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2023 Southern Conference men's soccer tournament

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2023 Southern Conference men's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams6
Matches5
Attendance3,841
SiteCampus Sites (1st & 2nd seed)
ChampionsMercer (5th title)
Winning coachBrad Ruzzo (5th title)
MVPSekou Agard (Mercer)
BroadcastESPN+
Southern Conference men's soccer tournament
«2022  2024»
2023 Southern Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
ETSU 4 0 1 9 5 3
Wofford 3 0 2 7 4 6
Furman 2 2 1 10 6 3
Mercer 1 2 2 7 6 8
UNC Greensboro 1 2 2 2 10 5
VMI 0 5 0 5 14 0
As of December 12, 2023
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: SoCon

The 2023 Southern Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Southern Conference held from November 3 through November 12, 2023. The tournament was held at campus sites, with the higher seed hosting. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The UNC Greensboro Spartans were the defending champions.[1] UNC Greensboro was unable to defend its title, falling in the Quarterfinals to Mercer. Mercer would go on to win the tournament as the fifth seed, defeating Furman 2–0 in the Final.[2] [3] This was the fifth Southern Conference tournament title for the Mercer men's soccer program, all of which have come under head coach Brad Ruzzo. Mercer has also won the tournament three of the last five years.[4] As tournament champions, Mercer earned the Southern Conference's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.

Seeding

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All six Southern 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 fourth and fifth seeds as Mercer and defending champions UNC Greensboro both finished the regular season with 1–2–2 records. The two teams tied their October 21 match 1–1. UNC Greensboro was the fourth seed and Mercer was the fifth seed.[5]

Seed School Conference Record Points
1 ETSU 4–0–1 13
2 Wofford 3–0–2 11
3 Furman 2–2–1 7
4 UNC Greensboro 1–2–2 5
5 Mercer 1–2–2 5
6 VMI 0–5–0 0

Bracket

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Source:[6]

Quarterfinals
Friday, Nov. 3
Semifinals
Sunday, Nov. 5
Final
Sunday, Nov. 12
1 ETSU 1 (3)
4 UNC Greensboro 1 5 Mercer (pen.) 1 (4)
5 Mercer 3 5 Mercer 2
3 Furman 0
2 Wofford 0
3 Furman 4 3 Furman 1
6 VMI 1

Schedule

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Quarterfinals

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November 3 #4 UNC Greensboro 1–3 #5 Mercer Johnson City, TN
3:00 p.m. ET
  • Arnaud Tattevin 41'
Report
  • 30' Nick Wanzer
  • 62' Barzee Blama
  • 65' Ehi Aimiuwu
  • Yellow card 75' Carlos Santamaria
Stadium: Summers-Taylor Stadium
Attendance: 506
Referee: Richard Crowgey
Assistant referees: Zachary McWhorter
Assistant referees: Gunwan Park
Fourth official: Kevin Uitto
November 3 #3 Furman 4–1 #6 VMI Spartanburg, SC
4:00 p.m. ET
  • Christian Kraus 24', 48', 57'
  • Slade Starnes 45'
  • Lloyd Wamu Snell Yellow card 70'
Report
  • 66' Malcolm McIntosh
Stadium: Snyder Field
Attendance: 70
Referee: Brandon Marion
Assistant referees: Kevin Maurer
Assistant referees: Thomas Rutherford
Fourth official: Khadime Sabara

Semifinals

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November 5 #2 Wofford 0–1 #3 Furman Spartanburg, SC
2:00 p.m. ET
  • Villads Landsperg Yellow card 46'
  • Hugo Moldin Yellow card 73'
Report
  • Yellow card 28' Slade Starnes
  • 80' Alfredo Diaz-Santillan
Stadium: Snyder Field
Attendance: 347
Referee: Matthew Thompson
Assistant referees: Joshua Lampkins
Assistant referees: John Rush
Fourth official: Derek Ambrozaitis
November 5 #1 ETSU 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(3–4 p)
#5 Mercer Johnson City, TN
3:00 p.m. ET
  • Lucas Lightner 30'
  • Nico Kross Yellow card 83'
Report
  • Yellow card 43' Dylan Gaither
  • Yellow card 60' Nick Wanzer
  • 80' Sekou Agard
  • Yellow card 106' Team
Stadium: Summers-Taylor Stadium
Attendance: 1,092
Referee: Brandon Marion
Assistant referees: Ryan Starr
Assistant referees: Raymond Thomas
Fourth official: Zachary McWhorter
Penalties
  • Gabriel Ramos soccer ball with red X
  • Tarik Pannholzer soccer ball with check mark
  • David Kovacic soccer ball with check mark
  • Zayd Idlibi soccer ball with red X
  • Chris McKenna soccer ball with check mark
  • Izzy Garcia soccer ball with red X
  • soccer ball with check mark Omar Hernandez
  • soccer ball with check mark Carlos Santamaria
  • soccer ball with check mark Dylan Gaither
  • soccer ball with red X Natnael McDonald
  • soccer ball with red X Angel Gonzalez
  • soccer ball with check mark Grant Hampton

Final

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November 12 #3 Furman 0–2 #5 Mercer Greenville, SC
2:00 p.m. ET
  • Luke Tandy Yellow card 83'
Report
  • 2' Nick Wanzer
  • 6' Carlos Santamaria
  • Yellow card 44' Kadeem Agard
  • Yellow card 68' Rayvon McGann
  • Yellow card 78' Trevor McMullen
Stadium: Stone Stadium
Attendance: 1,826
Referee: William Steffen
Assistant referees: Rick Rogers
Assistant referees: Thomas Brigman
Fourth official: Khadime Sabara

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 12, 2023).

3 goals

  • Christian Kraus – Furman

2 goals

  • Nick Wanzer – Mercer

1 goal

  • Lucas Lightner – East Tennessee State
  • Alfredo Diaz-Santillan – Furman
  • Slade Starnes – Furman
  • Sekou Agard – Mercer
  • Ehi Aimiuwu – Mercer
  • Barzee Blama – Mercer
  • Carlos Santamaria – Mercer
  • Malcolm McIntosh – VMI
  • Arnaud Tattevin – UNC Greensboro

All-Tournament team

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Source:[7]

Player Team
Cole Hunter ETSU
Lucas Lightner
Josh Hosie Furman
Christian Kraus
Slade Starnes
Sekou Agard Mercer
Barzee Blama
Trevor McMullen
Nick Wanzer
Hugo Moldin Wofford
Nic Parker

MVP in bold

References

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  1. ^ "2022 Men's Soccer Championship". soconsports.com. Southern Conference. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  2. ^ "2023 Men's Soccer Championship". soconsports.com. Southern Conference. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  3. ^ Cox, Jeff (November 13, 2023). "Mercer Men's Soccer clinches Southern Conference title, securing automatic NCAA Tournament bid". WGXA. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  4. ^ "Southern Conference Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). soconsports.com. Southern Conference. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  5. ^ "ETSU Clinches The Southern Conference Regular Season Title". soconsports.com. Southern Conference. October 28, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  6. ^ "2023 Men's Soccer Championship" (PDF). soconsports.com. Southern Conference. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  7. ^ "Mercer claims SoCon Men's Soccer Championship". Southern Conference. November 12, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2024.