Charlotte 49ers men's soccer

The Charlotte 49ers men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As of the upcoming 2022 season, the team is a member of the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference (The American). The team plays their home games at Transamerica Field in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2011, the team reached the championship of the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, for the first time in program history.[2]

Charlotte 49ers men's soccer
Founded1976; 48 years ago (1976)
UniversityUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte
Head coachKevin Langan (8th season)
ConferenceThe American
LocationCharlotte, North Carolina
StadiumTransamerica Field
(Capacity: 4,000)
Nickname49ers
ColorsGreen and white[1]
   
Home
Away
NCAA Tournament runner-up
2011
NCAA Tournament College Cup
1996, 2011
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
1996, 2011
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
1992, 1996, 2011
NCAA Tournament appearances
1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024
Conference Tournament championships
1983, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2010, 2013, 2023, 2024
Conference Regular Season championships
1983, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014

History

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In 1996, the Charlotte 49ers men's soccer team became the first Conference USA team in any sport to reach the National semi-finals. The Niners won a school record 19 games. They went 7–1 in Conference USA to capture the regular season title. The Niners defeated College of Charleston, Notre Dame and Hartford to reach the national semi-finals before falling to Florida International in front of 20,269 fans in Richmond, Virginia. Goalkeeper Jon Busch becomes the Niners' second first team All-American after recording 12 shutouts and a 0.89 goals against average. Busch also earned Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year honors. John Tart was named Conference USA Coach of the Year.

The most notable season in Charlotte soccer history came in 2011 when the 49ers became the first team of any sport in school history to reach an NCAA national championship. The team was ranked in the top 25 throughout the entire season thanks to a challenging yet successful non-conference campaign. The Niners finished the regular season with an Atlantic 10 record of 6–1–2 and 13–3–2 record overall. After an early disappointing loss to Xavier in the Atlantic 10 tournament, Charlotte then went on a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The unseeded Niners defeated Furman, No. 11 UAB, No. 10 Akron, and No. 5 Connecticut to advance to the program's second ever College Cup in Hoover, Alabama. The Niners went on to defeat No. 3 Creighton before falling to No. 1 North Carolina in the national championship game with a score of 1–0.

Charlotte's most recent conference change was announced during the 2021–22 offseason, when it left Conference USA (C-USA) for The American. The decision of the Sun Belt Conference to reinstate its men's soccer league effective with the 2022 season dropped the C-USA men's soccer membership to four.[3] Of these four schools, three, including Charlotte, were scheduled to move fully to The American in the near future,[4] with a 2023 entry date later confirmed.[5] Accordingly, The American brought all four remaining C-USA men's soccer teams into its own soccer league.[6]

Players

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Current roster

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As of 21 Sep 2024[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK   PUR Eli Mumford
1 GK   GER Leo Stritter
2 DF   GAM Abubacarr Fofana
3 DF   USA Daniel Moore
4 DF   CYP Andreas Evangelou
5 DF   DEN Lasse Laursen
6 DF   CAN Chadi Mayati
7 FW   JPN Natsuki Ogata
8 DF   ITA Alessandro Negri
9 FW   NOR Brigham Larsen
10 MF   JPN Riyon Tori
11 MF   USA Casey McCloskey
12 FW   USA Grant Stewart
13 DF   USA Ryan Dunn
14 DF   USA Ivan Mata
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 FW   SVN Filip Jauk
16 DF   USA Ander Breidsprecher
17 FW   USA Jaedon Richardson
18 FW   CYP Orthodoxos Orthodoxou
19 MF   USA Christian Lee
20 FW   DEN Chris Dommer
22 DF   USA Ian Pilcher
23 MF   USA Ben Fisher
24 MF   IRL Daire McCarthy
26 DF   USA Caleb Hylton
27 MF   CAN Tate Asante
28 MF   USA Cole Trollip
29 FW   USA Sullivan Twill
31 GK   USA Jarrett Wuerslin

Individual career records

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Professional players

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Major League Soccer

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USL Pro

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North American Soccer League

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S.League

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Coaches

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All-time head coaches

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Coach Tenure Record Conf.
results
Gf. Ga. NCAA
apps.
Ike Gardner 1976–80 47–47–5 6–9–1 238 266
Steve Parker 1981 6–12–0 0–2–0 39 37
Bob Warming 1982–88 67–52–17 16–9–4 306 217
Frank Kohlenstein 1989–94 77–32–12 20–6–6 277 145 3
John Tart 1995–2006 117–92–28 53–40–11 403 318 2
Jeremy Gunn 2006–11 66–26–12 35–13–6 194 105 2
Kevin Langan 2012–Present 86–34–20 38-10-10 ~~ ~~ 6
Totals 1976–2018 526–295–94 228–149–38 1457 1088 7

[8]

References

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  1. ^ "49ers Color System". Charlotte 49ers Brand Standards (PDF). June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  2. ^ "Men's Soccer Advances to National Championship". Charlotte49ers.com. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  3. ^ "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  4. ^ "American Athletic Conference Announces the Addition of Six Universities" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  5. ^ "American Announces Entrance Agreements With Incoming Members for 2023-24 Season" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  6. ^ "American Announces Affiliate Members in Men's Soccer and Women's Swimming and Diving" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  7. ^ "Men's Soccer Roster". Charlotte 49ers.
  8. ^ a b c [1] Archived 2012-06-09 at the Wayback Machine Charlotte 49ers Men's Soccer 2011 Media Guide
  9. ^ http://soccerstats.us/bios/ray-tomlin/
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