Air Force secured the top spot in the 2022 WAC Men’s Soccer Championship on the strength of a 1-1 draw against San José State on Oct. 28. The Falcons closed the season with a 7-1-1 league record and an .833 conference winning percentage, their best WAC winning clip since 2017 (8-0-2, .900). Air Force previously earned the tournament’s top seed in both 2017 and 2018.

 

Seattle U is the active conference leader with five tournament championships (2013, ‘15, ‘17, ‘19, Fall ‘21) since joining the WAC. The Redhawks are the only team to appear in all 10 conference men’s soccer tournaments since joining the WAC prior to the 2013 season. Other active WAC members who have previously won the men’s soccer championship are Air Force (Spring ‘21), Grand Canyon (2018) and UNLV (2014, ‘16).

 

San José State earned its best start seed in 10 appearances in the WAC Men’s Soccer Tournament, claiming the second seed for the 2022 edition of the championship. The Spartans were the WAC runner-up in 2013 (six seed), 2017 (four seed) and 2018 (six seed).

 

The WAC unveiled its 2022 men’s soccer major award winners and all-conference teams as voted on by the league’s head coaches on the eve of the tournament. Grand Canyon’s Shaun Joash was named WAC Offensive Player of the Year, while Air Force’s London Aghedo brought home WAC Defensive Player of the Year. Utah Valley’s Owen Knecht captured WAC Freshman of the Year and Air Force head coach Doug Hill was selected as the WAC Coach of the Year. Joash and Aghedo were both preseason selections for the WAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year awards.

 

Three WAC teams checked in among the NCAA top 100 teams in the latest NCAA RPI that was released on Nov. 6. Conference leader Air Force checked in 41st in the RPI, with Utah Valley 76th and Seattle U 85th. The RPI is a key metric utilized by the NCAA selection committee to determine at-large qualifiers for the NCAA Championship.