2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams4
Matches3
Attendance973
SiteCenter Parc Stadium
Atlanta, Georgia
ChampionsCoastal Carolina (16th title)
Winning coachShaun Docking (11th title)
MVPTor Saunders (Coastal Carolina)
BroadcastESPN+
Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament
«2019  2022»
2020 Sun Belt Conference men's fall soccer standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 23 Coastal Carolina ‡ 5 –1 –06 –2 –1
Georgia State 4 –2 –09 –2 –2
Central Arkansas 3 –3 –04 –6 –2
Georgia Southern 0 –6 –01 –9 –0
As of March 2, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The 2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament was the 26th edition of the Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament decided the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) champion. The tournament began on November 11 and concluded on November 15, 2020.

Georgia State hosted the tournament, which consisted solely of a semifinal and final round. Coastal Carolina successfully defended their SBC Tournament championship, defeating Georgia State in penalties in the final.

The Sun Belt shuttered its men's soccer league after all of its members moved the sport to other conferences by the end of the 2020–21 school year. The conference had lost one men's soccer team before the season when full conference member Appalachian State dropped men's soccer in May 2020, citing financial impacts from COVID-19.[1] That July saw associate member Howard announce that it would become an associate member of the Northeast Conference in six sports, with men's soccer being one of four sports moving in July 2021.[2] In January 2021 the ASUN Conference announced three schools as incoming full members, including Sun Belt men's soccer associate Central Arkansas.[3] The following month saw full Sun Belt member Coastal Carolina announce that it would become a single-sport member of Conference USA, joining another in-state associate member in South Carolina.[4] This left Georgia Southern and Georgia State, both full Sun Belt members, as the conference's only remaining men's soccer programs, and those two schools announced they would move that sport to the Mid-American Conference in late May 2021.[5]

However, following a major conference realignment that brought three new men's soccer schools (James Madison, Marshall, and Old Dominion) to the conference, SBC commissioner Keith Gill announced on November 1, 2021 that men's soccer would be reinstated no later than 2023.[6] With all three schools joining in 2022 instead of the originally intended 2023 timeline, the SBC announced on April 6, 2022 that men's soccer would instead return in 2022.[7]

Background

The tournament served as the culmination of the SBC's regular season, which was extensively modified due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Four of the five SBC teams played in 2020, under a modified six-match conference season (three home, three away). All teams qualified for the SBC Tournament.[8]

Seeds

Seed School Conference Tiebreaker
1 Coastal Carolina 5–1–0
2 Georgia State 4–2–0
3 Central Arkansas 3–3–0
4 Georgia Southern 0–6–0

Bracket

Semifinals Finals
      
1 Coastal Carolina 6
4 Georgia Southern 0
1 Coastal Carolina 0 (4)
2 Georgia State 0 (3)
2 Georgia State 1 (4)
3 Central Arkansas 1 (2)

Schedule

Semifinals

No. 1 Coastal Carolina6–0No. 4 Georgia Southern
  • Marcelo Lage 30', 64'
  • Marcello Jones 63', 67'
  • Esteban Leiva 72', 84'
  • Ethan Hackenberg Yellow card 89'
 Report
  • Thomas Jackson Yellow card 17'
Attendance: 233
Referee: David Erbacher
No. 2 Georgia State1–1 (a.e.t.)No. 3 Central Arkansas
  • Matthew Rios Yellow card 39'
  • Jeryn Hodge Yellow card 64'
  • Alex Henderson 87'
  • Simon Carlson Yellow card 107'
 Report
  • Alberto Suarez 7'
  • Daishi Uekuri Yellow card 82'
Penalties
  • Simon Carlson soccer ball with check mark
  • Ross Finnie soccer ball with check mark
  • Matthew Fearnley soccer ball with check mark
  • George Proctor soccer ball with check mark
 4–2
  • soccer ball with check mark Alberto Suarez
  • soccer ball with check mark Edoardo Merci
  • soccer ball with red X Kasper Andersen
  • soccer ball with red X Soren Jensen
Attendance: 328
Referee: Amin Hadzic

Final

No. 1 Coastal Carolina0–0 (a.e.t.)No. 2 Georgia State
  • DZ Harmon Yellow card 28'
  • Ethan Hackenberg Yellow card 110'
 Report
  • Matthew Fearnley Yellow card 23'
  • George Proctor Red card 52'
  • Carlos Luna Yellow card 64'
Penalties
 4–3
  • soccer ball with check mark Simon Carlson
  • soccer ball with check mark Ross Finnie
  • soccer ball with red X Matthew Fearnley
  • soccer ball with check mark Gunther Rankenburg
  • soccer ball with red X Carlos Luna
Attendance: 412
Referee: Sergii Demianchuk

Statistics

Goalscorers

2 Goals
1 Goal

Honors

All Tournament Team

  • Sam Allardyce, Georgia Southern
  • Adam Davie, Georgia Southern
  • Matthew Fearnley, Georgia State
  • Alex Henderson, Georgia State
  • Ole Kjoerholt, Central Arkansas
  • Marcello Jones, Coastal Carolina
  • Marcelo Lage, Coastal Carolina
  • Esteban Leiva, Coastal Carolina
  • Ramon, Munoz, Georgia State
  • Alberto Suarez, Central Arkansas
  • Tor Saunders, Coastal Carolina

References

  1. ↑ "App State drops men's soccer and two other men's programs". Soccer America. May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Six Howard Athletics Programs Join the Northeast Conference as Associate Members" (Press release). Howard Bison. July 6, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  3. ↑ "ASUN Conference Announces Three New Institutions; Adds Football as 20th Sport" (Press release). ASUN Conference. January 29, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Coastal Carolina Added as Men's Soccer Member" (Press release). Conference USA. February 25, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Georgia Southern, Georgia State Added As Affiliate Members in Men's Soccer" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  6. ↑ Traylor, Grant (November 1, 2021). "Sun Belt confirms men's soccer being reinstated". The Herald-Dispatch. Huntington, WV. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  8. ↑ "2020-21 Championships Schedule". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
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