2016 NCAA Division I men's soccer season

The 2016 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 58th season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. The regular season began on August 26 and continued into the first weekend of November 2016. The season culminated with the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship in December 2016. There were 206 teams in men's Division I competition. The defending champions were Stanford who defeated Clemson 4–0 to win its first NCAA soccer title. The season concluded with Stanford defending its title by defeating Wake Forest 5–4 in a penalty kick shootout following a 0–0 double-overtime draw.

Changes from 2015

Coaching changes

New programs

was initially budgeted to finally start competition in the Western Athletic Conference this season. However, the ongoing State of Illinois budgetary crisis and the school's own critical financial problems have set this back once more.
Mount St. Mary's University announced that their soccer program, which has been dormant since the end of the 2012 season, will be reinstated for the 2018 season.

Discontinued programs

None.

Conference realignment

Video review

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved voluntary video review for the 2016 season. Video may be used to determine whether a goal has been scored, to identify players for disciplinary matters, and to determine whether a fight occurred and identify the participants.
Use of video review in both men's and women's soccer is strictly voluntary, with coaches for both teams agreeing to its use before the game. The home team is responsible for the equipment and for making review possible either at the scorer's table or at another ground-level location. As in other NCAA sports, the video review must display indisputable evidence for a call to be overturned.

Proposed Division I season change

After many months of extended unofficial discussion, on August 22, 2016, NCAA Division I men’s coaches and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America officially began an "informational campaign" to build support for a proposed change of the playing schedule for Division I men's soccer. Under the proposed changes of the "Academic Year Season Model", the number of games on the Fall schedule and the number of mid-week games would be reduced, with games added in the Spring following a Winter break, and the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship tournament would be moved from November and December to May and June. In addition to more closely matching the professional season, the changes address issues of player health and safety and of the time demands on student-athletes. The proposal concerns only Division I men's soccer. While a large majority of men's coaches and players support the changes, only a small minority of women's coaches and players currently do so. At this time, there is only the "informational campaign" "...to educate our Athletic Directors, NCAA leadership, student athletes, coaches and fans on the advantages of this Academic Year Model,” said Sasho Cirovski, NSCAA D1 Men’s committee chair and University of Maryland head coach. No formal proposal has been made to the NCAA, and once proposed, could not come into effect any earlier than the 2017-18 academic year.

Season overview

Pre-season polls

Regular season

#1

Conference standings

Major upsets

In this list, a "major upset" is defined as a game won by a team ranked 10 or more spots lower or an unranked team that defeats a team ranked #15 or higher.

Date	Winner	Score	Loser
August 26	St. Louis	1–0	@ #5 Wake Forest
August 26	Michigan State	2–1	@ #12 SMU
August 28	West Virginia	1–0 @ Akron	#10 Georgetown
September 2	@ #23 San Diego State	1–0	#1 Akron
September 2	Duke	1–0	@ #9 UCLA
September 2	Louisville	2–0	@ #14 Connecticut
September 4	Villanova	2–1	@ #11 Boston College
September 9	#19 Butler	4–2 @ Akron	#7 UC Santa Barbara
September 9	Loyola Chicago	2–0 @ NIU	#12 Utah Valley
September 13	East Tennessee State	1–0	@ #2 North Carolina
September 16	@ Louisville	1–0	#1 Notre Dame
September 20	@ UNC Wilmington	2–0	#5 Charlotte
September 23	@ Cal Poly	1–0	#6 UCLA
September 23	Pacific	2–0	@ #11 San Diego State
October 4	@ Albany	2–1	#3 Syracuse
October 7	Virginia	2–1	@ #4 North Carolina
October 8	@ UAB	2–1	#15 Kentucky
October 11	@ Tulsa	2–1	#6 Creighton
October14	@ #21 Virginia	1–0	#2 Notre Dame
October 18	@ Northwestern	2–1	#4 Notre Dame
October 18	North Florida	3–2	@ #11 FGCU
October 21	@ Duke	2–1	#4 Notre Dame
October 22	@ Villanova	1–0	#10 Creighton
October 23	@ New Hampshire	2–1	#14 UMass Lowell
October 26	@ DePaul	1–0	#15 Butler
October 29	@ SIUE	1–0	#11 Loyola Chicago
November 6	Boston College	1–0	@ #2 North Carolina
November 10	Oregon State	1–0	@ #14 Washington
November 11	New Mexico	2–1 @ West Virginia	#5 Charlotte
November 11	@ Missouri State	2–1	#13 Loyola Chicago

Early season tournaments

Several universities hosted early season soccer tournaments.

Name	Dates	Location	No. teams	Champion
Akron Classic	August 26–28	FirstEnergy Stadium–Cub Cadet Field	4	Akron
Carolina Nike Classic	August 26–28	Fetzer Field	4	North Carolina
Central New York Classic	August 26–28	SU Soccer Stadium	4	Syracuse Colgate
Fairfield Inn by Marriot JMU Invitational	August 26–28	University Park
Gonzaga Soccer Tournament	August 26–28	Luger Field	4	Gonzaga San Diego State
Hensor–Zaher Classic	August 26–28	Lorenz Field	4	Oregon State
John Rennie Nike Invitational	August 26–28	Koskinen Stadium	4	Duke San Diego
Marriott Houston Westchase Invitaitonal	August 26–28	Sorrels Field	4	UTRGV
Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament	August 26–28	Alumni Stadium	4	Notre Dame Indiana
Mike Gibbs Memorial Tournament	August 26–28	Hodges Stadium	4	North Florida UNC Greensboro
Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic	August 26–28	Patriots Point Athletics Complex	4	Furman
Stihl Soccer Classic & VCU Tournament	August 26–28	ODU Soccer Complex & Sports Backers Stadium &	4	Old Dominion Stetson
Wolstein Classic	August 26–28	Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium	4	UC Santa Barbara Virginia Tech
Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic	September 2–4	Bill Armstrong Stadium	4	Notre Dame
Chicago Classic	September 2–4	Loyola Soccer Park & Wish Field	4	DePaul Loyola Chicago
Elon/High Point Classic	September 2–4	Vert Stadium & Rudd Field &	4	Elon
The Grange & Ashwill Memorial Invitational	September 2–4	UNM Soccer Complex	4	New Mexico
The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic	September 2–4	Shea Stadium )	4	Utah Valley
Johann Memorial Classic	September 2–4	Peter Johann Memorial Field	4	UC Riverside Santa Clara Cal State Fullerton UNLV
The Courtyard by Marriott Central San Diego Tournament	September 9–11	SDSU Sports Deck	4	Cal State Fullerton San Diego State
Duquesne Invitational	September 9–11	Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field	4	Duquesne
NIU/Adidas Invitational	September 9–11	NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex	4	Loyola Chicago
ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic	September 9–11	Arad McCutchan Stadium	4	Evansville Portland
R.I. Capital City Classic	September 9–11	Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium	4	Brown Providence
The TLC Plumbing and Utility Invitational	September 9–11	UNM Soccer Complex	4	New Mexico
UAB Soccer For A Cure Classic	September 9–11	BBVA Compass Field	4	Tulsa
UNCW Courtyard by Marriott Wilmington-Wrightsville Beach Classic	September 9–11	UNCW Soccer Stadium	4	Marist UNC Wilmington
University of Akron Tournament	September 9–12	FirstEnergy Stadium–Cub Cadet Field	4	Akron Butler

Conference winners and tournaments

Statistics

Individuals

Last update on 13 December 2016

NOTE: Niki Jackson of Grand Canyon was among the

national leaders in both Goals and Total Points,
but his school was in its final year of transition from
Division II to Division I, making the school and its athletes
ineligible for consideration for statistical placement.

Individual statistics are through the games of 11 December 2016.
Teams