Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament

The Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament is the conference championship tournament in soccer for the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The tournament was held from 1976 through 1995, when the sport was discontinued.^[1] The tournament resumed in 2014 when the conference reinstated men's soccer, and was discontinued again when the conference dropped men's soccer for the second time after the 2020–21 season. The SBC later announced that men's soccer would be reinstated again in 2022, and the tournament resumed at that time.^[2]

Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament
Conference soccer championship
Sport	College soccer
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Number of teams	8
Format	Single-elimination tournament
Current stadium	Campus sites
Played	1976–1995; 2014–2020; 2022–present
Last contest	2023
Current champion	Marshall
Most championships	South Florida (9)
TV partner(s)	ESPN+
Official website	sunbeltsports.org/msoc

It is a single-elimination tournament involving the top eight teams in the SBC regular-season standings, with seeding based on record. Starting with the 2022 tournament, the quarterfinals and semifinals are hosted by the top two seeds, with the final being held at the home field of the top surviving seed. The winner, declared conference champion, receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's soccer championship.

Champions

Key

(2)	Title number
*	Match went to extra time
†	Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time
Bold	Winning team won regular season

By year

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Venue^[a]	Tournament MVP
1976	South Florida	6–1	Georgia State	Southern Oak Stadium • Jacksonville, Florida	MVP (School)
1977	South Florida (2)	4–3	Jacksonville	USF Soccer Stadium • Tampa, Florida	Fran Lemmons (USF)
1978	Jacksonville	2–1	Georgia State	USF Soccer Stadium • Tampa, Florida	Aleks Mihailović (JAX)
1979	South Florida (3)	3–2*	Charlotte	GSU Soccer Field • Atlanta, Georgia	Ralph Baker (USF)
1980	South Florida (4)	2–1	Georgia State	Memorial Stadium • Charlotte, North Carolina	Nigel Clark (USF)
1981	South Florida (5)	2–1	South Alabama	USF Soccer Stadium • Tampa, Florida	Jay Whitr (USF)
1982	South Florida (6)	2–1	Old Dominion	USF Soccer Stadium • Tampa, Florida	Roy Wegerle (USF)
1983	Charlotte	0–0*	Old Dominion	Foreman Field • Norfolk, Virginia	Craig Brown (UNCC)
1984	Old Dominion	2–1	South Florida	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, Alabama	Alvaro Ibanez (ODU)
1985	South Florida (7)	2–2†	Old Dominion	Foreman Field • Norfolk, Virginia	Ray Perler (USF)
1986	South Florida (8)	1–0	Western Kentucky	USF Soccer Stadium • Tampa, Florida	Aris Bogdaneris (USF)
1987	Old Dominion (2)	1–0	South Alabama	Foreman Field • Norfolk, Virginia	Chris Haywood (ODU)
1988	South Florida (9)	1–1†	Old Dominion	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, Alabama	Sean Crowley (ODU)
1989	Old Dominion (3)	1–1†	South Alabama	Old Dominion Soccer Complex • Norfolk, Virginia	Rick Jenik (ODU)
1990	no tournament held
1991	South Alabama	3–0	Western Kentucky	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, Alabama	Stephen Small (USA)
1992	Western Kentucky	1–1†	South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, Alabama	Stephen Small (USA)
1993	South Alabama (2)	5–0	Little Rock	UTPA Soccer Field • Edinburg, Texas	Luke Whittle (USA)
1994	South Alabama (3)	3–0	Western Kentucky	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, Alabama	Dale Edwards (USA)
1995	South Alabama (4)	3–2	Western Kentucky	WKU Soccer Complex • Bowling Green, Kentucky	Shaun Rothuysen (USA)
1996–2013	Sun Belt did not sponsor men's soccer
2014	Hartwick	1–0	Georgia Southern	Erk Russell Athletic Park • Statesboro, Georgia	Kit Tregear (HWCK)
2015	Hartwick (2)	2–0	Georgia State	ASU Soccer Stadium • Boone, North Carolina	Jamie O’Grady (HWCK)
2016	Coastal Carolina	1–0	Georgia State	GSU Soccer Field • Atlanta, Georgia	Jair Espinoza (CCU)
2017	Coastal Carolina (2)	2–0	Georgia State	CCU Soccer Field • Conway, South Carolina	Frantzdy Pierrot (CCU)
2018	Georgia State	4–2	Georgia Southern	Eagle Field • Statesboro, Georgia	Hannes Burmeister (GSU)
2019	Coastal Carolina (3)	1–1†	Georgia State	ASU Soccer Stadium • Boone, North Carolina	Alberto Ciroi (CCU)
2020	Coastal Carolina (4)	0–0†	Georgia State	Center Parc Stadium • Atlanta, Georgia	Tor Saunders (CCU)
2021	Sun Belt did not sponsor men's soccer
2022	Kentucky	2–0	James Madison	Bell Soccer Complex • Lexington, Kentucky	Clay Holstad (UK)
2023	Marshall	3–2	West Virginia	Hoops Family Field • Huntington, West Virginia	Alvaro Garcia-Pascual (MU)

1. Refers to site of the final match. Other venues may have hosted earlier rounds.

Statistics

All-time champions

Teams in bold are current SBC men's soccer members. Teams with a † no longer sponsor men's soccer.

College	Wins	Last final won	Runners-up	Last final lost
South Florida	9	1988	1	1984
Coastal Carolina	4	2020	0
South Alabama†	4	1995	3	1989
Old Dominion	3	1989	4	1988
Hartwick	2	2015	0
Georgia State	1	2018	4	2020
WKU†	1	1992	4	1995
Charlotte	1	1983	1	1979
Jacksonville	1	1978	1	1977
Kentucky	1	2022	0
Marshall	1	2023	0
Georgia Southern	0	—	1	2014
James Madison	0	—	1	2022
West Virginia	0	—	1	2023
Little Rock†	0	—	1	1993

References

1. "Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Sun Belt Conference. SunBeltSports.org. August 24, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
2. "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.

External links

• Official website