2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season explained

2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season
Color:	00549E
Color Text:	FFFFFF
League:	NCAA Division I
Sport:	Soccer
Pixels:	175px
Duration:	September 18, 2020 – November 16, 2020
No Of Teams:	4
Season:	Regular Season
Season Champs:	Coastal Carolina
Second Place:	Georgia State
Mvp:	George Proctor, Georgia State
Top Scorer:	Tied (3) (5)
Draft:	2021 MLS SuperDraft
Draft Link:	2021 MLS SuperDraft
Finals:	Tournament
Finals Link:	2020 Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament
Finals Champ:	Coastal Carolina
Finals Runner-Up:	Georgia State
Finals Mvp:	Tor Saunders, Coastal Carolina
Seasonslistnames:	Sun Belt Conference men's soccer
Prevseason Link:	2019 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season
Prevseason Year:	2019
Nextseason Link:	2022 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season
Nextseason Year:	2022
Attendance:	3,066
Average Attendance:	192

The 2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season was the 19th season of men's varsity soccer in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The regular season began on September 18 and concluded on November 6, 2020. The season culminated with the Sun Belt Tournament which began on November 13 and concluded on November 15, 2020.

Background

See main article: 2019 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the season

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected the landscape of men's soccer in the Sun Belt Conference. Long-time program, Appalachian State suspended its men's varsity soccer program in the wake of the pandemic, due to anticipated budget cuts in the athletics program. Additionally, Sun Belt associate member Howard opted out of playing during the fall season due to concerns with the ongoing pandemic.

The SBC and Atlantic Coast Conference were the only two men's soccer conferences that played during fall 2020.

The conference opted to play a six-match season with all programs doing a home-and-home series, or double round robin against every program in the conference. Most teams completed the fall season playing only 8 - 12 matches instead of the normal 15 - 18 matches.

Discontinuation of men's soccer

Appalachian State's decision to drop men's soccer was the first move that led to the discontinuation of SBC men's soccer after the 2020–21 school year. In July 2020, Howard announced 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.^[1] This left the SBC with only four men's soccer members, two less than the six required to maintain an automatic NCAA tournament berth. The next move that affected SBC men's soccer came in January 2021, when the ASUN Conference announced three schools as incoming full members, including SBC associate Central Arkansas.^[2] The following month saw Coastal Carolina announce that it would become a single-sport member of Conference USA (C-USA), joining another in-state C-USA associate in South Carolina.^[3] This left Georgia Southern and Georgia State as the only remaining Sun Belt men's soccer programs, and those two schools announced they would move that sport to the Mid-American Conference in late May 2021.^[4]

Return of Sun Belt men's soccer

A major conference realignment initially triggered in July 2021 when Oklahoma and Texas announced their plans to leave the Big 12 Conference for the Southeastern Conference eventually led to the reinstatement of Sun Belt men's soccer. Further moves in this realignment cycle saw three men's soccer schools announce that they would join the SBC no later than 2023: Colonial Athletic Association member James Madison, and then-reigning national champion Marshall and Old Dominion from Conference USA. Accordingly, league commissioner Keith Gill announced on November 1, 2021 that SBC men's soccer would be reinstated no later than 2023.^[5]

Later developments in the realignment cycle^{[6] [7]} led the SBC to reinstate men's soccer in 2022 instead of 2023.^[8]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Central Arkansas Bears	Conway, Arkansas	Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex	1,000
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers	Conway, South Carolina	Coastal Carolina University Soccer Field	1,000
Georgia Southern Eagles	Statesboro, Georgia	Eagle Field	3,500
Georgia State Panthers	Decatur, Georgia	GSU Soccer Complex	1,892
	Atlanta	Center Parc Stadium	24,333

Head coaches

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	Sun Belt record	NCAA Tournaments^[9]	NCAA College Cups	NCAA Titles	Ref.
style=	Central Arkansas		Vermont (asst.)	9				2	0	0	^[10]
style=	Coastal Carolina		Charleston Southern	22				13	0	0	^[11]
style=	Georgia Southern		Anderson (SC)	4				0	0	0	^[12]
style=	Georgia State		Jacksonville (asst.)	10				2	0	0	^[13]
style=	Howard		St. John's College High School	6				0	0	0	^[14]

Preseason

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on August 27, 2020.^[15]

	Team Ranking	Points	First Place Votes
1.	Central Arkansas	12	1
2.	Coastal Carolina	10	1
	Georgia State	10	1
4.	Georgia Southern	8	1

Preseason national polls

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, only College Soccer News released a preseason poll.

	United Soccer	CSN^[16]	SoccerAmerica	Top DrawerSoccer
style= width=75	Central Arkansas	N/A	—	N/A	N/A
style= width=75	Coastal Carolina	N/A	RV	N/A	N/A
style= width=75	Georgia Southern	N/A	—	N/A	N/A
style= width=75	Georgia State	N/A	—	N/A	N/A

Preseason honors

Defensive Player – Preseason All-Conference

• Alberto Suarez, Central Arkansas

Offensive Player – Preseason All-Conference

• Aris Briggs, Georgia State

Preseason All-Conference Team! Position! Nat.! Player! Team

FW	United States		style=	Georgia State
FW			style=	Georgia Southern
FW	Italy		style=	Coastal Carolina
MF			style=	Central Arkansas
MF			style=	Georgia State
MF			style=	Georgia State
DF	Spain		style=	Central Arkansas
DF	Mexico		style=	Georgia Southern
DF	Italy		style=	Central Arkansas
GK			style=	Georgia State
GK	Brazil		style=	Georgia Southern

Regular season

Conference results

For the 2020 season, each team plays every other conference team twice; once home and once away.

Weekly results

Legend

Index to colors and formatting
SBC member won
SBC member lost
SBC member tied
SBC teams in bold

All times Eastern time.

Week 1 (Sep. 14 – Sept. 20)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
September 18	7:00 p.m.	Georgia State		Bear FieldMacon, GA	W 2–1	161
September 19	5:00 p.m.	UAB	Central Arkansas	Bill Stephens Soccer ComplexConway, AR	L 2–3	105
September 19	7:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	South Carolina	Eugene Stone StadiumColumbia, SC	L 0–2	320

Week 2 (Sep. 21 – Sept. 27)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
September 22	7:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Mercer	Betts StadiumMacon, GA	L 0–3	161
September 24	7:00 p.m.	Georgia State	South Carolina	Stone Soccer StadiumColumbia, SC	W 3–1	320
September 26	6:00 p.m.	UAB	Georgia Southern	Eagle Field • Statesboro, GA	W 3–2	266

Week 3 (Sep. 28 – Oct. 4)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
September 30	5:00 p.m.	UAB	Georgia State	Center Parc StadiumAtlanta, GA	W 4–0	214
October 2	2:00 p.m.	Central Arkansas	Kentucky	Bell Soccer ComplexLexington, KY	L 1–2 (OT)	83
October 4	2:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Georgia State	GSU Soccer FieldAtlanta, GA	GSU 2–0	377

Week 4 (Oct. 5 – Oct. 11)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
October 6	7:00 p.m.	Mercer	Georgia State	GSU Soccer FieldAtlanta, GA	W 2–0	298
October 10	1:00 p.m.	Georgia State	Coastal Carolina	CCU Soccer FieldConway, SC	CCU 1–0	150
October 10	7:00 p.m.	Central Arkansas	Georgia Southern	Eagle FieldStatesboro, GA	UCA 4–1	233

Week 5 (Oct. 12 – Oct. 18)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
October 13	8:00 p.m.	Georgia State	UAB	BBVA FieldBirmingham, AL	W 4–1	195
October 16	2:00 p.m.	Central Arkansas	Coastal Carolina	GSU Soccer FieldAtlanta, GA	CCU 3–2	50
October 16	7:00 p.m.	Georgia State	Georgia Southern	Eagle FieldStatesboro, GA	GSU 3–0	273
October 18	1:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina	Central Arkansas	GSU Soccer FieldAtlanta, GA	CCU 1–0 (OT)	62

Week 6 (Oct. 19 – Oct. 25)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
October 24	2:00 p.m.	Georgia State	Central Arkansas	Bill Stephens Soccer ComplexConway, AR	UCA 2–0	84
October 25	2:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina	Georgia Southern	Eagle FieldStatesboro, GA	CCU 2–1 (OT)	150

Week 7 (Oct. 26 – Nov. 1)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
October 31	2:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Central Arkansas	Bill Stephens Soccer ComplexConway, AR	UCA 1–0	96
November 1	2:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina	Georgia State	GSU Soccer FieldAtlanta, GA	GSU 2–0	223

Week 8 (Nov. 2 – Nov. 8)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
November 6	12:00 p.m.	Central Arkansas	Georgia State	GSU Soccer FieldAtlanta, GA	GSU 1–0	194
	6:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina	Georgia Southern	Eagle Field • Statesboro, GA	CCU 3–0	291

Players of the Week honors

Week	Offensive			Defensive			Ref.
	Player	Position	Team	Player	Position	Team
Sep. 23	Aris Briggs	FW	Georgia State	Paul Tyson	GK	Georgia State	^[17]
Sep. 30	Matthew Fearnley	MF	Georgia State	George Proctor	DF	Georgia State	^[18]
Oct. 7	Aris Briggs	FW	Georgia State	Gunther Rankenburg	GK	Georgia State	^[19]
Oct. 14	Soren Jensen	MF	Central Arkansas	Tor Saunders	GK	Coastal Carolina	^[20]
Oct. 21	Andrew Bennett	MF	Georgia State	Tor Saunders	GK	Coastal Carolina	^[21]
Oct. 28	Soren Jensen	MF	Central Arkansas	Zach Schawl	GK	Central Arkansas	^[22]
	Ethan Hackenberg	FW	Coastal Carolina
Nov. 4	Matthew Fearnley	MF	Georgia State	George Proctor	DF	Georgia State	^[23]
Nov. 10	Marcello Jones	MF	Coastal Carolina	George Proctor	DF	Georgia State	^[24]

Postseason

Sun Belt Tournament

See main article: 2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament.

All four teams qualified for the modified Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament was played from November 13 - 15, with Coastal Carolina winning the championship in penalties over Georgia State.

NCAA Tournament

The winner of the 2020 SBC Tournament will earn an automatic berth into the 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was postponed from November/December 2020 to April/May 2021.

Postseason awards and honors

2020 Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Individual Awards^[25]
Award	Recipient(s)
Player of the Year	George Proctor, Georgia State
Offensive Player of the Year	Aris Briggs, Georgia State
Newcomer of the Year	Tor Saunders, Coastal Carolina
Freshman of the Year	Jason Kemble, Coastal Carolina
Coach of the Year	Shaun Docking, Coastal Carolina

2020 Sun Belt Men's Soccer All-Conference Team

Aris Briggs, Georgia State (F) Adam Davie, Georgia Southern (F) Kasper Andersen, Central Ark. (F) Matthew Fearnley, Georgia State (MF) Soren Jensen, Central Ark. (MF) Marcello Jones, Coastal Carolina (MF) Ross Finnie, Georgia State (MF) George Proctor, Georgia State (D) Alberto Suarez, Central Ark. (D) Mael Couteau, Coastal Carolina (D) Ramon Munoz, Georgia State (D) Tor Saunders, Coastal Carolina (GK) Paul Tyson, Georgia State (GK)

MLS SuperDraft

See main article: 2021 MLS SuperDraft.

The 2021 MLS SuperDraft will be held in January 2021.

Total picks by school

Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Comp.	Total
Central Arkansas	0	0	0	0	0
Coastal Carolina	0	0	1	0	1
Georgia State	0	0	1	0	1
Georgia Southern	0	0	0	0	0
Howard	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	2	0	2

List of selections

Round	Pick #	MLS team	Player	Position	College	Ref.
3	61					^[26]
3	74					^[27]

Notable undrafted players

The following players went pro after the 2020 season despite not getting drafted in the 2021 MLS draft.

External links

• Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer

Notes and References

1. Six Howard Athletics Programs Join the Northeast Conference as Associate Members . Howard Bison . July 6, 2020 . April 15, 2021.
2. ASUN Conference Announces Three New Institutions; Adds Football as 20th Sport . ASUN Conference . January 29, 2021 . April 15, 2021 . January 29, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210129160022/https://www.asunsports.org/general/2020-21/releases/20210126nthmsg . dead .
3. Coastal Carolina Added as Men's Soccer Member . Conference USA . February 25, 2021 . April 15, 2021.
4. Georgia Southern, Georgia State Added As Affiliate Members in Men's Soccer . Mid-American Conference . May 21, 2021 . May 27, 2021.
5. News: Sun Belt confirms men's soccer being reinstated . Grant . Traylor . The Herald-Dispatch . Huntington, WV . November 1, 2021 . November 2, 2021.
6. James Madison to Compete in the Sun Belt Conference Beginning Fall 2022 . Sun Belt Conference . February 2, 2022 . February 2, 2022.
7. News: Thamel . Pete . Pete Thamel . Move of Marshall, Old Dominion, Southern Miss from Conference USA to Sun Belt now complete . ESPN.com . March 29, 2022 . March 29, 2022.
8. Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall . Sun Belt Conference . April 6, 2022 . April 7, 2022.
9. Web site: NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets. National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. April 19, 2019.
10. Web site: UCA Men's Soccer Coaching Records. Central Arkansas Athletics.
11. Web site: Shaun Docking - Men's Soccer Coach. Coastal Carolina University Athletics. en. 2019-06-15.
12. Web site: John Murphy - Men's Soccer Coach. Georgia Southern University Athletics. en. 2019-06-15.
13. Web site: Brett Surrency. GeorgiaStateSports.com. 2019-06-15. 2019-05-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20190527052824/http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=620841. dead.
14. Web site: Phillip Gyau - Men's Soccer Coach. Howard University Athletics. en. 2019-06-15.
15. Web site: 2020 Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Preseason Poll & Honors . Sun Belt Conference . September 7, 2020 . August 27, 2020.
16. Web site: August 27, 2020. College Soccer News 2020 Preseason Top 30 National Poll. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200913085618/https://collegesoccernews.com/index.php/polls/csn-preseason-top-30-poll/1481-college-soccer-news-2020-preseason-national-poll . 2020-09-13 . September 7, 2020. CollegeSoccerNews.com.
17. Web site: Georgia State Takes Both SBC Men's Soccer Honors of the Week . sunbeltsports.org . Sun Belt Conference . September 25, 2020 . September 23, 2020.
18. Web site: Georgie State Takes Both SBC Men's Soccer Honors of the Week . Sun Belt Conference . October 2, 2020 . September 30, 2020.
19. Web site: Georgie State Takes Both SBC Men's Soccer Honors of the Week . Sun Belt Conference . October 9, 2020 . October 7, 2020.
20. Web site: SBC Announces Men's Soccer Weekly Honors . Sun Belt Conference . October 18, 2020 . October 14, 2020.
21. Web site: Conference. Sun Belt. Players of the Week Honors and Sun Belt Championship Details Announced. 2020-11-02. sunbeltsports.org. en.
22. Web site: Conference. Sun Belt. Men's Soccer Players of the Week Announced. 2020-11-02. sunbeltsports.org. en.
23. Web site: Conference. Sun Belt. Men's Soccer Players of the Week Announced. November 5, 2020. November 4, 2020. sunbeltsports.org. en.
24. Web site: Conference. Sun Belt. Men's Soccer Players of the Week Announced. November 12, 2020. November 10, 2020. sunbeltsports.org. en.
25. Web site: Sun Belt Announces Men's Soccer 2020 Postseason Honors . Sun Belt Conference . November 16, 2020 . November 12, 2020.
26. Web site: RSL Selects Aris Briggs from Georgia State University . RSL.com . Real Salt Lake . January 23, 2021 . January 21, 2021.
27. Web site: Parks . Chris . CCU goalkeeper Tor Saunders drafted into the MLS . . . January 23, 2021 . January 22, 2021.