After battling it out in the WAC Men's Soccer Tournament Final in Las Vegas, both Air Force and Grand Canyon heard their names called during the NCAA Selection Show and will be headed to North Carolina for this spring's tournament.

 

Air Force, who became the first sixth seed to win the WAC Men's Soccer Tournament, will take on Big East champion Seton Hall. Grand Canyon, who won the WAC regular season title and suffered their first defeat in the WAC title game, will have a purple party when they take on Washington.

 

Both matches are scheduled to take place on May 2 at Sportsplex in Matthews, N.C. Grand Canyon will take the pitch first, facing the Huskies at 4 p.m. ET. Air Force will then complete the day, taking on the Pirates at 8 p.m. ET. Both matches are scheduled to be broadcast on YouTube courtesy of Wingate University.

 

Saving the best for last, the Air Force Falcons became the first sixth-seed to win the WAC Men's Soccer Tournament, knocking off the top three seeds en route to the title with a shootout win over third-seed San José State, a 1-0 win over second-seed UT Rio Grande Valley and a 3-0 win over top-seed Grand Canyon. Quinn Matulis was named Tournament MVP after scoring a goal and assisting on three others. He was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates London Aghedo, Jacob Angeletti and Kainoa Likewise. The remainder of the all-tournament team featured Grand Canyon's Maximilian Moeller, George Tasouris and Tosh Yasuda, Seattle U's Akili Kasim and James Morris, San José State's Rudi Castro and UNLV's Jesus Partida.

 

Through the regular season and WAC tournament, Seattle U led the league in shots (161) and saves (58). Air Force took over the lead in points (66) and goals (21) while Grand Canyon heads into the NCAA tournament leading the league in goals per game (2.11). San José State led the WAC in assists (27) and assists per game (3.00) and GCU tied with UTRGV for the lead in least goals allowed (9). UTRGV held the low goals-against average (0.86) and UNLV was the leader in shutouts (5).

 

Individually, CBU's Luis Mueller has the lead in shots (36) while SU's Noe Meza is the leader in shots per game (3.33). SJSU's Rudi Castro is the leader in points (19), points per game (2.11), assists (9) and assists per game (1.00). UTRGV's William Akio is the leader in goals (7) and goals per game (7) and tied with SU's Munier Hussen for the lead in game-winning goals (3). In net, UNLV's Miguel Duenas Jr. is the leader in goals against average (0.73) and shutouts (5) while Air Force's Kainoa Likewise has the lead in save percentage (.833).

 SU's Akili Kasim is the leader in saves (51) and saves per game (5.10).

 

On Selection Monday, the WAC had six teams in the top 100. Grand Canyon, who earned an at-large bid, led the WAC at 11 and tournament champion Air Force came in at 39th. San José State finished 46th followed by UT Rio Grande Valley in 56th, California Baptist in 68th and Seattle U in 83rd.

 

Despite falling the WAC Tournament title game, Grand Canyon remains in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25, coming in at 20th. The Lopes are also 20th in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 and 17th in the College Soccer News Top 30. Air Force was also among those receiving votes in the CSN Top 30.

 

Grand Canyon is the top WAC program in the latest United Soccer Coaches Far West Rankings, coming in at fourth. UT Rio Grande Valley is fifth, followed by San José State in sixth, California Baptist in seventh, Seattle U in eighth and Air Force in ninth.

 

Utah Valley has announced former US National Team member Kyle Beckerman as its next head coach. Beckerman retired after a monumentally successful 21-year professional and international career in December. He spent 14 of those seasons in Utah with Real Salt Lake, where he was a captain and led the team to a 2009 MLS Cup. He also had 58 caps as a member of the U.S. National Team, including starting appearances in the 2014 World Cup. In 2020, he was named one of Major League Soccer's 25 Greatest Players of all-time.

 

Grand Canyon head coach Schellas Hyndman announced that this spring season will be the final one of his successful career. In addition to over 500 collegiate wins at Eastern Illinois, SMU and GCU, he was head coach at FC Dallas for six years, earning 2010 MLS Coach of the Year honors.

 

Utah Valley head coach Greg Maas announced his resignation on March 28 to pursue other career opportunities. Associate head coach Michael Chesler has been named interim head coach.

 

Due to COVID-19 protocals, Seattle U has canceled their final match of the season, scheduled for April 9 at San José State.

 

A positive COVID-19 test within the Dixie State men's soccer program forced the Trailblazers to cancel a pair of games in California. DSU's non-conference match at San Diego State on Feb. 11 and its WAC match at California Baptist on Feb. 13 were both scrapped.

 

Due to restrictions in Santa Clara County that did not allow San José State to practice for much of January, the Spartans have elected not to play their first two WAC games of the season. The affected matches include UIW on Feb. 6 and at Air Force on Feb. 13. 

 

Positive COVID-19 test results forced California Baptist to cancel its first two matches of the season. The Lancers were scheduled to open the 2020-21 season on Wednesday at Pacific before visiting Las Vegas for the WAC opener against UNLV. It was later announced that the CBU at UNLV match will now take place on March 22 in Las Vegas.

 

Utah Valley was forced to take a break in action due to positive COVID-19 tests and subsequent contact tracing that wiped out UVU's matches against Dixie State and Seattle U.

 

The 2020-21 season marks the initial WAC campaign for three head coaches in the league. Dixie State head coach Jonny Broadhead leads the Trailblazers into the Division I era in his fourth season in St. George. UIW's Kiki Lara returns to his alma mater after leading Eastern Illinois. UT Rio Grande Valley's Bryheem Hancock was the final coach hired for the season, coming to the valley in November after serving as head coach at Radford for the last three seasons.

 

Seattle U is the preseason favorite to win the 2020-21 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer title in a vote of the league's 11 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.

 

The Redhawks received nine of 11 first-place votes and 98 total points to earn the preseason nod. Utah Valley was selected second with a first-place vote and 81 points. Air Force was selected third with 79 points, followed by Grand Canyon, who earned fourth with the final first-place vote and 65 total points. UNLV was selected fifth with 63 points, followed by San José State in sixth points. California Baptist earned the seventh spot with 54 points, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley in eighth, Houston Baptist in ninth, UIW in 10th and newcomer Dixie State in 11th. 

 

Seattle U's Noe Meza and Alex Acton-Petronotis were selected as the WAC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year respectively in a vote of the league's 12 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.

 

Meza and Acton-Petronotis were joined on the Preseason All-WAC squad by teammates James Morris and Akili Kasim. San José State was the only other team with multiple players honored as forward Rudi Castro and midfielder Max Allen each picked up the preseason recognition. Also earning recognition were Air Force's Tristan Trager, Grand Canyon's Esai Easley, UNLV's Billy Jones, UT Rio Grande Valley's William Akio and Utah Valley's Mark Brown.

 

The 2020-21 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament will feature the top six teams on April 13, 17, and 19 at Johann Memorial Field in Las Vegas. The top two teams in the regular-season standings will receive byes straight to the semifinals.