2023 WAC men's soccer tournament

2023 WAC men's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams6
Matches5
Attendance2,031
SitePeter Johann Memorial Field
Las Vegas, Nevada
ChampionsCalifornia Baptist (2nd title)
Winning coachCoe Michaelson (2nd title)
MVPLuis Mueller (California Baptist)
BroadcastESPN+
WAC men's soccer tournament
«2022  2024»
2023 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 23 Seattle U + 7 0 1 12 4 3
California Baptist 5 1 2 9 6 5
Utah Tech # 4 4 0 9 9 0
UNLV 3 3 2 7 8 4
San Jose State 3 4 1 6 8 4
Utah Valley 2 2 4 3 7 7
Grand Canyon 2 4 2 7 7 3
UTRGV 2 5 1 5 9 1
Air Force 1 6 1 1 14 2
As of December 12, 2023
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: WAC

The 2023 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Western Athletic Conference held from November 5 to November 11, 2023. The five-match tournament took place at Peter Johann Memorial Field in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of UNLV. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular-season divisional conference play. The defending champions were the California Baptist Lancers.[1] California Baptist was able to successfully defend their title as the second overall seed in the tournament.[2][3] This was California Baptist's second WAC Tournament victory in program history, both of which have come under head coach Coe Michaelson.[4] As tournament champions, California Baptist earned the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Seeding

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Six of the nine Western Athletic Conference men's soccer programs qualified for the 2023 Tournament. 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 fifth and sixth seeds of the tournament as San Jose State and Utah Valley both finished with ten conference regular season points. The two teams tied their regular season match up 1–1. Utah Valley was the fifth seed and San Jose State was the sixth seed.[5]

Seed School Conference Record Points
1 Seattle U 7–0–1 22
2 California Baptist 5–1–2 17
3 Utah Tech 4–4–0 12
4 UNLV 3–3–2 11
5 Utah Valley 2–2–4 10
6 San Jose State 3–4–1 10

Bracket

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Source:[6]

First round
Sunday, Nov. 5
Semifinals
Wednesday, Nov. 8
Final
Sunday, Nov. 11
1 Seattle U 1
4 UNLV (a.e.t.) 3 4 UNLV (a.e.t.) 2
5 Utah Valley 2 4 UNLV 1
2 California Baptist 2
2 California Baptist 2
3 Utah Tech 1 3 Utah Tech 0
6 San Jose State 0

Schedule

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First round

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November 5 #4 UNLV 3–2 (a.e.t.) #5 Utah Valley Las Vegas, NV
1:00 p.m. PT
  • Nico Lopez 19', 74', 107', Yellow card 107'
  • Cesar Carbajal Yellow card 73'
  • Tyler Ware Yellow card 93'
Report
  • Yellow card 31' Alejandro Silva
  • Yellow card 45' Omar Yehya
  • 62', 73' Tom Dobek-Pietrowski
  • Yellow card 73' Abel Mendoza
  • Yellow card 100' Alex Fritcher
Stadium: Johann Field
Attendance: 500
November 5 #3 Utah Tech 1–0 #6 San Jose State Las Vegas, NV
4:00 p.m. PT
  • Damian Arguello Yellow card 8'
  • Justin Wallace 26'
  • AJ Ciampini Yellow card 59'
Report
  • Yellow card 50' Joel Garcia Jr.
  • Yellow card 63' David Sweeney
  • Yellow card 76' Josh Lucas
  • Yellow card 78' Beau Leroux
Stadium: Johann Field
Attendance: 175
Referee: Omeed Azadpour
Assistant referees: Zachary Blanchard
Assistant referees: Jose Moralez
Fourth official: Nicolause Weyrauch

Semifinals

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November 8 #1 Seattle U 1–2 (a.e.t.) #4 UNLV Las Vegas, NV
4:00 p.m. PT
  • Mo Mohamed 26'
  • Habib Famuditimi Yellow card 120'
Report
  • 21' Hermann Ragnarsson
  • Yellow card 61' Louis Hiepen
  • 110' (pen.) Gabe Sanchez
Stadium: Johann Field
Attendance: 383
Referee: Omeed Azadpour
Assistant referees: Marvo Vivero
Assistant referees: Bob Escalera
November 8 #2 California Baptist 2–0 #3 Utah Tech Las Vegas, NV
7:00 p.m. PT
  • Georg Bjarnason 13'
  • Luis Mueller 17'
  • Adolfo Pino Yellow card 58'
  • Antonio Gomez Yellow card 79'
  • Anthony Vargas Yellow card 80'
  • Thomas Beecham Yellow card 90'
Report
  • Yellow card 79' Bubu Medina
  • Yellow card 79' AJ Ciampini
  • Yellow card 85' Anthony Godinez
Stadium: Johann Field
Attendance: 383
Referee: Arturo Ibarra
Assistant referees: Kosta Makris
Assistant referees: Nich Weyrauch
Fourth official: Cory Mann

Final

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November 11 #2 California Baptist 2–1 #4 UNLV Las Vegas, NV
1:00 p.m. PT
  • Lucas Mueller 19', 82', Yellow card 64'
  • Erik Krohnstad Yellow card 28'
  • Thomas Beecham Yellow card 43'
Report
  • Yellow card 51' Théo Minard
  • 61' Nico Lopez
  • Yellow card 64' Cesar Carbajal
Stadium: Johann Field
Attendance: 590
Referee: Joe Pickens
Assistant referees: Cameron Blanchard
Assistant referees: Zachary Blanchard
Fourth official: Killian Richardson

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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There were 14 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 2.8 goals per match (as of November 11, 2023).

4 goals

  • Nico Lopez – UNLV

3 goals

  • Luis Mueller – California Baptist

2 goals

  • Tom Dobek-Pietrowski – Utah Valley

1 goal

  • Georg Bjarnason – California Baptist
  • Mo Mohamed – Seattle U
  • Hermann Ragnarsson – UNLV
  • Gabe Sanchez – UNLV
  • Justin Wallace – Utah Tech

All-Tournament team

[edit]

Source:[7]

Player Team
Thomas Beecham California Baptist
Leo Mendez
Luis Mueller
Nolan Premack
Brophy Howard UNLV
Nico Lopez
Hermann Ragnarsson
Gabe Sanchez
Austin Wallace Utah Tech
Tom Dobek-Pietrowski Utah Valley
Mo Mohamed Seattle U

MVP in bold

References

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  1. ^ Pope, Dennis (November 13, 2022). "California Baptist University men's soccer team captures WAC tournament title". The Press-Enterprise. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  2. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  3. ^ Zeigler, Mark (November 16, 2023). "Cal Baptist ends USD's soccer season with penalty shootout win". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  4. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  5. ^ "Seattle U Earns Top Seed In The 2023 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. October 30, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  6. ^ "2023 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament" (PDF). wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. October 30, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  7. ^ "No. 2 CBU Repeats With Thrilling 2-1 Win Over No. 4 UNLV In The 2023 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament Final". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. November 11, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2024.