2023 SEC women's soccer tournament explained

Year:2023
Conference:SEC
Gender:women's
Teams:10
Matches:9
Attendance:6,415
Venue:Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex
City:Pensacola, Florida
Champions:Georgia
Titlecount:1st
Coach:Keidane McAlpine
Coachcount:1st
Broadcast:SEC Network
Mvp:Croix Bethune
Mvpteam:Georgia

The 2023 SEC women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Southeastern Conference held from October 29 to November 5, 2023. The tournament was held at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex in Pensacola, Florida. The ten-team single elimination tournament consisted of four rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The South Carolina Gamecocks are the defending champions.[1] [2] The Gamecocks were unable to defend their crown, losing to Texas A&M in the Quarterfinals. Georgia won the tournament with a 1–0 victory over Arkansas in the final.[3] [4] The conference championship is the first for the Georgia women's soccer program, and first for second-year head coach Keidane McAlpine.[5] As tournament champions, Georgia earned the Southeastern Conference's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.

Qualification

The top 10 teams in the conference qualified for the 2023 Tournament. The top six teams were awarded byes into the Quarterfinals. Teams were seeded based on regular season records, with the Eastern and Western Division champions being awarded the top two seeds.[6] A tiebreaker was required to determine the eighth and ninth seeds as Auburn and Tennessee finished with identical 3–4–3 regular season records. The two teams did not meet in the regular season so a second tiebreaker of points earned against common opponents was used. Auburn won this tiebreaker eleven points to eight and was therefore awarded the eighth seed. A three-way tiebreaker was required to determine the tenth, and last seed, of the tournament as LSU, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt all finished with identical 3–5–2 regular season records. Since all teams did not play each other during the regular season the second tiebreaker of points earned against common opponents was used. LSU and Vanderbilt earned four points, while Ole Miss only earned one point. Therefore, Ole Miss was eliminated. LSU and Vanderbilt did not meet during the regular season, and points earned against common opponents was again used to break the tie. LSU earned ten points while Vanderbilt earned eight points. Therefore, LSU was the tenth and final seed for the tournament.[7]

SeedSchoolConference RecordConference Points
1Arkansas8–1–125
2Georgia4–3–315*
3South Carolina5–0–520
4Mississippi State5–3–217
5Alabama5–4–116
6Texas A&M4–3–315
7Kentucky3–3–413
8Auburn3–4–312
9Tennessee3–4–312
10LSU3–5–211

(*: division winners are automatically given the top two seeds).

Bracket

Source:[8]

Matches

Final

Statistics

Goalscorers

All-Tournament team

Player Team
Bea FranklinArkansas
Makenzie Malham
Ava Tankersley
Jordan BrownGeorgia
Croix Bethune
Mallie McKenzie
Hannah White
Maddy AndersonMississippi State
Rylie Combs
Sydney BecerraTexas A&M
Carolyn Calzada
MVP in bold
Source:[9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SEC Championships - Soccer 2022. live. 2023-05-25. www.secsports.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20230131132700/https://www.secsports.com/article/11037811/championships-soccer. 2023-01-31 .
  2. Web site: SEC champs! South Carolina women's soccer wins tournament title. Jeremiah. Holloway. The State. November 7, 2022. May 25, 2023.
  3. Web site: SEC Championships - Soccer 2023. 2024-01-03. www.secsports.com. Southeastern Conference.
  4. Web site: SEC Soccer Tournament: Georgia wins first championship after shutting out Arkansas. Ben. Grieco. Pensacola News Journal. November 5, 2023. January 3, 2024.
  5. Web site: 2023 Soccer Record Book. secsports.com. SEC. January 3, 2023.
  6. Web site: 2023 SEC Women's Soccer Tournament Brackets Announced For Ashton Brosnaham Park Beginning Sunday. 2024-01-03. northescambia.com. October 27, 2023. en.
  7. Web site: WSOC Week 15. secsports.com. 3. SEC. January 3, 2024. December 4, 2023.
  8. Web site: 2023 SEC Tournament. ESPN. January 4, 2024.
  9. Web site: WSOC Week 15. secsports.com. 5. SEC. January 3, 2024. December 4, 2023.