2017 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season


The 2017 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season was the 27th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference.
The Loyola Ramblers were the defending regular season champions, while the SIU Edwardsville Cougars were the 2016 tournament champions.
With the results of the games of Saturday, October 28, Missouri State secured the top seed in the MVC Tournament with Central Arkansas seeded second. MoSt then won the regular season title with a draw at Drake on November 4.
On Sunday, November 12, the Central Arkansas Bears defeated the Missouri State Bears 1–0 in overtime at Shea Stadium in Peoria, Illinois to with their first MVC Championship and advance to their first NCAA tournament since moving to Division I in 2007.

Changes from 2016

The Valparaiso Crusaders joined the MVC on July 1 after spending the past ten years in the Horizon League. At the time, Valpo became the eighth team in MVC men's soccer.
The MVC lost SIU Edwardsville to the Mid-American Conference, returning the MVC to seven men's soccer teams. The Cougars had initially been announced as joining MAC men's soccer in 2018, but less than a week after the initial announcement, the MAC indicated that SIUE men's soccer would instead join in 2017.

Teams

TeamLocationStadiumCapacityHead CoachUniform supplier
Bradley BravesPeoria, IllinoisShea Stadium Jim DeRose adidas
Central Arkansas BearsConway, ArkansasBill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex Ross Duncan adidas
Drake BulldogsDes Moines, IowaCownie Sports Complex Gareth Smith adidas
Evansville Purple AcesEvansville, IndianaArad McCutchan Stadium Marshall Ray adidas
Loyola RamblersChicago, IllinoisLoyola Soccer Park Neil Jones Nike
Missouri State BearsSpringfield, MissouriRobert W. Plaster Stadium John Leamy adidas
Valparaiso CrusadersValparaiso, IndianaBrown Field Mike Avery Nike

Season outlook

2017 Preseason MVC Coaches' Poll
RankTeam Points
1Loyola 47
2Evansville 38
3Missouri State 34
4Central Arkansas30
5Drake18
6Valparaiso15
7Bradley14

2017 Preseason MVC All-Conference Team'
PlayerSchoolPositionClassHometown
Zac BlaydesEvansvilleJuniorForwardMidway, Kentucky
Niklas BrodackiCentral ArkansasSophomoreForwardNorrkoping, Sweden
Elliot Collier †LoyolaForwardJuniorHamilton, New Zealand
Steven EnnaDrakeSeniorForwardOverland Park, Kansas
Ramone HowellValparaisoSeniorMidfielderPortmore, Jamaica
Alec LasinskiLoyolaJuniorForwardAnn Arbor, Michigan
Ian McGrathEvansvilleSeniorMidfielderNew Lenox, Illinois
Marc OlsenCentral ArkansasSophomoreGoalkeeperCopenhagen, Denmark
Richard OlsonBradleySeniorForwardPark Ridge, Illinois
Grant StonemanLoyolaJuniorDefenderSt. Charles, Illinois
Simon WaeverEvansvilleSophomoreDefenderHolte, Denmark

† = Also on 2016 Preseason MVC All-Conference Team

Regular season

Rankings

United Soccer Coaches National Poll

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West Region rankings

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NCAA RPI

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MVC Players of the Week

Postseason

MVC Tournament

The 2017 MVC Tournament was played November 7, 8, 10, and 12 at Bradley University's Shea Stadium in Peoria, Illinois.
Second seeded Central Arkansas defeated top-seeded Missouri State 1–0 in overtime to earn the MVC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

NCAA Tournament

SeedRegionSchool1st Round2nd Round3rd RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsChampionship
—3Central Arkansas Bears@ Southern Methodist
Lost 2–0		—————

[2018 MLS SuperDraft]

RoundPick #MLS teamPlayerPositionCollegeOther

Honors

2017 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men's All-West Region Teams

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2017 [CoSIDA] Academic All-America Teams

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The six athletes named Academic All-Americans from the Missouri Valley Conference was the most from any of the 24 soccer playing conferences; the twelve team Atlantic Coast Conference was second with five members.

First team

Clark Emerson. Bradley University, 4.00, Business

Second team

Aleksi Tuominen, Drake University, 4.00, Health Sciences

Third team

Liam Priestley, Missouri State University, 3.52, Finance
Kyle Hiebert, Missouri State University, 4.00, Accounting
Chris Holmes, University of Central Arkansas, 4.00, Health Services Administration
Ryan Merideth. Drake University. 3.86. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

2017 [CoSIDA] Academic All-District Teams

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Only All-District players are eligible for the Academic All-America ballot.

District 5 (IL, IN, MI, OH)

Clark Emerson. Bradley University, 4.00, Business

District 6 (AR, IA, LA, MN, MO, MS, ND, SD, WI)

Liam Priestley, Missouri State University, 3.52, Finance
Kyle Hiebert, Missouri State University, 4.00, Accounting
Daltyn Knutson, University of Central Arkansas, 3.95, Finance
Aleksi Tuominen, Drake University, 4.00, Health Sciences
Chris Holmes, University of Central Arkansas, 4.00, Health Services Administration
Ryan Merideth. Drake University. 3.86. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

2017 NSCAA NCAA Division I Men's Scholar All-America Teams

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PositionNameClassSchoolMajorGPAHometown

NSCAA 2017-18 College Team Academic Award

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The National Soccer Coaches Association of America annually recognizes college and high school soccer programs that have excelled in the classroom by posting a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher. — of the MVC's seven teams were honored this year. The schools, their head coaches, and their team GPAs are:
—TBA—

2017 MVC awards

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2017 MVC All-Conference First Team

PlayerSchoolPositionClassHometown
Liam Priestley Missouri StateGKSr.Essex, England
Simon Waever#EvansvilleDSo.Holte, Denmark
Grant Stoneman%LoyolaDJr.St. Charles, Ill.
Nick BurtenshawMissouri StateDSr.Hatfield Hertfordshire, England
Niklas Brodacki%Central ArkansasFSo.Norrkoping, Sweden
Conor IngramMissouri StateFJr.Oxford, England
Pepe San RomanCentral ArkansasMSr.Madrid, Spain
Ian McGrath+%EvansvilleMSr.New Lenox, Ill.
Elliot Collier%!*LoyolaMSr.Hamilton, New Zealand
Kyle Thomson$*LoyolaMSr.Park Ridge, Ill.
Rafael MentzingenValparaisoMJr.Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

PlayerSchoolPositionClassHometown
Brandon BarnesBradleyGKGr.Cary, Ill.
Jacob Taylor+BradleyDSr.Dunlap, Ill.
Mason LeonardDrakeDSr.Overland Park, Kan.
Ben StroudMissouri StateDSo.Christchurch, New Zealand
Adan GarciaValparaisoFSo.Dallas, Texas
Donald BenamnaCentral ArkansasFJr.Bangui, Central Africa Republic & Silver Springs, Md.
Fabian Lifka*#LoyolaMJr.Kelkhelm, Germany
Ramone HowellValparaisoMSr.Portmore, Jamaica
Frank Bak+BradleyMJr.Glenview, Ill.
Younes DayekhBradleyMFr.Brentwood, Calif.
Chris HolmesCentral ArkansasMJr.Conway, Ark.

Source=
2017 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Tournament MVP–Niklas Brodacki, Central Arkansas
PlayerSchoolPosition
Niklas Brodacki Central ArkansasForward
Nick BurtenshawMissouri StateDefender
Ian McGrathEvansvilleMidfielder
Rafael MentzingenValparaisoMidfielder
Liam PriestleyMissouri StateGoalkeeper
Tyler Ridener Central ArkansasDefender
Jordy RobinsMissouri StateMidfielder
Pepe San RomanCentral ArkansasMidfielder
Blake StrickerCentral ArkansasDefender
Jacob TaylorBradleyDefender
Jake TaylorDrakeDefender
Kyle ThomsonLoyolaMidfielder
Simon WaeverEvansvilleDefender
Gerit WintermeyerBradleyForward

2017 MVC Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete Teams

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The criteria for the All-MVC honor parallels the CoSIDA standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average. Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the regular-season matches or played in the league tournament. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.