2019 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer season

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.

2019 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Soccer
Duration	August 30, 2019 – November 2, 2019
Number of teams	10
2020 MLS SuperDraft
Regular Season
Season MVP	Offensive: Defensive: Goalkeeper:
Tournament

2019 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer standings

v t e	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
‡ – WAC Tournament Champion + – Invited to the 2019 NCAA tournament # – Ineligible for post-season (In transition) As of 17 December, 2019 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

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. The 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

CSUB

GCU

HBU

UIW

SJSU

SU

UTRGV

KC

UNLV

UVU

Locations of the 2019 WAC men's soccer season teams

Stadiums and locations

College	Location	Venue	Capacity
Air Force Falcons	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Cadet Soccer Stadium	1,000
Cal Baptist Lancers	Riverside, California	California Bapitst Soccer Field	250
CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners	Bakersfield, California	CSUB Main Soccer Field	2,500
Grand Canyon Antelopes	Phoenix, Arizona	GCU Stadium	6,000
Houston Baptist Huskies	Houston, Texas	Sorrels Field	500
Incarnate Word Cardinals	San Antonio, Texas	Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium
Kansas City Roos	Kansas City, Missouri	Durwood Soccer Stadium	3,200
San Jose State Spartans	San Jose, California	Spartan Soccer Field	1,000
Seattle Redhawks	Seattle, Washington	Championship Field	1,000
UNLV Rebels	Las Vegas, Nevada	Peter Johann Soccer Field	500
Utah Valley Wolverines	Orem, Utah	Clyde Field	1,000
UTRGV Vaqueros	Edinburg, Texas	Soccer and Track & Field Complex	2,000

Head coaches

As of the 2018 season

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	WAC record[9]	NCAA Tournaments[10]	NCAA College Cups[10]	NCAA Titles[10]	Ref.
Air Force	Doug Hill	Air Force (asst.)	13	109–103–23 (.513)	109–103–23 (.513)	46–24–13 (.633)	3	0	0	[11]
Cal Baptist	Coe Michaelson	Northwest Nazarene	4	108–74–19 (.585)	38–16–3 (.693)	0–0–0 (–)	1	0	0	[12]
CSU Bakersfield	Richie Grant	Memphis	5	217–182–38 (.540)	29–37–12 (.449)	18–25–7 (.430)	0	0	0	[13]
Grand Canyon	Schellas Hyndman	FC Dallas	5	562–214–115 (.695)	33–38–3 (.466)	17–20–4 (.463)	30	4	0	[14]
Houston Baptist	Ryan Pratt	Houston Baptist (asst.)	1	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Incarnate Word	Vince Martinez		0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)
Kansas City			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
San Jose State			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Seattle U			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
UNLV			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Utah Valley			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
UTRGV			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0

Preseason

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on August 21, 2019.

	Team Ranking	Points	First Place Votes
1.	Seattle U	112	5
2.	UTRGV	104	2
T-3.	Air Force	88	3
T-3.	Grand Canyon	88	1
5.	UNLV	87	0
6.	San José State	77	1
7.	Utah Valley	75	0
8.	Cal Baptist	49	0
9.	CSU Bakersfield	387	0
T-10.	Houston Baptist	27	0
T-10.	Kansas City	27	0
12.	Incarnate Word	20	0

Preseason national polls

The preseason national polls were released in July and August 2019.

	United Soccer[15]	CSN[16]	Soccer America[17]	Top Drawer Soccer[18]
Air Force	19	RV	RV	23
Cal Baptist	—	—	—	—
CSU Bakersfield	—	—	—	—
Grand Canyon	—	—	—	—
Houston Baptist	—	—	—	—
Incarnate Word	—	—	—	—
Kansas City	—	—	—	—
San Jose State	—	—	—	—
Seattle U	RV	RV	—	—
UNLV	—	—	—	—
Utah Valley	RV	RV	—	—
UTRGV	—	RV	—	—

Preseason awards

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Team	Player	Position	Year

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Team	Tournament	Finish
Cal State Bakersfield	John Rennie Nike Invitational	4th
	Copa de Causeway	3rd

Conference results

Color Key: Home  • Away  • Win  • Loss  • Draw  • Postponed
Club	Match
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Air Force Falcons (AFA)	KC	UIW	RGV	CBU	CSUB	HBU	SU	SJSU	GCU	UNLV	UVU
	4–1	3–1	0–2	Oct 10	Oct 12	Oct 19	Oct 25	Oct 27	Oct 31	Nov 2	Nov 9
Cal Baptist Lancers (CBU)	SU	GCU	UNLV	AFA	UVU	SJSU	RGV	UIW	HBU	KC	CSUB
	0–2	0–0	4–0	Oct 10	Oct 12	Oct 19	Oct 25	Oct 27	Nov 1	Nov 3	Nov 9
CSU Bakersfield (CSUB)	SJSU	UNLV	GCU	UVU	AFA	SU	UIW	RGV	KC	HBU	CBU
	2–3	1–0	2–1	Oct 10	Oct 12	Oct 19	Oct 25	Oct 27	Nov 1	Nov 3	Nov 9
Grand Canyon Antelopes (GCU)	UIW	CBU	CSUB	SJSU	SU	RGV	HBU	KC	AFA	UVU	UNLV
	Sep 28	Oct 4	Oct 6	Oct 11	Oct 13	Oct 19	Oct 25	Oct 27	Oct 31	Nov 2	Nov 9
Houston Baptist Huskies (HBU)	UVU	SU	SJSU	RGV	UIW	AFA	GCU	UNLV	CBU	CSUB	KC
	Sep 28	Oct 4	Oct 6	Oct 11	Oct 13	Oct 19	Oct 25	Oct 27	Nov 1	Nov 3	Nov 9
Incarnate Word Cardinals (UIW)	@ GCU	TBD	TBD	TBD	SU	TBD	HBU	TBD	@ AFA	TBD	TBD
	Sep 28	Oct 4	Oct 6	Oct 11	Oct 13	Oct 19	Oct 25	Oct 27	Oct 31	Nov 3	Nov 9
Kansas City Roos (KC)	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
San Jose State Spartans (SJSU)	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Seattle Redhawks (SU)	CBU	HBU	KC	@ UNLV	@ GCU	TBD	AFA	UVU	@ UIW	@ RGV	SJSU
	Sep 28	Oct 4	Oct 6	Oct 11	Oct 13	Oct 19	Oct 15	Oct 27	Nov 1	Nov 3	Nov 9
UNLV Rebeles (UNLV)	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Utah Valley (UVU)	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
UTRGV Vaqueros (RGV)	@UNLV	UVU	AFA	@HBU	@KC	GCU	@CBU	@CSUB	SJSU	SU	@UIW
	2–0	1–2	2–0	Oct 11	Oct 13	Oct 19	Oct 25	Oct 27	Nov 1	Nov 3	Nov 9

Postseason

WAC Tournament

Main article: 2019 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament

	First round Nov. 13					Semifinals Nov. 15					Championship Nov. 17
						1	Seattle U	1
						4	Cal State Bakersfield	0
	4	Cal State Bakersfield	1
	5	San Jose State	0
											1	Seattle U (pen.)	0 (2)
											2	Utah Valley	0 (1)
	2	Utah Valley	3
	7	Kansas City	0
						2	Utah Valley (pen.)	0 (6)
						3	Air Force	0 (5)
	3	Air Force	3
	6	Houston Baptist	2

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer 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 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
Air Force	USC	19	25	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	23	23	23	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Cal Baptist	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
CSU Bakersfield	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Grand Canyon	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Houston Baptist	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Incarnate Word	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Kansas City	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
San Jose State	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Seattle U	USC	RV	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
UNLV	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Utah Valley	USC	RV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	RV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
UTRGV	USC	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	RV	NV	NV						None released
	TDS	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	RV	24	24	NV

Regional rankings

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 10
NV		No votes received

The Far West region of the United Soccer poll ranks teams across the Pac-12, WAC, and Big West.

	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12
Air Force	5	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Cal Baptist	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
CSU Bakersfield	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Grand Canyon	NV	NV	10	10	9	NV	NV
Houston Baptist	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Incarnate Word	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Kansas City	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
San Jose State	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Seattle U	4	8	8	NV	NV	5	6
UNLV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV	NV
Utah Valley	6	10	NV	NV	NV	8	5
UTRGV	NV	NV	NV	6	5	6	9

Awards and honors

Preseason honors

Postseason honors

2019 WAC Men's Soccer Individual Awards
Award	Recipient(s)
Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Rookie of the Year

2019 WAC Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams
First Team	Second Team	Rookie Team

2020 MLS Draft

Main article: 2020 MLS SuperDraft

The 2020 MLS SuperDraft will be held in January 2020.

Total picks by school

Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total
Air Force	–	–	–	–	–
Cal Baptist	–	–	–	–	–
CSU Bakersfield	–	–	–	–	–
Grand Canyon	–	–	–	–	–
Houston Baptist	–	–	–	–	–
Incarnate Word	–	–	–	–	–
Kansas City	–	–	–	–	–
San Jose State	–	–	–	–	–
Seattle U	–	–	–	–	–
UNLV	–	–	–	–	–
Utah Valley	–	–	–	–	–
UTRGV	–	–	–	–	–

List of selections

Rnd.	Pick	Player	Pos.	Team	School

Homegrown players

Further information: Homegrown Player Rule (Major League Soccer)

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,^[19] 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.^[20] Players can play college soccer and still be eligible to sign a homegrown contract.

Original MLS team	Player	Pos.	School	Ref.