The 2020 Atlantic Coast Conference men's soccer season will be the 67th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference.
Clemson are the defending champions of the Atlantic Conference and the
Virginia are the defending champions of the Coastal Conference. Wake Forest are the defending
ACC tournament Champions.
Due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic, the season has been significantly modified from previous seasons. The teams were reorganized geographically, and will play a six-game conference season. The season will begin on September 18, 2020, instead of August 28, 2020 and conclude on November 7, 2020. A modified spring season was also played due to the pandemic.
Changes from 2019
After 33 years as head coach,
Ed Kelly
Edmond Kelly, also known as "Ed" or "Eddie" and nicknamed the Silver Fox (born October 24, 1948 in Dublin, Ireland), is an Irish-American former soccer player. He played in the American Soccer League and one season in the North American Socc ...
retired following the 2019 season.
Bob Thompson was hired as the head coach for Boston College on January 23, 2020.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the season
On September 4, 2020, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced the fall Olympic sports schedule, which included the schedule for men's soccer. The men's soccer season will begin on September 18, 2020, instead of the originally planned August 28, and conclude on November 8. The season will culminate with the
2020 ACC Men's Soccer tournament, which will be reduced to eight teams for the 2020 season only.
On January 26, 2021, it was announced that a spring portion of the 2020 season would be played. Each team will play five matches in their division. Divisions would return to the Atlantic and Coastal division, as in previous years. The winner of the Coastal will play the winner of the Atlantic on April 13. The winner of that match will play Clemson (winner of the fall season) on April 17 to determine the automatic qualifier for the
NCAA tournament.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
1. ''Florida State, Georgia Tech and Miami do not sponsor men's soccer. Boston College has opted out of participating in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.''
Personnel
''Notes''
*Records shown are prior to the 2020 season
*Years at school includes the 2020 season
*ACC records include only years with current school.
Preseason
Hermann Trophy
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a preseason Hermann Trophy watch list was released in January instead of August. Six players from ACC schools were named to the watchlist.
Preseason Poll
The preseason poll was released on September 8, 2020.
Preseason national polls
The preseason national polls were to be released in August and September 2020. Only CollegeSoccerNews.com released a preseason poll due to the COVID-19 pandemic. TopDrawer Soccer and United Soccer Coaches released a preseason poll in February 2021.
Recruiting rankings
''College Soccer News'' and ''
TopDrawer Soccer'' release annual recruiting rankings. Below are their respective rankings for the Class of 2020 by program. Ten of the 12 programs earned Top 40 recruiting rankings by ''College Soccer News''.
Preseason awards
;Preseason All-ACC Watchlist
*
Kimarni Smith
Kimarni Smith (born 14 March 1998) is an English footballer who currently plays for Crown Legacy FC in the MLS Next Pro.
Career Basford United
Smith played with the Nottingham-based Southern Football League side Basford United's academy as a ...
, Senior, Forward, Clemson
* Jack Doran, Graduate, Midfielder, Duke
* Pedro Fonseca, Junior, Forward, Louisville
* Alec Smir, Junior, Goalkeeper, North Carolina
* George Asomani, Senior, Midfielder, NC State
*
Jack Lynn, Junior, Forward, Notre Dame
*
Edward Kizza
Edward Kizza (born 17 December 1998) is a Ugandan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the USL Championship.
Career
Born in Kampala, Kizza moved to the United States with his parents when he was 14. He s ...
, Senior, Forward, Pitt
* Sondre Norheim, Senior, Defender, Syracuse
* Nathaniel Crofts, Senior, Forward, Virginia
* Kristo Strickler, Senior, Forward, Virginia Tech
*
Michael DeShields, Senior, Defender, Wake Forest
Fall 2020 regular season
All times Eastern time.
Week 1 (Sep. 14 – Sept. 20)
;Players of the Week
Week 2 (Sep. 21 – Sept. 27)
;Players of the Week
Week 3 (Sep. 28 – Oct. 4)
;Players of the Week
Week 4 (Oct. 5 – Oct. 11)
;Players of the Week
Week 5 (Oct. 12 – Oct. 18)
;Players of the Week
Week 6 (Oct. 19 – Oct. 25)
;Players of the Week
Week 7 (Oct. 26 – Nov. 1)
;Players of the Week
Week 8 (Nov. 2 – Nov. 8)
;Players of the Week
Spring 2021 regular season
All times Eastern time.
Week 11 (Feb. 3 – Feb. 7)
Week 12 (Feb. 8 – Feb. 14)
Week 13 (Feb. 15 – Feb. 21)
Week 14 (Feb. 22 – Feb. 28)
Week 15 (Mar. 1 – Mar. 7)
;Players of the Week
Week 16 (Mar. 8 – Mar. 14)
;Players of the Week
Week 17 (Mar. 15 – Mar. 21)
Week 18 (Mar. 22 – Mar. 28)
;Players of the Week
Week 19 (Mar. 29 – Apr. 4)
Week 20 (Apr. 5 – Apr. 11)
Rankings
Fall 2020
National
=
United Soccer Coaches
The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...
=
Spring 2021
National
=
United Soccer Coaches
The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...
=
= Top Drawer Soccer
=
Postseason
ACC Tournament
Eight teams will qualify for the modified ACC Men's Soccer Tournament.
NCAA tournament
On August 13, 2020, the NCAA suspended postseason tournaments for all fall sports. The tournament will be played from April 17 to May 17, 2021.
Awards
Postseason awards
The Atlantic Coast Conference post season awards were announced on April 14, 2021, and considered both the fall season and spring season. Some players who were drafted and did not play in the spring season were included on the All Conference teams.
All-ACC awards and teams
MLS SuperDraft
The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was held on January 21, 2021. The Atlantic Coast Conference had a record total of twenty five players selected, with twelve first round selections. This eclipsed the previous record of eighteen total selections, set twice previously. The twelve first round picks surpassed the previous record of eight first round picks, set in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, and
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
. The twenty five players selected represented one third of the players taken in the draft. The ACC also had five players selected in the first five picks, a first in draft history. Also of note, at least one player was selected from a team that played during the 2020 season. Only
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
did not have a player selected and Boston College elected to suspend their season due to
COVID-19.
Total picks by school
List of selections
Homegrown players
The Homegrown Player Rule is a
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
program that allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first team rosters. Before the creation of the rule in 2008, every player entering Major League Soccer had to be assigned through one of the existing MLS player allocation processes, such as the
MLS SuperDraft.
To place a player on its homegrown player list, making him eligible to sign as a homegrown player, players must have resided in that club's home territory and participated in the club's youth development system for at least one year.
Players can play
college soccer and still be eligible to sign a homegrown contract.
References
{{2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
Atlantic Coast Conference men's soccer season