU won the American Tournament, defeating UCF 5–4 in penalty kicks following a 1–1 draw in regulation and overtime. SMU earned the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, while UCF and Connecticut received at-large berths into the tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, SMU lost in the first round to Oregon State.[1][2] Connecticut beat rivals, Rhode Island,[3] in the first round, before losing to Indiana in the second round.[4] UCF was one of the 16 seeded teams (seeded 14th),[5] allowing them to earn a bye into the second round. There, they lost in overtime to Lipscomb.[6]

Following the season, Cal Jennings won the Offensive MVP award for the conference. Jacob Hauser-Ramsey of Connecticut won the Defensive MVP. Fellow UCF players, Louis Perez, Yannik Oettl, and Scott Calabrese won the AAC Midfielder, Goalkeeper, and Coach of the Year awards, respectively.[7] Perez and Jennings were also named All-Americans by United Soccer Coaches.[8]

Emil Cuello was the first AAC player to be drafted in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, when he was selected by the LA Galaxy with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the draft.

Background

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Head coaches

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Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Record at school American record NCAA
Tournaments[9]
NCAA
College Cups[9]
NCAA
Titles[9]
Cincinnati Hylton Dayes Wright State 19 229–229–62 (.500) 131–144–42 (.479) 7–27–4 (.237) 2 0 0
Connecticut Ray Reid Southern Connecticut 22 434–124–73 (.746) 288–107–58 (.700) 26–11–9 (.663) 16 2 1
Memphis Richard Mulrooney Memphis (asst.) 5 24–32–11 (.440) 24–32–11 (.440) 11–20–7 (.382) 0 0 0
SMU Kevin Hudson SMU (asst.) 4 38–14–6 (.707) 38–14–6 (.707) 14–5–3 (.705) 2 0 0
South Florida Bob Butehorn Florida Gulf Coast 2 135–100–31 (.566) 6–6–4 (.500) 3–3–2 (.500) 4 0 0
Temple Dave MacWilliams Philadelphia KiXX 19 140–161–34 (.469) 140–161–34 (.469) 12–19–7 (.408) 3 0 0
Tulsa Tom McIntosh Tulsa (asst.) 22 244–164–48 (.588) 244–164–48 (.588) 15–11–4 (.567) 10 0 0
UCF Scott Calabrese FIU 2 93–73–22 (.553) 8–6–2 (.563) 4–2–1 (.643) 3 0 0

Preseason

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Preseason poll

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The preseason poll will be released on August 14, 2018. UCF was picked to win the regular season.[10]

Team Ranking First Place Votes Raw Points
1. UCF 4 46
2. SMU 3 43
3. Connecticut 1 38
4. South Florida 0 34
5. Tulsa 0 26
6. Temple 0 19
7. Cincinnati 0 11
8. Memphis 0 9

Preseason national rankings

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Two of the programs were ranked in one of the five major preseason polls. CollegeSoccerNews.com and Hero Sports use a Top 30 ranking throughout the season, while United Soccer, Soccer America, and Top Drawer Soccer use a Top 25 ranking throughout the season.

United
Soccer
[11]
CSN[12] Hero
Sports
[13]
Soccer
America
[14]
TopDrawer
Soccer[15]
Cincinnati NR NR NR NR NR
Connecticut NR NR NR NR NR
Memphis NR NR NR NR NR
SMU 8 10 6 7 6
South Florida NR NR NR NR NR
Temple NR NR NR NR NR
Tulsa NR NR NR NR NR
UCF NR NR 26 NR NR

Preseason All-Conference teams

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Honor Recipient
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Garrett McLaughlin, SMU
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, Connecticut
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year Christian Knight, South Florida
Preseason All-AAC Team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   USA Christian Knight (South Florida)
DF   NOR Andreas Steineger (UCF)
DF   USA Dylan Greenberg (Connecticut)
DF   USA Jacob Hauser-Ramsey (Connecticut)
DF   ENG Ben Roberts (Memphis)
MF   ISR Yoni Sorokin (UCF)
MF   VEN David Zalzman (Memphis)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   GER Adrian Billhardt (South Florida)
MF   USA Emil Cuello (SMU)
FW   USA Cal Jennings (UCF)
FW   USA Austin Smythe (Cincinnati)
FW   SEN Abdou Thiam (Connecticut)
FW   USA Garrett McLaughlin (SMU)

Regular season

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Players of the Week

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Week Offensive Defensive Goalkeeper Rookie
Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Team Player Position Team
Aug. 26[16] Louis Perez MF UCF Mitchell Cashion DF Tulsa Cooper Clark Tulsa Felix Metzler DF Connecticut
Sep. 2[17] Cal Jennings FW UCF Pierre Cayet DF Temple Harrison Devenish-Meares South Florida Gilles Kuhler FW Tulsa
Sep. 9[18] Tomasz Skublak FW UCF Koray Easterling DF Tulsa Yannik Oettl UCF Jalen Campbell FW Temple
Sep. 16[19] Cal Jennings FW UCF Jacob Hauser-Ramsey DF Connecticut Tyler Hofmann Memphis none announced
Sep. 23[20] Lukas Fernandes MF Temple Talen Maples DF SMU Simon Lefebvre Temple Lane Warrington MF SMU
Sep. 30[21] Rex Epps FW Cincinnati Jacob Hauser-Ramsey DF Connecticut Yannik Oettl UCF Ibrahima Diop FW Connecticut
Oct. 7[22] Cal Jennings FW UCF Jacob Hauser-Ramsey DF Connecticut Harrison Devenish-Meares South Florida Edgar Alaniz MF Memphis
Oct. 14[23] Tomasz Skublak FW South Florida Jacob Hauser-Ramsey DF Connecticut Grant Makela SMU Gilles Kuhler FW Tulsa
Oct. 21[24] Abdou Mbacke Thiam FW Connecticut Ben Roberts DF Memphis Yannik Oettl UCF Gurman Sangha MF Memphis
Oct. 28[25] Lukas Fernandes MF Temple Philip Ponder DF SMU Simon Lefebvre Temple Thomas Haney DF SMU
Nov. 4[26] Louis Perez MF UCF Philip Ponder DF SMU Noah Lawrence Cincinnati Emilio Ycaza MF South Florida

Rankings

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    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
Final
Cincinnati NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Connecticut RV 18 NV NV RV NV RV 20 20 15 20 RV RV RV
Memphis NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
SMU 8 RV RV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV RV RV RV
South Florida RV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Temple NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Tulsa NV 23 NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
UCF RV RV NV RV RV RV RV 19 19 13 9 7 9 18

Top Drawer Soccer

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    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
Cincinnati NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Connecticut NV NV NV NV NV NV NV 24 12 13 8 20 NV NV 25 25 25 25
Memphis NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
SMU 6 6 NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV 24 NV NV NV NV
South Florida NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Temple NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
Tulsa NV NV 15 NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV
UCF NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV NV 24 9 6 6 13 RV RV RV RV

Postseason

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AAC Tournament

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The 2018 Tournament will be held at the home ground of the regular season winner.[27]

First round
Nov. 6
Semifinals
Nov. 8
Final
Nov. 10
1 UCF (2OT) 3
4 Connecticut 3 4 Connecticut 2
5 Temple 1 1 UCF 1 (4)
2 SMU (pen.) 1 (5)
2 SMU (OT) 2
3 South Florida 1 6 Memphis 1
6 Memphis 3


NCAA Tournament

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Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship
14 3 UCF BYE L 0–1 (OT) vs. Lipscomb(Orlando, FL)
None 1 SMU L 1–2 vs. Oregon State(Corvallis, OR)
None 4 Connecticut W 4–3 vs. Rhode Island(Storrs, CT) L 0–4 vs. #2 Indiana(Bloomington, IN)
W–L (%): 1–1–0 (.500) 0–2–0 (.000) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) Total: 1–3–0 (.250)

Postseason awards and honors

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Conference honors

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2018 AAC Men's Soccer Individual Awards[28]
Award Recipient(s)
Offensive Player of the Year Cal Jennings, UCF
Midfielder of the Year Louis Perez, UCF
Defensive Player of the Year Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, Connecticut
Goalkeeper of the Year Yannik Oettl, UCF
Rookie of the Year Felix Metzler, Connecticut
Coach of the Year Scott Calabrese, UCF
Team Fair Play Award Connecticut
2018 AAC Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams[28]
First Team Second Team Rookie Team
Goalkeeper

Yannik Oettl, So., UCF

Defenders

Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, Sr., UConn†
Talen Maples, So., SMU
Ben Roberts, Jr., Memphis

Midfielders

Louis Perez, So., UCF†
Yoni Sorokin, So., UCF
Emil Cuello, Sr., SMU
David Zalzman, Sr., M, Memphis

Forwards

Cal Jennings, Jr., UCF†
Abdou Mbacke Thiam, Sr., UConn†
Tomasz Skublak, Sr., USF

Goalkeeper

Grant Makela, Jr., SMU

Defenders

Avionne Flanagan, So., USF
Dylan Greenberg, R-Sr., UConn
Robin Lapert, So., UConn
Yanis Leerman, Fr., UCF

Midfielders

Chase Bromstedt, So., Tulsa
Lukas Fernandes, Jr., Temple
Dayonn Harris, R-Jr., UConn
Felix Metzler, Fr., UConn
Alex Zis, Jr., USF

Forwards

Garrett McLaughlin, Jr., SMU
Akean Shackleford, Jr., SMU

Defenders

Andres Hernandez Betancur, UCF
Henrique Gallina, USF
Yanis Leerman, UCF†

Midfielders

Knut Ahlander, SMU
Jalen Campbell, Temple
Andres Charles-Barrera, Temple
Felix Metzler, UConn†
Lane Warrington, SMU

Forwards

Ibrahima Diop, UConn
Gilles Kuhler, Tulsa†
Gurman Sangha, Memphis

† denotes unanimous selection

Regional honors

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National honors

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Player Pos. School Honor Ref.
Cal Jennings FW UCF College Soccer News First-Team All-America [29]
USC First-Team All-American [30]
Louis Perez MF UCF USC Third-Team All-American [30]

American vs other conferences

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MLS SuperDraft

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Total picks by school

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Team Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Total
Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0
Connecticut 0 1 0 0 1
Memphis 0 0 0 1 1
SMU 1 0 0 0 1
South Florida 0 0 0 0 0
Temple 0 0 0 0 0
Tulsa 0 0 0 0 0
UCF 0 0 0 0 0

List of selections

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Round Pick # MLS team Player Position College Other Ref.
1 19 LA Galaxy Emil Cuello Midfielder SMU [32]
2 42 Colorado Rapids Jacob Hauser-Ramsey Defender Connecticut
4 95 Portland Timbers David Zalzman Midfielder Memphis

Homegrown contracts

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Original MLS team Player Position College Notes Ref.

References

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  1. ^ Severs, John (November 16, 2018). "Oregon State Men's Soccer: Beavers Beat SMU 2-1 to Advance to Second Round". Building The Dam. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  2. ^ brooks.hatch@lee.net, BROOKS HATCH. "OSU men's soccer: Beavers face Gaels in second round". Corvallis Gazette Times. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  3. ^ ChrisS. "NEW: URI Soccer Falls to UConn 4-3 in Overtime in NCAA Tournament". GoLocalProv. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  4. ^ "IU men's soccer puts nation on alert with win over UConn: 'You don't want to be in our way right now.'". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  5. ^ "NCAA soccer: DI men's 2018 tournament bracket released; Wake Forest is No. 1 seed". NCAA.com. November 12, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  6. ^ "UCF Knights vs. Lipscomb Bisons - Football Match Stats - November 18, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  7. ^ "UCF, UConn Garner Men's Soccer Regular Season Awards". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  8. ^ "UCF's Cal Jennings, Louis Perez Tabbed United Soccer Coaches All-Americans". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  10. ^ "UCF Tops Men's Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll". theamerican.org. August 14, 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  11. ^ "2018 NCAA DI MEN - PRESEASON". United Soccer Coaches. August 7, 2018. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  12. ^ "College Soccer News 2018 Preseason National Poll". CollegeSoccerNews.com. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  13. ^ "D1 Mens Soccer Rankings". HERO Sports News. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  14. ^ "Soccer America Preseason Men's College Top 25". Soccer America. August 24, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  15. ^ "Men's DI Top 25". Advanced Sports Media, LLC. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  16. ^ "American Announces First 2018 Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  17. ^ "Men's Soccer Weekly Awards Announced for Week 2". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  18. ^ "USF, Tulsa, UCF and Temple Earn Men's Soccer Weekly Accolades". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  19. ^ "UCF, UConn and Memphis Players Earn Men's Soccer Weekly Accolades". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  20. ^ "Temple and SMU Earn Men's Soccer Weekly Accolades". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  21. ^ "Cincinnati, UCF and UConn Collect Weekly Men's Soccer Accolades". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  22. ^ "UCF, UConn, USF and Memphis Collect Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  23. ^ "USF, UConn, SMU and Tulsa Collect Weekly Men's Soccer Honors". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  24. ^ "UConn, UCF, and Memphis Earn Weekly Men's Soccer Honors". theamerican.org. October 22, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  25. ^ "SMU and Temple Earn Two Men's Soccer Weekly Honors Apiece". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  26. ^ "UCF, SMU, Cincinnati and USF Net Final Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  27. ^ "American Athletic Conference Championships - 2018-19 Schedule". theamerican.org. August 2, 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  28. ^ a b "American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Report December 14, 2018 - Final" (PDF). theamerican.org. December 14, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  29. ^ "College Soccer News 2018 All-America Teams". collegesoccernews.com. January 13, 2019. Archived from the original on January 13, 2019.
  30. ^ a b "United Soccer Coaches Announces NCAA Division I Men's All-America Teams". unitedsoccercoaches.org. December 6, 2018. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  31. ^ Erbes, Megan (October 23, 2018). "American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Report October 23, 2018" (PDF). theamerican.org. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  32. ^ Morton, Aaron (January 11, 2019). "Former Orem High soccer player Emil Cuello drafted by LA Galaxy". Deseret News. Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
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