Mid-American Conference men's soccer tournament

The Mid-American Conference men's soccer tournament was the conference championship tournament in soccer for the Mid-American Conference. The tournament was held every year from 1994 until 2019. It was a single-elimination tournament and seeding was based on regular season records. The winner, declared conference champion, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's soccer championship.

Mid-American Conference men's soccer tournament (defunct)
Conference soccer championship
SportCollege soccer
ConferenceMid-American Conference
Number of teams2 (in final season)
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Played1994–2019, 2021–2022
Last contest2022
Current championWestern Michigan
Most championshipsAkron (15)
TV partner(s)ESPN3
Official websitegetsomemaction.com

Starting in 2020, the tournament was canceled, and the regular-season champion was declared the conference champion, which was intended to remain in effect until at least 2024. This was in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] However, in 2021 the Conference resumed hosting the tournament.

The MAC discontinued sponsorship of men's soccer at the end of the 2022 season. Conference realignment in the 2020s had decimated MAC men's soccer, leaving it with only five members (four full members plus one single-sport affiliate) in 2022. With no prospect of adding the sixth member needed to preserve the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the MAC shut down its league.[2] In the final season, the tournament, which had featured four teams for its most recent editions, was reduced to a championship game featuring the top two teams in the conference standings.

Winners

The following is a list of MAC Tournament winners:[3]

Key
(2) Title number
* Match went to extra time
† Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time
Bold Winning team won regular season
^ Winning team reached Men's College Cup
‡ Winning team lost National Championship
‡ Winning team won National Championship

Finals
Year Champion Score[4] Runner-up Site[4] Most valuable player[4]
1994 Miami (OH) 3–1* Bowling Green Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Dan Creech (Miami)
1995 Bowling Green 2–0 Akron WMU Soccer Complex • Kalamazoo, Michigan Steve Klein (Bowling Green)
1996 Bowling Green (2) 4–0 Kentucky Cochrane Stadium • Bowling Green, Ohio
1997 Bowling Green (3) 1–0 Akron Miami Soccer Field • Oxford, Ohio
1998 Akron 4–1 Bowling Green Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Michael Apple (Akron)
1999 Kentucky 2–1 Northern Illinois UK Soccer Complex • Lexington, Kentucky Lee Baker (Kentucky)
2000 Kentucky (2) 1–0 Bowling Green Cochrane Stadium • Bowling Green, Ohio Ilkka Jäntti (Kentucky)
2001 Kentucky (3) 1–0* Akron UK Soccer Complex • Lexington, Kentucky John Monebrake (Kentucky)
2002 Akron (2) 4–1 Bowling Green Cochrane Stadium • Bowling Green, Ohio Kirk Harwat (Akron)
2003 Western Michigan 5–0 Bowling Green WMU Soccer Complex • Kalamazoo, Michigan Scott Duhl (Western Michigan)
2004 Akron (3) 6–1 Western Michigan Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Alex Odwell (Akron)
2005 Akron (4) 0–0†
(8–7 pen.)		 Buffalo Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Ross McKenzie (Akron)
2006 Northern Illinois 1–0 Akron NIU Soccer Complex • DeKalb, Illinois Joe Zimka (Northern Illinois)
2007 Akron (5) 1–0* Buffalo Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Cory Sipos (Akron)
2008 Akron (6) 1–0* Northern Illinois Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Steve Zakuani (Akron)
2009 Akron‡ (7) 2–1 Hartwick Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Teal Bunbury (Akron)
2010 Akron‡ (8) 4–0 Western Michigan Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Darren Mattocks (Akron)
2011 Northern Illinois (2) 1–0 Western Michigan Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Sean Totsch (Northern Illinois)
2012 Akron (9) 2–0 Northern Illinois Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Scott Caldwell (Akron)
2013 Akron (10) 2–1 West Virginia Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Aodhan Quinn (Akron)
2014 Akron (11) 2–1 Bowling Green Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Adam Najem (Akron)
2015 Akron^ (12) 1–0 Buffalo Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Adam Najem (Akron)
2016 Akron (13) 2–1 Buffalo Cub Cadet Field Akron, Ohio Nick Hinds (Akron)
2017 Akron^ (14) 3–1 Western Michigan WMU Soccer Complex • Kalamazoo, MI Stuart Holthusen (Akron)
2018 Akron‡ (15) 3–0 Western Michigan Dlesk Stadium • Morgantown, West Virginia Marcel Zajac (Akron)
2019 West Virginia 1–0 Bowling Green Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Steven Tekesky (West Virginia)
2020 No Tournament Held
2021 Northern Illinois (3) 2–1* Georgia State NIU Soccer Complex • DeKalb, Illinois Nick Markanich (NIU)
2022 Western Michigan (2) 2–1 Akron Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio Charlie Sharp (Western Michigan)

Performance by school
SchoolChampionships[5]Winning years[5]
Akron 15 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Bowling Green 3 1995, 1996, 1997
Kentucky 3 1999, 2000, 2001
NIU 3 2006, 2011, 2021
Western Michigan 2 2003, 2022
Miami† 1 1994
West Virginia 1 2019
TOTAL 27

Italics indicate a school that was not a conference member in the MAC's final men's soccer season

† No longer sponsor men's soccer

References
  1. Strack, Jordan (May 12, 2020). "Major changes coming to Mid-American Conference". Toledo, OH: WTOL. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. "MAC to Suspend Sponsoring Men's Soccer Following 2022 Season" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  3. "2015 Mid-American Conference Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. MAC-Sports.com. August 27, 2016. pp. 27–52. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  4. "2016 MAC Men's Soccer Record Book - Mid-American Conference Championship Results" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. MAC-Sports.com. August 27, 2016. pp. 49–53. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  5. "History of Mid-American Conference Champions: MAC Tournament Titles By School" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. MAC-Sports.com. August 27, 2016. p. 29. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
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