North Carolina Captures Inaugural U.S. Soccer Spring Men's College Program Title

U.S. Soccer’s Spring Men’s College Program, which saw six participating NCAA Men’s Division I schools face one another across seven weeks, culminated in Winston Salem, N.C. with a Coaching Education Workshop and three games at Wake Forest University’s W. Dennie Spry Stadium. On top of clinching the inaugural season title heading into the final weekend of games, University of North Carolina took down conference rivals Duke 1-0 behind a second half score from midfielder Jeremy Kelly. With the win, the Tar Heels went undefeated in group play, posting three shutouts and outscoring the rest of the field 13-2.
2018 UNC Men's soccer team
2018 UNC Men's soccer team

U.S. Soccer’s Spring Men’s College Program, which saw six participating NCAA Men’s Division I schools face one another across seven weeks, culminated in Winston Salem, N.C. with a Coaching Education Workshop and three games at Wake Forest University’s W. Dennie Spry Stadium. The pilot program, instituted as part of U.S. Soccer’s ongoing effort to develop world class players, coaches, and referees, was initiated to provide meaningful competition with international standards to the participating colleges. Providing further player development opportunities for potential U.S. Olympic and Men’s National Team players in zone three (18+), the initiative also placed a focus on coaching education, with all six head coaches completing a U.S. Soccer Coaching Education workshop.

On top of clinching the inaugural season title heading into the final weekend of games, University of North Carolina took down conference rivals Duke 1-0 behind a second half score from midfielder Jeremy Kelly. With the win, the Tar Heels went undefeated in group play, posting three shutouts and outscoring the rest of the field 13-2. Georgetown and Wake Forest also found victories on the final slate of games, outpacing Clemson 5-2 and Virginia 2-1, respectively.

“I couldn’t be happier that we had the opportunity to work with U.S. Soccer,” UNC head coach Carlos Somoano said. “The culture of college athletics combined with the support and expertise of U.S. soccer can only help to grow our beautiful game in this country. We are extremely proud to have won the league in its inaugural season. Playing under FIFA rules was fantastic, and every game was competitive as each team presented different challenges. In the future I hope U.S. Soccer and college soccer can expand on our relationship to build our sport and help our student athletes gain valuable experiences.”

Final Standings

School

GP

W

L

D

GD

GF

GA

SO Wins

Points

University of North Carolina

5

5

0

0

11

13

2

3

15

Duke University

5

2

3

0

1

6

5

0

6

Georgetown University

5

2

3

0

-2

9

11

0

6

University of Virginia

5

2

3

0

-2

8

10

0

6

Wake Forest University

5

2

3

0

-2

5

7

0

6

Clemson University

5

2

3

0

-4

10

14

0

6

Schedule and Results

Date

Home

Home Score

Away Score

Away

3/4/18

University of North Carolina

4

1

Clemson University

3/17/18

University of Virginia

1

4

Georgetown University

3/17/18

Clemson University

3

1

Wake Forest University

3/24/18

Georgetown University

0

4

University of North Carolina

3/24/18

Duke University

0

2

University of Virginia

3/29/18

Wake Forest University

2

1

Duke University

4/7/18

University of North Carolina

2

1

University of Virginia

4/7/18

Clemson University

1

2

Duke University

4/8/18

Georgetown University

0

1

Wake Forest University

4/14/18

Duke University

3

0

Georgetown University

4/14/18

Wake Forest University

0

2

University of North Carolina

4/15/18

University of Virginia

2

3

Clemson University

4/21/18

Duke University

0

1

University of North Carolina

4/21/18

Georgetown University

5

2

Clemson University

4/21/18

Wake Forest University

1

2

University of Virginia

Before the triplet of games Saturday, U.S Soccer Coaching Education Director Barry Pauwels and Instructor Wim Van Zwam led a collaborative discussion with the Head Coaches of the six participating schools, as each made final presentations to the program’s coaching education workshop. The contents of the workshop included player development plans, the youth to professional transition, player preparation and recovery best practices and the creating culture and identity within a program.

"The sharing of ideas is something that we are always hungry for as coaches,” Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese said. “For U.S. Soccer to organize this initiative, and then following it up with the coaching education workshop, it provided us with a great opportunity to talking about the game and open up and learn from each other. Barry, Wim and Tab (Ramos) really opened up to a lot of how they think about the game, and it was wonderful to forge these relationships between U.S. Soccer and the college game."

With each of the 15 games played under international standards, each game provided additional opportunities for U.S. Soccer Talent Identification to identify players and expand the Youth National Team player pools. On hand during the coaching education workshop and Saturday’s trio of games was U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos, who reflected on the positive impact of the program and the strengthened connection between U.S. Soccer and the college game.

“This program was a major step in helping the college game become an even more important part of our player development pathway,” Ramos said. “The games were highly competitive, and we were able to identify some young players who were not on our Youth National Team radar after the fall season. We would like to thank these leading college programs who have been willing to think outside the box with us as we look to make the program even stronger next spring.”

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