NEW ORLEANS – The 2023 season was a historic one for men’s soccer in the Sun Belt Conference. Five teams earning a berth to the 2023 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament headlined a season that proved the Sun Belt is a premiere conference for men’s soccer with unlimited potential for the future.
We take a look back at the accomplishments of Sun Belt Men’s Soccer in 2023 below.
FIVE TICKETS PUNCHED: A record five teams represented the Sun Belt in the 2023 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament. Marshall captured the league’s automatic bid and earned the tournament’s overall one-seed, marking the second straight year the overall one-seed hailed from the Sun Belt. West Virginia and UCF also earned a Top 16 seed in the tournament and the right to host on their home pitch. James Madison and Kentucky rounded out the league’s five post season programs.
MOUNTAINEERS MADE HISTORY: West Virginia (17-3-4) put together a historic season in 2023, capped by its first-ever NCAA College Cup appearance. The Mountaineers made their College Cup debut by way of defeating Loyola Marymount, 3-1, in the quarterfinals, notching their program-best 17
th victory of the season. The previous record of 15 was set in 2006 when the current coaching staff of Dan Stratford, Andy Wright, and Nick Noble suited up for West Virginia. Despite falling to Clemson, the eventual 2023 Men’s Soccer National Champion, in the semifinals, 2023 saw West Virginia eclipse several program milestones. After starting the year receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25, West Virginia jumped to No. 16 on the charts before propelling to No. 4 after shutting out then-No. 3 Portland (1-0). The Mountaineers’ climb continued to as high as No. 2 – their highest ranking in program history -- with the squad not falling out of the Top 7 for the remainder of the season. West Virginia also earned the No. 1 spot in both the College Soccer News and TopDrawerSoccer polls on Oct. 23, the first time in program history that WVU has been on top in any poll. West Virginia’s historic run marked its 16
th NCAA appearance, including their fourth berth in the last six seasons. The No. 5 seed for the Mountaineers was also a program high, surpassing the previous high of No. 6 set back in 2006.
MARSHALL’S MARK: The Herd (18-3) completed their Sun Belt men’s soccer sweep this fall, capturing both the Regular Season and Tournament Championships. The tournament title, secured in front of a record 3,151 fans at Hoops Family Field, marked the first for Marshall as a member of the Sun Belt and its second conference championship. The Herd put together a monumental season, spending six weeks ranked at No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll along with 10-straight weeks in the poll’s top 10. Marshall, with its program-best and nation leading 18 victories in 2023, was one of three programs to boast four or more victories against teams ranked in the Top 25 of the RPI. An offensive threat with a scoring offense that ranks third nationally at 2.62 goals per game and a defensive powerhouse with 12 shutouts on the year, the Herd also close 2023 at the top of the RPI at No. 1.
JAMES MADISON’S JUMP: James Madison earned its 30
th 10-win season in 2023 as it finished the year 10-5-5 after appearing in the round of 16 for the fifth time in program history. The Dukes earned an at-large bid for the eighth time to make their 16
th NCAA appearance before knocking off Pitt in the first round and fourth-seeded Georgetown in the second round. The win over the Hoyas was the third straight win for the Dukes against a seeded opponent, the only seeded wins the program has. The win was also the fifth NCAA win for Paul Zazenski, the first Dukes’ head coach to win five NCAA tournament matches. Rodrigo Robles, a 2023 All-Sun Belt Second Team selection and 2023 United Soccer Coaches Men’s All-Southeast Region Third Team honoree, led the way for the Dukes with a career-high 24 points on nine goals and six assists.
CALLING IT A KNIGHT: In its first season in the Sun Belt, UCF (10-4-2) enjoyed a dominant fall 2023 campaign, one that saw the program enter its season-opener unranked and finish the regular-season as the unanimous No. 1 squad in the nation. The Knights won each of their first three matches, including a season-opening 2-1 comeback win on the road at then-No. 9 Clemson, and went unbeaten through their first six contests en route to a second-place finish in the Sun Belt regular season table. UCF, which closes the season with a RPI ranking of 19, made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2020-21 and its ninth in program history.
DON’T COUNT OUT THE ‘CATS: Kentucky (8-8-4) made its 14
th NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament appearance and 10
th under head coach Johan Cedergren. The Wildcats put together an impressive turnaround in the second half of the regular season, notching four straight victories before falling to No. 1 Marshall in the 2023 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Tournament semifinals. In those four wins, Kentucky knocked off a pair of Top 5 teams, then-No. 1 Marshall and then-No. 2 West Virginia. Keeper Casper Mols secured a shutout in both of those victories and boasted a conference-best .670 goals-against average in Sun Belt action. The Wildcats’ late season rise was also reflected in its RPI, which shot up from 100 on Oct. 15 to 34 in the end of year RPI rankings.
RANKINGS REWIND: The Sun Belt garnered respect nationally throughout the 2023 season. A Sun Belt program was ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 in eight of the poll’s 11 editions. Furthermore, three Sun Belt teams ranked in the Top 10 for nine consecutive weeks heading into postseason play. In the final edition of the United Soccer Coaches Poll, the Sun Belt saw four teams ranked in the Top 25: No. 3 West Virginia, No. 8 Marshall, No. 18 James Madison, and No. 19 UCF. Kentucky also received seven votes. As a conference, the Sun Belt’s four teams sit second to only the ACC (9), and ahead of the Pac-12 (3), America East (2), AAC (1), Big Ten (1), Big East (1), CAA (1), MAC (1), WAC (1), and WCC (1).
RPI ROUNDUP: The Sun Belt placed seven of 10 teams in the top-100 of the NCAA RPI Rankings. The final RPI features No. 1 Marshall, No. 4 West Virginia, No. 19 UCF, No. 31 James Madison, No. 34 Kentucky, No. 79 Georgia State, and No. 97 South Carolina. Old Dominion was just outside the top-100 at No. 107.
TOP TEN: Sun Belt teams and players ranked in the top-10 of several statistical categories throughout the season. Here are the Sun Belt programs and individuals who are among the best in the nation in the final NCAA statistics, released Dec. 12.
Team Statistics
| Category |
School |
National Rank |
Statistic |
| Assists Per Game |
Marshall |
3 |
2.76 |
| Corner Kicks Per Game |
UCF |
6 |
7.06 |
| Goal Differential |
Marshall |
3 |
38 |
| West Virginia |
10 |
24 |
| Points Per Game |
Marshall |
3 |
8.0 |
| Scoring Offense |
Marshall |
3 |
2.62 |
| Shot Accuracy |
James Madison |
8 |
.498 |
| Shots Per Game |
Marshall |
10 |
15.67 |
| Shutout Percentage |
Marshall |
2 |
.571 |
| Total Assists |
Marshall |
2 |
58 |
| Total Goals |
Marshall |
2 |
55 |
| West Virginia |
5 |
47 |
| Total Points |
Marshall |
2 |
168 |
| West Virginia |
7 |
137 |
| Won-Lost-Tied Percentage |
Marshall |
3 |
.857 |
| West Virginia |
5 |
.792 |
Individual Statistics
| Category |
Player |
National Rank |
Statistic |
| Assists Per Game |
Matthew Bell, Marshall |
6 |
.60 |
| Game-Winning Goals |
Yutaro Tsukada, West Virginia |
3 |
6 |
| Goalie Minutes Played |
Jackson Lee, West Virginia |
2 |
2160:00 |
| Gabriel Perrotta, Marshall |
10 |
1883:55 |
| Shutouts |
Gabriel Perrotta, Marshall |
2 |
11 |
| Jackson Lee, West Virginia |
7 |
9 |
| Total Assists |
Matthew Bell, Marshall |
3 |
12 |
| Total Points |
Yutaro Tsukada, West Virginia |
6 |
33 |
| Matthew Bell, Marshall |
10 |
32 |
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: West Virginia notched a perfect home record in 2023. The Mountaineers went 9-0-3 at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium and are 126-43-27 since the facility opened in 2004.
SHOWING OUT: Sun Belt men’s soccer drew in record crowds in 2023, with four programs hitting new attendance records. South Carolina finished the season with the No. 1 attendance in the country. The Gamecocks brought in an average of 4,306 fans per match at Stone Stadium this season, a mark that ranks fifth all-time in average NCAA attendance. West Virginia and Marshall also broke attendance records, both for the storied Mountain State Derby matchups. At the Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, 3,147 Mountaineers faithful showed out as WVU upset then-No. 1 Marshall, 5-2. The Herd sought their revenge for the 2023 Sun Belt Championship match, defeating the Mountaineers, 3-2, in front of a record 3,151 fans at Hoops Family Field. In addition, James Madison saw an average attendance of 727 at Sentara Park. The Dukes hit their second highest total attendance, with four of the top 10 single-game attendances coming in 2023.
COACHING CREDIT: The Marshall men's soccer coaching staff was named the 2023 NCAA Division I Southeast Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches. The regional honor comes after the Herd set many program bests and earned several conference honors. In 2023, the team won a program-best 18 games and registered a single-season program high 12 shutouts as the team reached the NCAA Round of 16 for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Herd also won the Sun Belt Conference double by bringing home both the regular season and tournament titles.
BEST OF THE BEST: Marshall’s Matthew Bell and Morris Duggan were named semifinalists for the 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most coveted individual honor in NCAA Division I soccer and has been awarded annually since 1967. Bell was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive and Player of the Year after tallying a single-season program record 12 assists and 10 goals for 32 points. Bell, a first-team all-conference honoree, became just the second player in program history to register multiple seasons of 10 or more goals and is the only player in program history to record at least 10 goals and 10 assists in a season. Duggan captained and anchored a defense that had the most shutouts with 11 during the season to earn the league's Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference honors. The senior played over 1,200 minutes on the backline, tallied a pair of goals during the season with one at Georgia Southern (Oct. 1) and one at then-No. 5 WVU (Oct. 18). The German defender also registered a pair of assists with one each against High Point (Sept. 8) and Coastal Carolina (Oct. 13).
I’M HONORED: Sun Belt Conference men’s soccer players received ample national recognition during the 2023 season. Here’s a look at those honors.
2023 MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalists
Matthew Bell, Marshall
Morris Duggan, Marshall
2023 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men’s All-Americans
First Team
D – Morris Duggan, Marshall
F – Matthew Bell, Marshall
Second Team
F – Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia
Third Team
M – Taimu Okiyoshi, Marshall
F – Yutaro Tsukada, West Virginia
2023 NCAA Men’s Soccer College Cup All-Tournament Team
F – Yutaro Tsukada, West Virginia
2023 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men’s All-Southeast Region
First Team
Gabriel Perrotta, Marshall [GK | GR | Asuncion, Paraguay]
Zane Bubb, UCF [D | GR | Jacksonville, Fla.]
Morris Duggan, Marshall [D | SR | Munich, Germany]
Max Miller, Kentucky [D | SO | Lexington, Ky.]
Luke McCormick, West Virginia [M | GR | Derby, England]
Taimu Okiyoshi, Marshall [M | SR | Kobe, Japan]
Matthew Bell, Marshall [F | SO | Kingston, Jamaica]
Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia [F | SO | Mississauga, Ont.]
Lucca Duorado, UCF [F | JR | Sao Paulo, Brazil]
Yutaro Tsukada [F | SR | Tokyo, Japan]
Second Team
Jackson Lee, West Virginia [GK | SR | Perth, Australia]
Frederik Jorgensen, West Virginia [D | JR | Aarhus, Denmark]
Anderson Rosa, UCF [D | JR | Salvador, Brazil]
Clay Obara, James Madison [M | GR | Virginia Beach, Va.]
Third Team
Simon Carlson, Georgia State [M | SR | Kennesaw, Ga.]
Ethan Dekel Daks, South Carolina [M | SO | Nottingham, England]
AJ Seals, UCF [M | GR | Orlando, Fla.]
Rodrigo Robles, James Madison [F | GR | Burgos, Spain]
Pablo Simon, Marshall [F | JR | Elche, Spain]
College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Men’s Soccer Team - NCAA Division I
First Team
F - Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia, So. 4.00 Finance
College Soccer News Men’s 2023 All-America
First Team
F - Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia [So. | Mississauga, Ontario, Canada]
F - Matthew Bell, Marshall [Jr. | Kingston, Jamaica]
Second Team
F- Yutaro Tsukada, West Virginia [Sr. | Tokyo, Japan]
D - Morris Duggan, Marshall [Gr. | Munich, Germany]
TopDrawerSoccer Coach of the Year
Dan Stratford, West Virginia
TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Teams
First Team
M - Matthew Bell, Marshall
D - Morris Duggan, Marshall
Second Team
F - Yutaro Tsukada, West Virginia
TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI
First Team
D - Luca Nikolai, James Madison
Second Team
F - Marco Silva, Marshall