Charlotte 49ers men's soccer

The Charlotte 49ers men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As of the upcoming 2022 season, the team is a member of the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference (The American). The team plays their home games at Transamerica Field in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2011, the team reached the championship of the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, for the first time in program history.^[2]

Charlotte 49ers men's soccer
2020 Charlotte 49ers men's soccer team
Founded	1976
University	University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Head coach	Kevin Langan (8th season)
Conference	The American
Location	Charlotte, North Carolina
Stadium	Transamerica Field (Capacity: 4,000)
Nickname	49ers
Colors	Green and white^[1]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament runner-up
2011
NCAA Tournament College Cup
1996, 2011
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
1996, 2011
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
1992, 1996, 2011
NCAA Tournament appearances
1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
1983, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2010, 2013, 2023
Conference Regular Season championships
1983, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014

History

In 1996, the Charlotte 49ers men's soccer team became the first Conference USA team in any sport to reach the National semi-finals. The Niners won a school record 19 games. They went 7–1 in Conference USA to capture the regular season title. The Niners defeated College of Charleston, Notre Dame and Hartford to reach the national semi-finals before falling to Florida International in front of 20,269 fans in Richmond, Virginia. Goalkeeper Jon Busch becomes the Niners' second first team All-American after recording 12 shutouts and a 0.89 goals against average. Busch also earned Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year honors. John Tart was named Conference USA Coach of the Year.

The most notable season in Charlotte soccer history came in 2011 when the 49ers became the first team of any sport in school history to reach an NCAA national championship. The team was ranked in the top 25 throughout the entire season thanks to a challenging yet successful non-conference campaign. The Niners finished the regular season with an Atlantic 10 record of 6–1–2 and 13–3–2 record overall. After an early disappointing loss to Xavier in the Atlantic 10 tournament, Charlotte then went on a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The unseeded Niners defeated Furman, No. 11 UAB, No. 10 Akron, and No. 5 Connecticut to advance to the program's second ever College Cup in Hoover, Alabama. The Niners went on to defeat No. 3 Creighton before falling to No. 1 North Carolina in the national championship game with a score of 1–0.

Charlotte's most recent conference change was announced during the 2021–22 offseason, when it left Conference USA (C-USA) for The American. The decision of the Sun Belt Conference to reinstate its men's soccer league effective with the 2022 season dropped the C-USA men's soccer membership to four.^[3] Of these four schools, three, including Charlotte, were scheduled to move fully to The American in the near future,^[4] with a 2023 entry date later confirmed.^[5] Accordingly, The American brought all four remaining C-USA men's soccer teams into its own soccer league.^[6]

Roster

As of 2023/2024^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   PUR Sebastián Cutler — GK   GER Leo Stritter — DF   NZL Luke Johnson — DF   CYP Andreas Evangelou — DF   DEN Lasse Laursen — DF   USA Jake O'Connor — DF   USA Bradley Dildy — DF   ITA Alessandro Negri — DF   USA Koby Carr — MF   JPN Natsuki Ogata — MF   USA Christian Lee — MF   NIR Matthew Kirk — MF   USA Brandon Morales — MF   WAL Callum Watts — FW   SVN Filip Jauk

Individual career records

Career goals

No.	Name	Seasons	Years	Goals
1.	Fernando Sosa	1978–81	4	66
2.	David Cooper	1985–88	4	40
3.	Gabe Garcia	1988–91	4	39
4.	Mac Cozier	1992–95	4	34
5.	Jimmy Koutsokalis	1977–80	4	29
	John Griffith	1983–86	4	29
	Matthys Barker	1994–97	4	29
8.	Doug Pratt	1991–93	3	28
	Mira Mupier	2001–04	4	28
10.	Tureh Doh	1979–82	4	27

^[8]

Career assists

No.	Name	Seasons	Years	Assists
1.	Mac Cozier	1992–95	4	31
2.	Randy Sheen	1990–94	4	28
	Matthys Barker	1994–97	4	28
4.	Jimmy Koutsokalis	1977–80	4	26
5.	Ian Dennis	1989–93	4	25
6.	Fernando Sosa	1978–81	4	24
7.	A. Richardson	1987–90	4	22
	Jamath Shoffner	1996–99	3	22
9.	John Griffith	1983–86	4	21
	Jon Mabee	1995–98	4	21
	Matt Bradner	1995–99	4	21

^[8]

Coaches

Head coach history

Coach	Tenure	Record	Conference	GF	GA	NCAA Apps
Ike Gardner	1976–80	47–47–5	6–9–1	238	266
Steve Parker	1981	6–12–0	0–2–0	39	37
Bob Warming	1982–88	67–52–17	16–9–4	306	217
Frank Kohlenstein	1989–94	77–32–12	20–6–6	277	145	3
John Tart	1995–2006	117–92–28	53–40–11	403	318	2
Jeremy Gunn	2006–11	66–26–12	35–13–6	194	105	2
Kevin Langan	2012–Present	86–34–20	38-10-10	~~	~~	6
Totals	1976–2018	526–295–94	228–149–38	1457	1088	7

^[8]

Professional players

Major League Soccer

• Brandt Bronico (Charlotte FC)
• Jon Busch (San Jose Earthquakes)
• Mira Mupier (Chicago Fire)
• Donnie Smith (New England Revolution)
• Callum Montgomery (FC Dallas)
• Elliot Panicco (Nashville SC)

USL Pro

• Andres Cuero (Wilmington Hammerheads)
•   Carson Price (San Antonio FC)
• Charles Rodriguez (Wilmington Hammerheads)
• Evan Harding (Richmond Kickers)
• Adam Ruud (Charlotte Eagles)
• Chris Salvaggione (Charlotte Eagles)
• Mike Franks (Wilmington Hammerheads)
• Grady Farmer (Wilmington Hammerheads)
• Dafydd ‘David’ Hughes (Myrtle Beach Seadawgs)

North American Soccer League

• Floyd Franks (Carolina RailHawks FC)
• Giuseppe Gentile (San Antonio Scorpions)
• Tyler Gibson (San Antonio Scorpions)

S.League

• Graham Tatters (Woodlands Wellington FC)

References

1. "49ers Color System". Charlotte 49ers Brand Standards (PDF). June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
2. "Men's Soccer Advances to National Championship". Charlotte49ers.com. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
3. "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
4. "American Athletic Conference Announces the Addition of Six Universities" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
5. "American Announces Entrance Agreements With Incoming Members for 2023-24 Season" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
6. "American Announces Affiliate Members in Men's Soccer and Women's Swimming and Diving" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
7. "2021 Men's Soccer Roster". Charlotte 49ers. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
8. [1] 2012-06-09 at the Wayback Machine Charlotte 49ers Men's Soccer 2011 Media Guide

External links

• Official website