A Carolina champion? A preview of the 2018 Carolina men’s college soccer season
This year, five Carolina programs find themselves in the preseason Top 25. Can any of them bring an NCAA championship to the Carolinas for the first time since 2011?
Once again, the 2017 NCAA Men’s College Soccer season ended the same way it did in 2016 and 2015: with Stanford lifting the national championship trophy.
Stanford defeated two Carolina programs — Coastal Carolina and Wake Forest — en route to its third straight national title. And while the North Carolina Tar Heels fell in the semifinals, it was the third straight year that a Carolina program appeared in the NCAA Men’s College Cup. Clemson and Wake Forest fell just shy of championship glory in 2015 and 2016, respectively, at the hands of Stanford.
The 2017 season is over, though. It’s history. Now, teams from across the Carolinas are preparing for the 2018 campaign and some are looking to make it back to where they were last year — and go even farther.
Earlier this month, the first preseason rankings were released. Stanford was the clear No. 1, but five Carolina programs made the top 25, including two programs in the top five. Let’s take a look at all of them.
#3 North Carolina Tar Heels
After getting bounced in their first game of the ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels made a run to the 2017 College Cup before falling to then-unbeaten Indiana.
While North Carolina lost Alan Winn (now playing for Nashville SC), the team returns two key players in Jelani Pieters and Alec Smir. Peters scored nine goals and notched seven assists last season for UNC, and he picked up right where he left off in a 4–0 preseason trashing of Coastal Carolina, scoring twice against the Chanticleers.
Smir, a sophomore from Greensboro, played a vital role in the 12 games he appeared in, winning 10 of them and allowing just eight goals. He will look to rack up more saves and shutouts throughout 2018 in a tough ACC schedule.
The Tar Heels open their 2018 campaign Aug. 24 in Greensboro against East Tennessee State.
#5 Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The Deacs lost several star-studded players in Luis Argudo, Jon Bakero, Steven Echevarria, Brandon Servania and Ema Twumasi. But this is Wake we’re talking about: They are like the Kansas Jayhawks of college soccer. They always seem to get some of the best talent in the sport.
The Demon Deacons have another top 10 recruiting class in 2018 and, of the eight new players brought in, four of them were in the top 50 of Top Drawer Soccer’s 2018 recruits.
While the Deacs did lose a lot of players from last year’s squad, the team does see Andreu Cases Mundet return. The 2017 ACC Tournament MVP is back for his junior year and is one of the most experienced players on the team, having played on and off as a freshman in 2016 when Wake’s starting goalkeeper kept getting injured.
The back-to-back ACC champions will look to make it a three-peat with the ultimate goal of lifting a national championship trophy for the first time since 2007. Being in the ACC, Wake Forest always has one of, if not the toughest schedules in the country. But over the past three seasons, including in the ACC tournament, the Demon Deacons have only lost two games in conference play and have two regular season championships to their name.
One thing is for sure, if Stanford come across Wake again, the Cardinals better watch out. This season should be another great one for Wake Forest.
After a thrilling 4–4 draw against Furman in the preseason, Wake Forest will open the regular season on Aug. 24 against NCAA runner-up in Indiana in Winston-Salem.
#10 Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils ended their 2017 campaign in heartbreaking fashion. Duke was only three minutes away from advancing to the quarterfinals, but a Fordham goal forced sudden death overtime and an eventual 10-round penalty shootout that was won by Fordham.
And while the Blue Devils did lose a great goalscorer in Brian White, Duke managed to recruit seven talented players — four of which have U.S. Youth National Team experience. Duke has the sixth-best recruiting class going into the 2018 season.
While Duke doesn’t have to face Clemson this year, the two teams did square off in an exhibition earlier this week. The match saw the Blue Devils and Tigers play out to a scoreless draw. Duke has a difficult road schedule this year in the ACC as they have to travel to Louisville, Wake Forest and Virginia.
Duke opens their regular season Aug. 24 against Florida International in Durham.
#11 Clemson Tigers
It was a rough finish to the 2017 season for the Clemson Tigers, as the team managed just one win in their final five matches and fell to Coastal Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
This year, Clemson added seven players to the squad and five of the signees have attended youth national team camps.
While it will be difficult to replace players like Diego Campos and Oliver Shannon, having one of the best recruiting classes in the nation helps with the transition process.
The Tigers have won 10 or more games in each of the last five seasons, including that miracle national championship final run in 2015. But Clemson has stumbled in big games in recent years, something they hope to end this season.
The Tigers have two rough stretches of games in their 2018 season. In a span of 10 days, Clemson plays Furman, Wake and UNC. Then to finish off the year, the Tigers face Virginia, Coastal Carolina, Louisville and North Carolina State in a two-week period.
If Clemson manages to win or draw a majority of those games, they will definitely be set up for a national championship run.
Clemson begins their 2018 season Aug. 24 on the road against Creighton, a college soccer giant that has only missed the NCAA Tournament twice since 1992.
#18 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Probably the most overlooked team in the Carolinas is the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. While they are not in a Power 5 conference like the schools listed above, the Chanticleers have been one of the most dominant teams in college soccer over the past few years.
After starting 4–6–0 last year and losing at home for the first time in 28 games (and losing back-to-back home matches for the first time since 2008), Coastal Carolina turned things around and made a run in the NCAA tournament.
An 88th minute goal against Hartwick by future Myrtle Beach Mutiny forward Romario Piggott sparked the Chanticleers. The team went on to beat Old Dominion and then-second-ranked Maryland on the road. Coastal went on an 11-match unbeaten run before falling to Stanford in the round of 16.
The Chanticleers had to replace 13 seniors ahead of the 2018 campaign and lost a key player in each section of the field, including goalkeeper Braulio Linares-Ortiz, defender Miguel Gutierrez, midfielder Louis Dargent and the dynamic duo up top of Frantzdy Pierrot and Martin Melchor, who combined for 17 goals and seven assists — a huge chunk of the Chanticleer attack.
Not all is lost though for the Chanticleers. There is a reason Shaun Docking has coached this team for 21 years now. Coastal has brought in some talented Division II, Division III and junior college transfers, as well as some very talented freshman.
It will be very interesting to see how this team fares and how quickly it can mesh on the pitch. Will the Chanticleers nab a third straight Sun Belt championship? And will they make it further than the Round of 16?
Coastal Carolina begins their season Aug. 24 at home against UCLA.
In summary
In addition to those five teams in the top 25, there are a bunch more talented programs out there ready to make an impact in 2018. Furman will look to make it to the NCAA tournament after a disappointing exit in its conference tournament last season. North Carolina State showed great promise all throughout last season and even made it to the NCAA tournament. The Wolfpack will look to continue that momentum this fall.
UNC Wilmington stunned UNC early last season and, while UNC avenged that loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Seahawks always put together a good team.
I could go on and on about the college programs in the Carolinas, but rest assured, there are programs I didn’t mention here that could definitely make an impact this season. I’m looking at you, Presbyterian.
This men’s college soccer season will certainly not disappoint. Can Friday get here already?
