2021 WAC men's soccer tournament
The 2021 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Western Athletic Conference held from November 10 to November 14, 2021. The five-match tournament took place at GCU Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona on the campus of Grand Canyon University. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular-season divisional conference play. The defending champions were the Air Force Falcons.[1] Air Force was unable to defend their crown, falling 2–2 in a penalty shoot-out against San Jose State in the First Round. Seattle went on to win the title over Grand Canyon in a penalty shoot-out.[2] This was Seattle's fifth WAC Tournament victory in program history all of which have come under head coach Pete Fewing.[3] As tournament champions, Seattle earned the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
| 2021 WAC men's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 6 | ||||
| Matches | 5 | ||||
| Attendance | 905 | ||||
| Site | GCU Stadium Phoenix, Arizona | ||||
| Champions | Seattle (5th title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Pete Fewing (5th title) | ||||
| MVP | Noe Meza (Seattle) | ||||
| Broadcast | ESPN+ | ||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Canyon + | 9 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 15 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seattle † | 8 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 8 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Air Force | 8 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 8 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Jose State | 7 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 7 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California Baptist # | 6 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 4 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 6 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas–Rio Grande Valley | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Incarnate Word | 4 | – | 6 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 10 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dixie State # | 3 | – | 7 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 13 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UNLV | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 11 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston Baptist | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 14 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago State | 0 | – | 9 | – | 2 | 2 | – | 13 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: WAC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding
Six of the twelve Western Athletic Conference men's soccer programs qualified for the 2021 Tournament. California Baptist and Dixie State were not eligible for the tournament as they transition to Division I. California Baptist would have been the 5th seed if they were eligible. Teams were seeded based on their regular season records. Tiebreakers were used to determine the seedings of teams who finished with identical conference records. A tiebreaker was required to determine the 2nd and 3rd seed as Seattle and Air Force finished with identical 8–3–0 records. Seattle earned the second seed by virtue of a 2–1 victory over Seattle on October 16.[4]
| Seed | School | Conference Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon | 9–2–0 | 27 |
| 2 | Seattle | 8–3–0 | 24 |
| 3 | Air Force | 8–3–0 | 24 |
| 4 | San Jose State | 7–2–2 | 23 |
| 5 | Utah Valley | 6–4–0 | 24 |
| 6 | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | 5–5–0 | 15 |
Bracket
Source:[5]
| First round Wednesday, Nov. 10 | Semifinals Friday, Nov. 12 | Final Sunday, Nov. 14 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Grand Canyon | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | San Jose State | 4 | 4 | San Jose State | 1 | |||||||||
| 5 | Utah Valley | 3 | 1 | Grand Canyon | 2 (3) | |||||||||
| 2 | Seattle (pen.) | 2 (4) | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Seattle | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Air Force | 1 | 3 | Air Force | 3 | |||||||||
| 6 | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | 0 | ||||||||||||
Schedule
First round
| November 10, 2021 | #4 San Jose State | 4–3 | #5 Utah Valley | Phoenix, AZ |
| 4:30 p.m. |
|
Report |
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Stadium: GCU Stadium Referee: Arturo Ibarra Assistant referees: Robi Hullner Edwin Jimenez Fourth official: Anthony Bersano |
| November 10, 2021 | #3 Air Force | 1–0 | #6 Texas–Rio Grande Valley | Phoenix, AZ |
| 7:30 p.m. |
|
Report | Stadium: GCU Stadium Attendance: 195 Referee: Jeff Artholtz Assistant referees: Paul Nothman Corey Rockwell Fourth official: Charles Farr |
Semifinals
| November 12, 2021 | #1 Grand Canyon | 4–1 | #4 San Jose State | Phoenix, AZ |
| 4:30 p.m. |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: GCU Stadium Referee: Jeff Arthurholtz Assistant referees: Jason Ulrich Mark Novosel Fourth official: Richard Gramolini |
| November 12, 2021 | #2 Seattle | 4–3 | #3 Air Force | Phoenix, AZ |
| 7:30 p.m. |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: GCU Stadium Attendance: 710 Referee: Arturo Ibarra Assistant referees: Mario Coss Keaton Jarvis Fourth official: Sam McConnell |
Final
| November 14, 2021 | #1 Grand Canyon | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p) | #2 Seattle | Phoenix, AZ |
|
Report |
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Stadium: GCU Stadium Referee: Travis Haight Assistant referees: Corey Rockwell Edwin Jimenez Fourth official: Mike Ambrose | |
| Penalties | ||||
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Statistics
Goalscorers
There were 24 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 4.8 goals per match.
2 goals
- Thaddaeus Dewing – Air Force
- Shaun-Chris Joash – Grand Canyon
- Rudi Castro – San Jose State
- Noe Meza – Seattle
1 goal
- Jake Chaffetz – Air Force
- Tristan Trager – Air Force
- Rey Gaytan – Grand Canyon
- Hugo Logan – Grand Canyon
- Justin Rasmussen – Grand Canyon
- Cameron Weller – Grand Canyon
- Max Allen – San Jose State
- Willy Miranda – San Jose State
- Ryota Nakashima – San Jose State
- Levonte Johnson – Seattle
- James Morris – Seattle
- Sam Tessler – Seattle
- Hal Uderitz – Seattle
- Jojea Kwizera – Utah Valley
- Aaron Nixon – Utah Valley
- James Pena – Utah Valley
All-Tournament team
Source:[6]
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Noe Meza | Seattle |
| Hal Udertiz | |
| James Morris | |
| Levonte Johnson | |
| Esai Easley | Grand Canyon |
| Rey Gaytan | |
| Shaun-Chris Joash | |
| Thaddeus Dewing | Air Force |
| Kainoa Likewise | |
| Rudi Casto | San Jose State |
| Jojea Kwizera | Utah Valley |
MVP in bold
References
- Western Athletic Conference. "2020-21 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- Western Athletic Conference. "2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- Western Athletic Conference. "2021 Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- "Bracket Set for 2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. November 7, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- "2021 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament Bracket" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- "2021 WAC All-Tournament team Men's Soccer" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved March 5, 2022.