2019 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer season

Sports season
2019 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportSoccer
DurationAugust 30, 2019 – November 2, 2019
Number of teams10
2020 MLS SuperDraft
Regular Season
Season MVPOffensive:
Defensive:
Goalkeeper:
Tournament
WAC men's soccer seasons
2019 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
  • v
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Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 19 Seattle 10 0 1 15 3 5
Utah Valley 8 3 0 13 6 2
Air Force 6 5 0 8 11 0
CSU Bakersfield 6 5 0 8 11 0
San Jose State 5 4 2 5 12 2
Cal Baptist # 5 5 1 6 11 2
Houston Baptist 5 6 0 7 11 0
Kansas City 5 6 0 6 11 0
UTRGV 4 5 2 8 6 2
UNLV 4 6 1 6 12 1
Incarnate Word 2 9 0 5 12 0
Grand Canyon 1 7 3 4 9 4
As of 17 December, 2019
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The 2019 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer season will be the 37th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The regular season will begin on August 30, 2019 and conclude on November 2, 2019.

The regular season will culminate with the 2019 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament, which will begin on November 8 and conclude on November 16, 2019.

Background

The 2018 season began in August 2018 and concluded in November 2018. Regular season champions, Air Force, enjoyed their best regular season ever, and their best NCAA Tournament berth since 1993. Air Force finished the season ranked 12th in the nation, and achieved a 17–5–0 record. In the 2018 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament, Air Force were eliminated by eventual tournament champions, Grand Canyon. Both teams earned berths into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, being the two WAC representatives in the tournament.[1]

In the NCAA Tournament, Grand Canyon was eliminated on penalty kicks by UC Irvine in the first round. Air Force defeated Central Arkansas, 4–0 in the first round. In the second round, they played against in-state rivals, Denver, where they won 2–1.[2] In the Sweet Sixteen, Air Force traveled out east to take on Indiana, where they lost 2–0.[3][4] Indiana would end being the national runners-up.

At the end of the season, Air Force's Tucker Bone was named an Consensus All-American by earned first-team All-American honors by College Soccer News, Top Drawer Soccer, Soccer America, and United Soccer Coaches. Bone was the highest drafted WAC player selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, being drafted in the first round, twentieth overall by Seattle Sounders FC. Three other WAC players were drafted in the 2019 SuperDraft: Camden Riley (Sporting Kansas City), Nathan Aune (San Jose Earthquakes), and Mitch Osmond (Minnesota United FC).[5]

Teams

A total of 12 teams are due to take part in the conference this season.

On July 1, 2019, the University of Missouri–Kansas City announced that its athletic program, previously known as the UMKC Kangaroos, would be rebranded as the Kansas City Roos, with "Roos" having long been used as a short form of the historic "Kangaroos" nickname.[6]

The 2019 season will be the last for both CSU Bakersfield and Kansas City as WAC members. On July 1, 2020, CSU Bakersfield will join the Big West Conference[7] and Kansas City will return to the Summit League after a seven-year absence.[8]

USAFA
CBU
CBU
CSUB
CSUB
GCU
GCU
HBU
HBU
UIW
UIW
SJSU
SJSU
SU
SU
UTRGV
UTRGV
KC
KC
UNLV
UNLV
UVU
UVU