2021 SEC women's soccer tournament explained

Year:2021
Conference:SEC
Gender:women's
Teams:10
Matches:9
Venue:Orange Beach Sportsplex
City:Orange Beach, Alabama
Champions:Tennessee
Titlecount:5th
Coach:Brian Pensky
Coachcount:1st
Broadcast:SEC Network
Mvp:Abbey Burdette
Mvpteam:Tennessee

The 2021 SEC women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Southeastern Conference held from October 31 to November 7, 2021. The tournament was held at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Alabama. The ten-team single elimination tournament consisted of four rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Vanderbilt Commodores are the defending champions.[1] The Commodores were unable to defend their crown, losing to Florida in the First Round. Tennessee won the tournament with a 1–0 victory over Arkansas in the final.[2] The conference championship is the fifth for the Tennessee women's soccer program and the first for head coach Brian Pensky.[3] As tournament champions, Tennessee earned the Southeastern Conference's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.

Qualification

The top 10 teams in the conference qualified for the 2021 Tournament.[4] [5] Tiebreakers were required to determine the third and fourth seeds as Ole Miss and South Carolina both finished with 6–3–1 regular season records. Ole Miss was awarded the third seed and South Carolina earned the fourth seed based on Ole Miss' 2–1 victory over South Carolina during the regular season. Another tiebreaker was required to determine the seeding for Alabama, Auburn, and Vanderbilt, as all three teams finished with a 5–4–1 conference record. Due to the fact that all three teams did not play each other during the regular season points earned against common opponents was used as the tiebreaker. Auburn was awarded the fifth seed based on their 4 points earned, Alabama was the 6th seed with 1 point earned, and Vanderbilt was the seventh seed with zero points earned. There was another three-way tie for the tenth, and final seed between Florida, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State as all three teams finished with a 3–6–1 conference record. Again, all three teams had not played each other during the regular season, so points against common opponents was used. All three teams scored 6 points against common opponents, so goal differential against common opponents was used. Florida won this tiebreaker with a 0 GD and was awarded the tenth seed. Texas A&M was the eleventh team with a -1 GD, and Mississippi State was the twelfth team with a -2 GD.[6]

SeedSchoolConference RecordConference Points
1style=9–1–027
2style=8–2–024
3style=6–3–119
4style=6–3–119
5style=5–4–116
6style=5–4–116
7style=5–4–116
8style=4–4–214
9style=4–6–012
10style=3–6–110

Bracket

Matches

Final

All-Tournament team

Player Team
Parker GoinsArkansas
Kayla McKeon
Haley VanFossen
Olivia CandelinoAuburn
M.E. Craven
Molly MartinOle Miss
Taylor Radecki
Abbey BurdetteTennessee
Wrenne French
Mackenzie George
Jaida Thomas
MVP in bold
Source:[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SEC Championships - Soccer 2020. live. 2021-10-26. www.secsports.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20211027133749/https://www.secsports.com/article/32034008/2020-sec-soccer-tournament . 2021-10-27 .
  2. Web site: SEC Championships - Soccer 2021. live. 2021-10-26. www.secsports.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20150905061811/http://www.secsports.com/article/11037811/championships-soccer . 2015-09-05 .
  3. Web site: 2021 Soccer Record Book. secsports.com. SEC. January 5, 2022.
  4. Web site: Tourism. Gulf Shores & Orange Beach. 2021 SEC Women's Soccer Tournament. 2021-10-26. Gulf Shores & Orange Beach. en.
  5. Web site: Kristensen. Anthony. Teams desperate as SEC soccer tournament approaches. 2021-10-26. Columbia Missourian. en.
  6. Web site: SEC Soccer Tournament:Road to Orange Beach. secsports.com. SEC. January 5, 2021.
  7. Web site: WSOC Week 15. secsports.com. SEC. January 5, 2022. November 23, 2021.