2020 Atlantic Coast Conference men's soccer season

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 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 North Division Team Stadium Capacity Louisville Cardinals Lynn Stadium 5,300Notre Dame Fighting IrishAlumni Stadium2,500Pittsburgh PanthersAmbrose Urbanic Field735Syracuse OrangeSU Soccer Stadium5,000Virginia CavaliersKlöckner Stadium8,000Virginia Tech HokiesThompson Field2,500

South Division Team Stadium CapacityClemson TigersRiggs Field6,500 Duke Blue Devils Koskinen Stadium 7,000 North Carolina Tar Heels Fetzer Field 5,025Wake Forest Demon DeaconsSpry Stadium 3,000

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 Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school ACC record Boston College Bob Thompson 1 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 Clemson Mike Noonan 10 323–176–43 110–63–30 41–29–13 Duke John Kerr Jr. 13 188–138–40 107–79–27 40–44–15 Louisville John Michael Hayden 2 10–8–2 10–8–2 3–4–1 North Carolina Carlos Somoano 10 128–37–25 128–37–25 46–15–13 NC State George Kiefer 4 113–34–26 131–47–33 8–11–5 Notre Dame Chad Riley 3 21–15–4 21–15–4 7–8–2 Pittsburgh Jay Vidovich 5 235–95–33 28–41–2 8–22–3 Syracuse Ian McIntyre 11 200–132–58 93–68–28 18–27–13 Virginia George Gelnovatch 25 341–129–59 341–129–59 89–59–31 Virginia Tech Mike Brizendine 11 81–97–26 81–97–26 18–55–17 Wake Forest Bobby Muuss 6 164–71–34 89–15–10 31–4–5

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.

Player Class Position School Justin Malou Senior DF Clemson Valentin Noël Sophomore MF Pittsburgh Veljko Petkovic Sophomore MF Pittsburgh Colin Shutler Senior GK Virginia Kimarni Smith Senior FW Clemson Kristo Strickler Senior MF Virginia Tech

Preseason Poll The preseason poll was released on September 8, 2020.

+South Division 1 Clemson 45 (5) 2 Wake Forest 44 (5) 3 North Carolina 33 (1) 4 NC State 21 5 Duke 17 +North Division 1 Virginia 59 (9) 2 Pittsburgh 44 (2) 3 Virginia Tech 35 4 Syracuse 30 5 Louisville 29 6 Notre Dame 28

Media poll (ACC Championship) 1 Clemson 5 2 Wake Forest 4 3 North Carolina 1 Virginia

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. UnitedSoccer CSN Top DrawerSoccerBoston College N/A 24 NRClemson N/A 3 2Duke N/A RV NRLouisville N/A 18 NRNorth Carolina N/A 27 14NC State N/A 26 NRNotre Dame N/A RV 12Pitt N/A 28 3Syracuse N/A RV NRVirginia N/A 7 NRVirginia Tech N/A 14 11Wake Forest N/A 4 5

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. CSN Top DrawerSoccerBoston College — —Clemson 9 11Duke 1 2Louisville 7 6North Carolina 8 10NC State 29 24Notre Dame 32 —Pitt — —Syracuse 12 25Virginia 5 3Virginia Tech 23 20Wake Forest 6 4

Preseason awards

Preseason All-ACC Watchlist

Kimarni Smith, 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, 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 Index to colors and formattingACC member wonACC member lostACC member tiedACC teams in bold All times Eastern time.

Week 1 (Sep. 14 – Sept. 20) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance September 17 7:00 p.m. Kentucky No. 5 Notre Dame Alumni Stadium • Notre Dame, IN W 1–0 1

Players of the Week Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Daniel Russo Notre Dame Keagan McLaughlin Notre DameReference:

Week 2 (Sep. 21 – Sept. 27) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance September 21 7:00 p.m. Duke Kentucky Bell Soccer Complex • Lexington, KY L 2–4 95 September 25 7:30 p.m. No. 1 Wake Forest Louisville Lynn Stadium • Louisville, KY WAKE 3–1 112 September 26 7:00 p.m. NC State Duke Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC DUKE 1–0 (2OT) 0 No. 4 Pittsburgh No. 5 Notre Dame Alumni Stadium • South Bend, IN PITT 3–1 0

Players of the Week Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Bertin Jacquesson Pittsburgh Arturo Ordoñez Pittsburgh Calvin Harris Wake ForestReference:

Week 3 (Sep. 28 – Oct. 4) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result AttendanceSeptember 287:30 p.m.LouisvilleKentuckyBell Soccer Complex • Lexington, KYL 1–3115 October 1 7:00 p.m. No. 3 Clemson South Carolina Stone Stadium • Columbia, SC W 3–0 460October 2 7:00 p.m. North Carolina Duke Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC UNC 2–0 0 October 3 7:00 p.m. Notre Dame Louisville Lynn Stadium • Louisville, KY LOU 2–1 169 NC State No. 1 Wake Forest Spry Stadium • Winston-Salem, NC WAKE 4–1 0

Players of the Week Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Kyle Holcomb Wake Forest Alec Smir North Carolina Mohamed Seye ClemsonReference:

Week 4 (Oct. 5 – Oct. 11) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance October 5 6:00 p.m. UAB No. 3 Clemson Riggs Field • Clemson, SC W 2–0 748 October 6 7:00 p.m. No. 2 Pittsburgh Syracuse SU Soccer Stadium • Syracuse, NY PITT 3–2 (2OT) 1 October 9 6:00 p.m. No. 3 Clemson North Carolina Dorrance Field • Chapel Hill, NC UNC 1–0 0 7:00 p.m. Louisville No. 5 Virginia Klöckner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA UVA 2–1 (2OT) 177 8:00 p.m. Duke NC State Dail Field • Raleigh, NC DUKE 3–1 70 October 10 7:00 p.m. UAB No. 1 Wake Forest Spry Stadium • Winston-Salem, NC W 3–0 0 Virginia Tech No. 2 Pittsburgh Ambrose Urbanic Field • Pittsburgh, PA PITT 4–2 55 October 11 7:00 p.m. Syracuse Notre Dame Alumni Stadium • South Bend, IN ND 1–0 0

Players of the Week Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Veljko Petkovic Pittsburgh Colin Shutler Virginia Fillipo Zattarin North CarolinaReference:

Week 5 (Oct. 12 – Oct. 18) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance October 13 7:00 p.m. No. 1 Wake Forest Clemson Riggs Field • Clemson, SC CLEM 2–1 1,000 October 14 8:00 p.m. No. 5 Virginia Virginia Tech Thompson Field • Blacksburg, VA T 1–1 (2OT) 130 October 16 8:00 p.m. Duke Clemson Riggs Field • Clemson, SC CLEM 2–1 (2OT) 1,000 Louisville Syracuse SU Soccer Stadium • Syracuse, NY T 2–2 (2OT) 1 October 17 11:00 p.m. Notre Dame Virginia Tech Thompson Field • Blacksburg, VA PPD 6:00 p.m. No. 3 North Carolina No. 1 Wake Forest Spry Stadium • Winston-Salem, NC WAKE 1–0 (OT) 0 7:00 p.m. Navy NC State Dail Soccer Field • Raleigh, NC L 1–2 70 No. 2 Pittsburgh No. 5 Virginia Klöckner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA PITT 3–2 (OT) 132

Players of the Week Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Valentin Noël Pittsburgh George Marks Clemson Kimarni Smith ClemsonReference:

Week 6 (Oct. 19 – Oct. 25) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance October 23 6:00 p.m. No. 2 Wake Forest Duke Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC WF 2–1 0 7:00 p.m. No. 1 Pittsburgh Louisville Lynn Stadium • Louisville, KY PITT 4–1 0 8:00 p.m. No. 3 Clemson NC State Dail Field • Raleigh, NC CLEM 1–0 88 October 24 1:00 p.m. Virginia Notre Dame Alumni Field • South Bend, IN ND 2–1 (2OT) 133 6:30 p.m. Syracuse Virginia Tech Thompson Field • Blacksburg, VA T 1–1 (2OT) 101

Players of the Week Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Omar Hernandez Wake Forest Oskar Ågren Clemson Grayson Barber ClemsonReference:

Week 7 (Oct. 26 – Nov. 1) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance October 27 7:00 p.m. No. 5 North Carolina No. 3 Clemson Riggs Field • Clemson, SC T 3–3 (2OT) 1,000October 30 5:00 p.m.No. 3 ClemsonNo. 2 Wake ForestSpry Stadium • Winston-Salem, NCWAKE 2–00 8:00 p.m.Virginia TechLouisvilleLynn Stadium • Louisville, KYVT 2–1 (OT)212VirginiaSyracuseSU Soccer Stadium • Syracuse, NYUVA 1–0160November 1 1:00 p.m.NC StateNo. 5 North CarolinaDorrance Field • Chapel Hill, NC T 0–0 (2OT) 0

Players of the Week Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Jacob Labovitz Virginia Tech Nico Benalcazar Wake ForestReference:

Week 8 (Nov. 2 – Nov. 8) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance November 2 1:00 p.m. Virginia Tech Notre Dame Alumni Field • South Bend, IN VT 1–0 0November 6 4:00 p.m.Virginia TechVirginiaKlöckner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA VT 1–0 265 7:00 p.m.LouisvilleNotre DameAlumni Field • South Bend, INND 4–12668:00 p.m.DukeNo. 4 North CarolinaDorrance Field • Chapel Hill, NCUNC 2–00November 77:00 p.m.No. 2 Wake ForestNC StateDail Field • Raleigh, NCWAKE 2–077

Players of the Week Offensive Defensive Player Team Player Team Jack Lynn Notre Dame Andrew Pannenberg Wake ForestReference:

Spring 2021 regular season Index to colors and formattingACC member wonACC member lostACC member tiedACC teams in bold All times Eastern time.

Week 11 (Feb. 3 – Feb. 7) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result AttendanceNo games scheduled

Week 12 (Feb. 8 – Feb. 14) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result AttendanceFebruary 12 1:30 p.m. Hofstra Syracuse Afrim's Sports ParkAlbany, NY W 2–1 0 7:00 p.m. Charlotte Duke Koskinen StadiumDurham, NC T 0–0 (2OT) 0

Week 13 (Feb. 15 – Feb. 21) Date Time (ET) Visiting team Home team Site Result AttendanceFebruary 19 1:30 p.m. Syracuse Albany Afrim's Sports ParkAlbany, NY T 1–1 (2OT) 0 7:00 p.m. Kentucky Duke Koskinen StadiumDurham, NC L 0–1 (OT) 0 February 20 7:00 p.m. UAB NC State Dail Soccer FieldRaleigh, NC W 2–0 100 February 21 3:00 p.m. Akron Pittsburgh Ambrose Urbanic FieldPittsburgh, PA Postponed –

Week 14 (Feb. 22 – Feb. 28)