The 2023 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season will the 21st season of men's varsity soccer in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), as part of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season.

Previous season

Kentucky won both the Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championship, marking the first time they have won either of the Sun Belt titles. It was Kentucky's seventh overall regular season championship and their sixth overall tournament championship. Kentucky earned the Sun Belt's automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, and Marshall earned an at-large bid. Kentucky was the top-overall seeded team in the entire tournament while Marshall was unseeded. Both teams reached the third round (Sweet 16) of the NCAA tournament before being eliminated.

Milo Yosef of Marshall was named the SBC Player of the Year. Oliver Semmle of Marshall was the first Sun Belt player to be selected in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, being drafted in the second round with the 41st overall pick by the Colorado Rapids.

Teams

Stadiums and locations TeamLocationStadiumCapacityCoastal Carolina ChanticleersConway, South CarolinaCoastal Carolina University Soccer Field1,000Georgia Southern EaglesStatesboro, GeorgiaEagle Field3,500Georgia State PanthersDecatur, GeorgiaGSU Soccer Complex1,892James Madison DukesHarrisonburg, VirginiaSentara Park1,500Kentucky WildcatsLexington, KentuckyWendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex3,368Marshall Thundering HerdHuntington, West VirginiaVeterans Memorial Soccer Complex1,006Old Dominion MonarchsNorfolk, VirginiaOld Dominion Soccer Complex4,000South Carolina GamecocksColumbia, South CarolinaStone Stadium5,700UCF KnightsOrlando, FloridaUCF Soccer and Track Stadium2,000West Virginia MountaineersMorgantown, West VirginiaDick Dlesk Soccer Stadium1,600

Coaches Lee Squires was hired in December 2022 to become the Head Coach of the Georgia Southern Eagles. Note: All stats current through the completion of the 2022 season

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Record at school SBC recordRef.Coastal Carolina Shaun Docking Charleston Southern 26 Georgia Southern Lee Squires Lander 0 Georgia State Brett Surrency Georgia State (asst.) 14 James Madison Paul Zazenski James Madison (asst.) 6 Kentucky Johan Cedergren Dartmouth (asst.) 12 Marshall Chris Grassie Charleston (WV) 7 Old Dominion Alan Dawson North Carolina (asst.) 26 South Carolina Tony Annan Atlanta United Academy 3 UCF Scott Calabrese FIU 6 West Virginia Dan Stratford Charleston (WV) 4

Preseason Preseason poll The preseason poll will be released in late August 2023.

SBC preseason poll 1 Kentucky 93 (6) 2 Marshall 91 (2) 3 West Virginia 77 (1) 4 UCF 68 (1) 5 South Carolina 49 6T Coastal Carolina 45 6T Georgia State 45 8 James Madison 40 9 Old Dominion 26 10 Georgia Southern 16

Preseason national polls The preseason national polls were released in July and August 2023.

UnitedSoccer Top DrawerSoccerCoastal Carolina — — Georgia Southern — — Georgia State — — James Madison — — Kentucky 3 (1) 6Marshall 11 9Old Dominion — — South Carolina — — UCF — — West Virginia — —

Preseason awards

All−American Teams

USC 1st TeamUSC 2nd TeamTDS 1st Team TDS 2nd TeamCSN 1st Team CSN 2nd Team

Preseason All SBC

Position Player Class School Goalkeeper Casper Mols So. Kentucky Defender Anderson Rosa Sr. UCF Max MillerSo. Kentucky Morris Duggan Sr. Marshall Midfielder Gavin Williams So. Georgia State Alex Karkowiak R-Jr. James Madison Eythor Kjartansson So. Coastal Carolina Andrew Erickson Sr. Kentucky Forward Casper Grening Jr. Kentucky Lucca Dourado Sr. UCF Simon Carlson Sr. Georgia State Matthew Bell So. Marshall

Regular season

National rankings

  Improvement in ranking Drop in rankingNRNot Ranked   Pre Wk 1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 FinalCoastal Carolina NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNone releasedNR NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRGeorgia Southern NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNone releasedNR NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRGeorgia State NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNone releasedNR NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRJames Madison NR178912NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNone released18 NRNRNR24NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR1313141414Kentucky 321924NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNone releasedNR 6591125NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRMarshall 1152211111641None released8 96221111166311999Old Dominion NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNone releasedNR NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRSouth Carolina NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNone releasedNR NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRUCF NV1365332221112None released19 NRNR1715432222191421212121West Virginia NRNR16424375275None released3 NRNRNR1027410614222113

Awards

Source:

2023 Sun Belt Men's Soccer Individual Awards Award Recipient(s) Coach of the Year Scott Calabrese – UCF Offensive Player of the Year Matthew Bell – Marshall Defensive Player of the Year Morris Duggan – Marshall Goalkeeper of the Year Gabriel Perrotta – Marshall Newcomer of the Year Saku Heiskanen – UCF Freshman of the Year Saku Heiskanen – UCF

2023 Sun Belt Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team Player – School Player - School etc Player - School Player - School

MLS SuperDraft

The 2024 MLS SuperDraft was held on December 19, 2023.

Total picks by school TeamRound 1Round 2Round 3Comp.TotalCoastal Carolina 0 0 0 0 0Georgia State 0 0 0 0 0Georgia Southern 0 0 0 0 0James Madison 0 0 0 0 0Kentucky 0 0 1 0 1Marshall 1 0 1 0 2Old Dominion 0 0 0 0 0South Carolina 0 0 0 0 0UCF 0 1 0 0 1West Virginia 3 0 0 0 3

List of selections Round Pick # MLS team Player Position College Nationality Ref.116Real Salt LakeMatthew BellFWMarshall 120Minnesota United FCMarcus Caldeira FW West Virginia 125 Orlando City SC Yutaro Tsukada FWWest Virginia 128Los Angeles FCJackson LeeGKWest Virginia243Colorado RapidsAnderson RosaDFUCF367Minnesota United FCMorris DugganDF Marshall 377Atlanta United FCCasper MolsGKKentucky

References

External links Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer