| Competition: | NCAA Division I |
| Season: | 2011 |
| Winners: | North Carolina |
| League Topscorer: | Ashton Bennett (23) |
| Highest Attendance: | 13,772 SDSU v. UCSB (September 23, 2011)[1] |
| Prevseason: | 2010 |
| Nextseason: | 2012 |
The 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 53rd year of organized men's college soccer in the United States.
The season was divided into three parts; the regular season, which started with early season tournaments against intraconference opponents, before the second half of the regular season that featured interconference matches. The regular season was held from late August to early November 2011. In mid-November, the conference tournaments were held, and from mid-November to mid-December, the NCAA Tournament was held.
The national champion was the North Carolina Tar Heels whom won the title against the Charlotte 49ers. It was North Carolina's third national championship, and Charlotte's first ever appearance in an NCAA final of any sport.
Throughout the course of the regular season, six different men's college soccer programs topped the rankings. The Connecticut Huskies were ranked first for four consecutive weeks, being the longest streak to do so in the season. At the end of the regular season, the New Mexico Lobos were the only college team in the nation to remain undefeated, winning 16 matches and only drawing twice.
The following is a list of head coaching changes prior to the start of Division I men's soccer season.[2]
| College | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Incoming coach | Former position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johan Aarnio | Fired | Trevor Gorman | Wright State assistant coach | ||
| Butler | Kelly Findley | Hired as N.C. State head coach | Paul Snape | Michigan associate coach | |
| Canisius | Jim Hesch | Fired | Dermont McGrane | Niagara head coach | |
| Creighton | Jamie Clark | Hired as Washington head coach | Elmar Bolowich | North Carolina head coach | |
| Hartford | Dan Gaspar | Fired | TBA | ||
| NC State | George Tarantini | Fired | Kelly Findley | Butler head coach | |
| Niagara | Dermot McGrane | Hired as Canisius head coach | Chase Brooks | Dayton assistant coach | |
| NJIT | Pedro Lopes | Fired | Cesar Markovic | Stony Brook head coach | |
| North Carolina | Elmar Bolowich | Hired as Creighton head coach | Carlos Somoano | Interim coach | |
| North Florida | Ray Bunch | Fired | Derek Marinatos | Furman associate coach | |
| Rider | Russ Fager | Fired | Charlie Inverso | Rutgers assistant coach | |
| St. Peter's | Guy Abrahamson | Fired | Julian Richens | Rider assistant coach | |
| Stony Brook | Cesar Markovic | Hired has NJIT head coach | Ryan Anatol | South Florida assistant coach | |
| Washington | Dean Wurzberger | Fired | Jamie Clark | Creighton head coach | |
See main article: article and 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings.
Several American soccer outlets posted their own preseason top 25 rankings of what were believed to be the strongest men's collegiate soccer teams entering 2011.
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| Name | Dates | Num. teams | Champions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ShinDigz Soccer Festival | Aug. 18–20 | |||
| Cal State Northridge Labor Day Classic | Sept. 1–3 | |||
| Hokie Invitational | Sept. 2–4 | |||
| Ocean State Classic | Sept. 2–4 | |||
| VCU Invitational | Sept. 2–4 | |||
| Brown Soccer Classic | Sept. 8–12 | |||
| Hurricane Classic | Sept. 8–12 | |||
| Stihl Soccer Classic | Sept. 8–12 | |||
| Akron Soccer Tournament | Sept. 16–18 |
Thirty athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The Ivy League does not have a conference tournament, instead giving their automatic invitation to their regular-season champion.
In this list, a "major upset" is defined by a team that's ranked 10 or more spots lower, or an unranked team that defeats a team ranked #15 or higher.
| Date | Winner | Score | Loser |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2 | Providence | 1–0 |
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| September 4 | UC Davis | 2–1 |
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| September 11 | Virginia Tech | 1–0 | |
| September 11 | ESTU | 2–0 |
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| September 24 | George Mason | 1–0 |
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| October 5 | 3–2 |
| |
| October 7 |
| 2–1 |
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| October 12 | Missouri State | 1–0 | |
| October 17 | Davidson | 1–0 | |
| Rank | Scorer | College | Goals[7] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Franklin Castellanos | Iona | 14 |
| 2 | Jesus Sanchez | CSU Bakersfield | 13 |
| 3 | Christopher Tweed-Kent | Duke | 12 |
| 4 | Scott Caldwell | Akron Zips | 11 |
 Liam Collins | Memphis | 11 | |
| Enzo Martinez | North Carolina | 11 | |
| Juan Peralta | Vermont | 11 | |
| Player | School | PPG | Player | School | GPG | Player | School | APG | Player | School | SVPG | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.41 | 1.06 | Franklin Castellanos | 0.74 | 7.94 | |||||||||||
| 2.33 | 1.05 | Juan Peralta | 0.65 | 6.68 | |||||||||||
| 2.19 | 0.95 | Jesus Sanchez | 0.62 | Thomas Hand | 6.64 | ||||||||||
| 2.09 | 0.90 | Liam Collins | Memphis | 0.61 | Taylor Feuerstein | 6.50 | |||||||||
| 2.00 | 0.84 | Matt Lodge | 0.59 | Andrew D'Ottavi | 6.33 | ||||||||||
| Goalkeeper Min. Played | |||||||||||||||
| Player | School | SV% | Player | School | GAA | Player | School | MP | Player | School | SV% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .923 | .207 | 143 | |||||||||||||
| Graham Heydt | .908 | .385 | 127 | ||||||||||||
| .896 | .412 | George Ellis | 110 | ||||||||||||
| .888 | Victor Rodriguez | .493 | Jonathan Lester | 105 | |||||||||||
 Darius Motazed | .882 | Graham Heydt | .504 | Brendan Roslund | 101 | ||||||||||
See main article: article and 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.
On December 9, 2011, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America released their All-American teams for the 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The list included a first, second and third team.[8]
