2020 Big South Conference men's soccer season

The 2020 Big South Conference men's soccer season was the 37th edition of Big South Conference men's varsity soccer. The season began on February 21 and concluded on April 8, 2021.

2020 Big South Conference men's soccer season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Soccer
Duration	February 21 – April 8, 2021
Number of teams	10
2021 MLS SuperDraft
Regular Season
Tournament

2020 Big South Conference men's soccer standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 23 High Point ‡	8	–	0	–	0			12	–	2	–	0
USC Upstate	6	–	1	–	1			6	–	4	–	2
Campbell	5	–	1	–	1			8	–	2	–	2
UNC Asheville	3	–	4	–	1			3	–	5	–	1
Gardner–Webb	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Presbyterian	2	–	4	–	2			4	–	4	–	2
Radford	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	5	–	1
Longwood	1	–	5	–	1			2	–	6	–	1
Winthrop	0	–	7	–	1			0	–	8	–	1
‡ – 2020 Big South Tournament champion + – Also invited to the 2020 NCAA tournament As of May 28, 2021 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The season was originally scheduled to be played from August 28 to November 6, 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the season

Further information: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football

The COVID-19 pandemic widely disrupted all sporting activities across the NCAA, including men's soccer. Prior to the pandemic, the regular season was scheduled to begin on August 30, 2020 and conclude on November 6, 2020 culminating with the Big South Tournament in mid-November and the NCAA Tournament in late November into mid-December.

On July 22, 2020, the conference announced plans to begin the season during the fall 2020 semester, with a September 3 start date.^[1] On August 12, 2020, the conference reversed its decision, cancelling fall sporting activities, and targeting a spring 2021 semester start for all fall sports.^[2]

Details around the spring 2021 season became known on November 5, 2020 when the Big South Conference announced the schedule for the spring of 2021.^[3] Teams would play an eight-match conference schedule starting on February 21, 2021.^[3] Teams are permitted to schedule three non-conference matches, starting no earlier than February 14, 2021. The final game of the regular season was scheduled for April 8, 2021.^[3]

The tournament was reduced to four teams and will begin on April 12, 2021 and conclude on April 18, 2021.^[3]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Campbell Fighting Camels	Indianapolis, Indiana	Eakes Athletic Complex	1,000
Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs	Boiling Springs, North Carolina	Greene-Harbison Soccer Stadium	800
High Point Panthers	High Point, North Carolina	Vert Stadium	1,100
Longwood Lancers	Farmville, Virginia	Longwood Athletics Complex	350
Presbyterian Blue Hose	Clinton, South Carolina	Martin Stadium	400
Radford Highlanders	Radford, Virginia	Cupp Memorial Stadium	5,000
UNC Asheville Bulldogs	Asheville, North Carolina	Greenwood Soccer Field	1,000
USC Upstate Spartans	Spartanburg, South Carolina	County University Soccer Stadium	3,000
Winthrop Eagles	Rock Hill, South Carolina	Eagle Field	1,500

Head coaches

As of the 2019 season

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	BSC record	NCAA Tournaments[4]	NCAA College Cups[4]	NCAA Titles[4]	Ref.
Campbell	Dustin Fonder	High Point	6	128–102–26 (.551)	50–39–8 (.557)	63–34–12 (.633)	2	0	0	[5]
Gardner–Webb			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
High Point	Zach Haines	Denver (asst.)	2	13–7–0 (.650)	13–7–0 (.650)	7–1–0 (.875)	0	0	0	[6]
Longwood			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Presbyterian			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
Radford			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
UNC Asheville			0	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0
USC Upstate	Scott Halkett	USC Upstate (asst.)	4	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0–0–0 (–)	0	0	0	[7]
Winthrop	Daniel Ridenhour	Winthrop (asst.)	5	17–44–5 (.295)	17–44–5 (.295)	9–17–3 (.362)	0	0	0	[8]

Preseason

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on January 28, 2021.^[9]

	Team Ranking	Points	First Place Votes
1.	Campbell	76	6
2.	High Point	70	1
3.	Gardner–Webb	53	1
4.	Presbyterian	50	0
5.	USC Upstate	41	0
6.	Longwood	36	1
7.	Winthrop	34	0
8.	Radford	28	0
9.	UNC Asheville	17	0

Preseason national polls

The preseason national rankings are normally announced in August. United Soccer Coaches, Soccer America, and TopDrawerSoccer.com delayed their Top-25 preseason poll to the start of the spring season. CollegeSoccerNews.com did a Top-30 preseason poll in September 2020.^[10] TopDrawer Soccer, Soccer America, and United Soccer Coaches released their rankings in February 2021.

	United Soccer	CSN[10]	Soccer America	TopDrawer Soccer[11]
Campbell	—	—	—	—
Gardner–Webb	—	—	—	—
High Point	—	—	—	RV
Longwood	—	—	—	—
Presbyterian	—	—	—	—
Radford	—	—	—	—
UNC Asheville	—	—	—	—
USC Upstate	—	—	—	—
Winthrop	—	—	—	—

Preseason honors

• Preseason Offensive Player of the Year – Matt Lock, Campbell
• Preseason Defensive Player of the Year – Luca Ziegler, Presbyterian

Regular season

Weekly results

Legend

Index to colors and formatting
BSC member won
BSC member lost
BSC member tied
BSC teams in bold

All times Eastern time.

Week 1 (Feb. 3 – Feb. 7)

No Big South Teams scheduled matches during Week 1.

Week 2 (Feb. 8 – Feb. 14)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
February 14	2:00 p.m.	Winthrop	South Carolina	Stone Stadium • Columbia, SC	2-4	167
February 14	2:00 p.m.	Gardner–Webb	VMI	Patchin Field • Lexington, VA	5-0	0
February 14	3:00 p.m.	Longwood	Liberty	Liberty Soccer Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	Postponed
February 14	3:00 p.m.	USC Upstate	Wofford	Snyder Field • Spartanburg, SC	Postponed
February 14	4:00 p.m.	Shaw University	Campbell	Eakes Athletics Complex • Buies Creek, NC	0-2	25
February 14	4:00 p.m.	Lees–McRae	High Point	Vert Stadium • High Point, NC	0-5	0

Week 3 (Feb. 15 – Feb. 21)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
February 17	3:00 p.m.	Wofford	Winthrop	Eagle Field • Rock Hill, SC	Cancelled
February 17	5:00 p.m.	Radford	Liberty	Liberty Soccer Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	0-4	250
February 17	6:00 p.m.	VCU	Longwood	Longwood Athletics Complex • Farmville, VA	Postponed
February 17	7:00 p.m.	USC Upstate	South Carolina	Stone Stadium • Columbia, SC	1-2 (OT)	210
February 21	1:00 p.m.	Longwood	UNC Asheville	Greenwood Soccer Field • Asheville, NC	1-2	1
February 21	3:30 p.m.	Radford	USC Upstate	County University Soccer Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	1-2	155
February 21	4:00 p.m.	Gardner–Webb	High Point	Vert Stadium • High Point, NC	0-4	0

Week 4 (Feb. 22 – Feb. 28)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
February 22	7:00 p.m.	Winthrop	Campbell	Eakes Athletics Complex • Buies Creek, NC	0-6	60
February 24	6:00 p.m.	UNC Greensboro	Gardner–Webb	Greene-Harbison Stadium • Shelby, NC
February 24	7:00 p.m.	Furman	USC Upstate	County University Soccer Stadium • Spartanburg, SC
February 25	7:00 p.m.	Davidson	High Point	Vert Stadium • High Point, NC
February 28	1:30 p.m.	Longwood	Presbyterian	Martin Stadium • Clinton, SC
February 28	2:00 p.m.	Campbell	USC Upstate	County University Soccer Stadium • Spartanburg, SC
February 28	2:00 p.m.	Winthrop	UNC Asheville	Greenwood Soccer Field • Asheville, NC
February 28	4:00 p.m.	Radford	Gardner–Webb	Greene-Harbison Stadium • Shelby, NC

Week 5 (Mar. 1 – Mar. 7)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
March 1	7:00 p.m.	High Point	Liberty	Liberty Soccer Stadium • Lynchburg, VA
March 2	6:00 p.m.	Furman	Gardner–Webb	Greene-Harbison Stadium • Shelby, NC
March 3	6:00 p.m.	Campbell	UNC Wilmington	UNCW Soccer Stadium • Wilmington, NC
March 3	7:00 p.m.	Presbyterian	USC Upstate	County University Soccer Stadium • Spartanburg, SC
March 4	7:00 p.m.	VMI	Radford	Cupp Stadium • Radford, VA
March 7	2:00 p.m.	Gardner–Webb	Longwood	Longwood Athletics Complex • Farmville, VA
March 7	2:00 p.m.	High Point	Presbyterian	Martin Stadium • Clinton, SC
March 7	3:00 p.m.	USC Upstate	Winthrop	Eagle Field • Rock Hill, SC
March 7	6:00 p.m.	UNC Asheville	Campbell	Eakes Athletics Complex • Buies Creek, NC

Week 6 (Mar. 8 – Mar. 14)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
March 10	4:00 p.m.	Longwood	VMI	Patchin Field • Lexington, VA
March 11	4:00 p.m.	UNC Asheville	Radford	Cupp Stadium • Radford, VA
March 13	6:00 p.m.	High Point	Campbell	Eakes Athletics Complex • Buies Creek, NC
March 14	2:00 p.m.	USC Upstate	Longwood	Longwood Athletics Complex • Farmville, VA
March 14	2:00 p.m.	Winthrop	Radford	Cupp Memorial Stadium • Radford, VA
March 14	3:00 p.m.	Presbyterian	Gardner–Webb	Greene-Harbison Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC

Week 7 (Mar. 15 – Mar. 21)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
March 17	7:00 p.m.	High Point	Winthrop	Eagle Field • Rock Hill, SC
March 20	6:00 p.m.	Presbyterian	Campbell	Eakes Athletics Complex • Buies Creek, NC
March 21	3:00 p.m.	USC Upstate	UNC Asheville	Greenwood Soccer Field • Asheville, NC
March 21	6:00 p.m.	Gardner–Webb	Winthrop	Eagle Field • Rock Hill, SC
March 22	7:00 p.m.	Radford	High Point	Vert Stadium • High Point, NC

Week 8 (Mar. 22 – Mar. 28)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
March 24	6:00 p.m.	Campbell	Longwood	Longwood Athletics Complex • Farmville, VA
March 27	5:00 p.m.	High Point	USC Upstate	County University Soccer Stadium • Spartanburg, SC
March 28	6:00 p.m.	Longwood	Winthrop	Eagle Field • Rock Hill, SC
March 28	6:00 p.m.	Elon	Campbell	Eakes Athletics Complex • Buies Creek, NC
March 28	2:00 p.m.	Gardner–Webb	UNC Asheville	Greenwood Soccer Field • Asheville, NC
March 28	4:00 p.m.	Presbyterian	Radford	Cupp Memorial Stadium • Radford, VA

Week 9 (Mar. 29 – Apr. 4)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
April 2	7:00 p.m.	Winthrop	Furman	Eugene E. Stone III Stadium • Greenville, SC
April 3	4:00 p.m.	USC Upstate	Gardner–Webb	Greene-Harbison Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC
April 3	7:00 p.m.	Longwood	High Point	Vert Stadium • High Point, NC
April 3	7:00 p.m.	UNC Asheville	Presbyterian	Martin Stadium • Clinton, SC
April 3	1:00 p.m.	Campbell	Radford	Cupp Memorial Stadium • Radford, VA

Week 10 (Apr. 5 – Apr. 11)

Date	Time (ET)	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
April 8	4:00 p.m.	Winthrop	Presbyterian	Martin Stadium • Clinton, SC
April 8	4:00 p.m.	Campbell	Gardner–Webb	Greene-Harbison Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC
April 8	6:00 p.m.	Radford	Longwood	Longwood Athletics Complex • Farmville, VA
April 8	7:00 p.m.	UNC Asheville	High Point	Vert Stadium • High Point, NC

Postseason

Big South Tournament

Main article: 2020 Big South Conference Men's Soccer Tournament

The top four teams will qualify for the tournament. The tournament will be played April 12–18.

	Semifinals April 12					Championship April 18
	1
	4
	2
	3

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament

The Big South Tournament winner will qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Other teams can still earn an at-large bid into the tournament.

Postseason awards and honors

2020 Big South Men's Soccer Individual Awards
Award	Recipient(s)
Attacking Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
Freshman of the Year

2020 Big South Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams
First Team	Second Team	Rookie Team

MLS SuperDraft

Main article: 2021 MLS SuperDraft

The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was held in January 2021.

Total picks by school

Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total
Campbell			1
Total	0	0	1	0	0

List of selections

Round	Pick #	MLS team	Player	Position	College
3	75	FC Dallas	Thibaut Jacquel	DF	Campbell

Notable undrafted players

The following players went pro after the 2020 season despite not getting drafted in the 2021 MLS draft.

Player	Nationality	Position	College	Team	League

References

1. "Big South To Begin Fall Sport Competition September 3". bigsouthsports.com. Big South Conference. July 22, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
2. "Big South Delays Fall Season, Targets Spring". bigsouthsports.com. August 12, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
3. "Big South Announces Men's Soccer 2021 Spring Schedule". bigsouthsports.com. November 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
4. "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
5. Dustin Fonder's statistics:

   • Campbell University records: "Dustin Fonder - Men's Soccer Coach". gocamels.com. Campbell University Athletics. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
   • High Point University records: "2019 HPU Men's Soccer Prospectus and Record Book" (PDF). highpointpanthers.com. High Point University Athletics. August 28, 2019. p. 20. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
6. "Zach Haines - Head Coach - Men's Soccer". highpointpanthers.com. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
7. "Men's Soccer Records and Archive". upstatespartans.com. University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics. December 23, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
8. Daniel Ridenhour's statistics:

   • 2019 season statistics: "2019 Men's Soccer Schedule". winthropeagles.com. Winthrop University Athletics. November 10, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
   • 2018 season statistics: "2018 Men's Soccer Schedule". winthropeagles.com. Winthrop University Athletics. October 30, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
   • 2017 season statistics: "2017 Men's Soccer Schedule". winthropeagles.com. Winthrop University Athletics. November 1, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
   • 2016 season statistics: "2016 Men's Soccer Schedule". winthropeagles.com. Winthrop University Athletics. November 1, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
9. "Big South Announces 2021 Spring Men's Soccer Preseason Poll and Honors". bigsouthsports.com. January 28, 2021. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
10. "College Soccer News 2020 Preseason Top 30 National Poll – College Soccer News". CollegeSoccerNews.com. September 4, 2020. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
11. "College Soccer National Ranking - Men's DI Top 25". TopDrawer Soccer. February 1, 2021. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.

External links

• Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer