ACC season preview
Who will come out victorious in the strongest conference in college soccer?
July 9, 2024 I Jack Latterman I ACC
I would like to preface all of this by saying that this is an opinion piece. I have watched all these teams play last season and done heavy research to create this preview, but that doesn’t mean it is going to be correct… and that is what makes sports so great! My intention is not to make anyone angry with a preseason poll, as they are rarely accurate anyways. This is what I think might happen and I would love to hear if you agree or disagree.
The ACC has been NCAA soccer’s strongest conference for quite some time and they showed why in 2023. The National Champions, Clemson, beat fellow ACC school Notre Dame in the College Cup final. UNC and UVA both made it to the national quarterfinals, and so did new addition to the league, Stanford. This is an incredibly strong conference from top to bottom, making it extremely difficult to predict.
Cal, SMU, and Stanford are set to join for the 2024 season, bringing even more class to the top of the ACC.
CAL
The Golden Bears have a tremendously difficult schedule in their inaugural season in the conference. They take on Denver and LMU in non-conference play, two tournament teams from 2023. In 2023, CAL had their best season since 2019 grabbing 7 wins. Although they were on the way up last season, 2024 is going to be a completely new level. They also will have to travel cross country 3 separate times.
Leading scorer Evan Davila and defensive leader Wyatt Meyer both graduated, leaving some gaps in the side.
They return captain Kevin Carmichael and forward Arik Duncan, who will be the building blocks this season. Midfielder Giancarlo Mota is one to watch out for in his second year at Cal.
I will be rooting for coach Leonard Griffin and Cal this year, but have a hard time believing that they will be competitive in the ACC in their first season. I think they will have a tough time winning more than a few ACC games.
SMU
The Mustangs are a very dangerous side who caught fire late, going unbeaten in their last 12 regular season matches. They won 14 games, winning the AAC and made it to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
Cole Johnson is no longer in Dallas to be their starting keeper, and star striker Jelldrik Dallmann and his 14 goals from last season will be tough to replace. They also lost Mads Westergren, who started every match at centerback last season.
They brought in transfer Jordaine Jaeger from Saint Francis to battle for the starting GK spot. Cal Poly transfer Cesar Ruvalcaba will slide straight into the Mustang backline, adding experience and quality.
2023 AAC Freshman of the Year Niv Berkovitz and Midfielder of the Year Bailey Sparks are both back for SMU. Kyran Pinho and Fredrik Skilberg are two players to watch out for this year.
I believe SMU will be very competitive this year and will find themselves in the top third of the conference table. I would not be surprised to see them fighting for a conference championship late in the season.
Stanford
The Cardinal had a solid season in 2023, advancing to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals and winning 11 games. I am intrigued to see how they handle their 4 cross country away trips in their first season.
Stanford lost pivotal pieces in Zach Bohane and Shane De Flores to the draft. Fletcher Bank was the third player drafted, and Mark Fisher also departed, leaving the Cardinal without 4 starting midfielders from last year.
On the bright side, Noah Adnan is back to lead the back line for one more year and goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly will be back in net.
Stanford is one of the power houses in college soccer as of late, but they lost their entire starting midfield and are taking a major step up in quality of opponents. I think they will finish in the middle of the table.
Wake Forest
Wake Forest won the Atlantic division of the ACC last year, but bowed out early in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. They did win their Spring League championship, which is a good sign.
The Decons lost a slew of players including Roald Mitchell, Garrison Tubbs, Jahlane Forbes, Jake Swallen, Leo Guarino, and Hosei Kijima.. These were all starters and key pieces to their successful campaign in 2023.
Wake has the 4th ranked incoming recruiting class, led by Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year Will Jackson. They also brought in 2022 A-10 Rookie of the Year Basit Umar from Dayton to bolster their attack.
Cooper Flax and Vlad Wallent return to the midfield and Bo Cummings is back on the back line.
I know Wake Forest had a great year, but they lost a ton of talent and experience in the off-season and I think that may play a role, especially at the start of 2024. I think they will finish near the middle of the table.
Notre Dame
The Irish came tantalizingly close to a National Championship in 2023 falling short in the final, but had an epic run to get to that point. They lost just one game in the regular season, which was to a rolling Michigan State team.
A big part of their run last season was goalkeeper Bryan Dowd, who came up huge in two shootouts in tournament play. Unfortunately, he and Bryce Boneau both have moved on from ND. Defender Paddy Burns and creators Daniel Russo and Ethan O’Brien are also going to be missed in 2024.
Eno Nto is back after his 11-goal master-class of a season in 2023 and Matthew Roou returns for his senior season after finding the net 10 times. Nolan Spicer is the x-factor for this side, coming back after a great first season.
I think Notre Dame may struggle a bit at times to stop team, but they did return quite a few attacking weapons. I could see them finishing in the middle of the table in 2024.
Clemson
The Tigers obviously had a fantastic season last year, topped off with a National Championship.
The main talking point for Clemson in 2023 was Ousmane Sylla, the MAC Herman Trophy winner. His 13 goals and 10 assists will be tough to replace. They also lost main stays in the starting 11 Gael Gibert, and Brandon Parrish. Mohamed Seye and his 5 goals from last season will also need to be replaced.
Alex Meinhard is back for his fifth year, after netting 7 goals in 2023, and Nathan Richmond will be a creator and scorer once again this season. Joran Gerbet continues to bring stability to the center of the park and Joseph Andema is back in goal for the champs.
Young Arthur Duquenne is someone to watch out for in 2024. The French fullback had 5 assists in his Freshman season.
The Tigers have some big departures, but have reloaded with 2 transfers and 8 incoming Freshman. I think they will have an ACC season similar to 2023, where they finish in the top third.
Virginia
The Cavaliers had a great regular season, but fell early in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. They lost a number of crucial pieces from their 2023 campaign, but
Stephen Annor Gyamfi, Mouhameth Thiam, and Leo Afonso have all graduated, leaving UVA without their top 3 goalscorers. Elias Norris, Aidan O’Connor, and Will Citron are also all gone after starting every match last season.
Daniel Mangarov and Paul Wiese return as experienced leaders. They also brought in 9 transfers in the off-season. That is the most I’ve seen by far.
Brendan Lambe is an athletic freak that will be important in 2024. Watch out for him to make a huge impact on the ACC.
I like Virginia a lot and believe in their staff as well as the talent. I see them finishing in the upper middle of the table, and having a chance to push for the championship if they can successfully replace some of the goalscorers they lost.
Syracuse
The Orange had an up and down season in 2023 winning 9 games, but just 2 in ACC play. They had a ton of turnover prior to last season, so another year together should really help them out.
‘Cuse lost an astounding 7 starters to graduation/SuperDraft, so they will have a very new lineup again this Fall.
Leading scorer Nicholas Kaloukian returns for his second season at Syracuse and Ernest Bawa is an outstanding transfer pick up to play the #10. Midfielders Sam Layton from SIUE, Nathan Scott from UC Riverside, and Elton Chifamba from Clemson are also additions that will look to replace the plethora of weapons who departed.
I’m interested to see how they fare this season, after struggling a bit last year with a lot of new players. They have done a similar thing this season, bringing in many new guys, but I am a bit worried that they will start slow. They have the talent to win the ACC, but 7 new starters is a lot.
Duke
The Blue Devils had a disappointing end to 2023, bowing out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after an 11-win season.
Striker and leading scorer, Forster Ajago, departed for the MLS, creating a gap in the lineup. Attacking midfielder Nick Pariano and goalkeeper Julian Eyestone are also both gone after starting every match last season. They also lost 3 starting defenders.
Ulfur Bjornsson scored 10 goals in his Freshman year and will be the danger man upfront in 2024. Emmanuel Petrov and Colton Pleasants are transfers with potential as well.
There has been quite a bit of turnover for this side, and I am a bit worried about that. I don’t think they will be awful, but I can’t see them in the top 3 or 4.
Louisville
The Cardinals started strong winning their first 3 matches in 2023 and winning 12 games. They also had a great run of form through the ACC Tournament.
Star goalscorer Damien Barker-John left for Real Salt Lake and attacking midfielder Konstantinos Goergallides transferred to UNCG. Outside back Quinton Elliot, who lit it up for the Cardinals in 2023, also left the team. Centerback and Josh Jones will be missed as an arial threat, and midfielder Bradley Sample is no longer there to creative from the midfield.
Striker Gage Guerra is back after his 7 goal season and will be the main offensive weapon for Louisville. Goalkeeper Alex Svetanoff, who played almost every minute in net last season, is also back. Bilal Camara, who scored 6 and had 7 assists at DII Limestone University, will look to be another threat from the midfield.
Louisville showed last season that they can hang with the best, but they lacked consistency. To me, they are another team with a high ceiling, but low floor. They are extremely hard to predict, but because of the important players they lost, I am going to pick them to be in the lower section of the table.
North Carolina
The Tar Heels had a solid season, with the high point being their run to the ACC Tournament final, where they fell in PKs to Clemson. They also won two games in the NCAA Tournament.
UNC had 2 10-goal scorers in 2023 in Vician and Huerman, but both graduated.
Andrew Czech and Charlie Harper are both back after starting every match. Sam Williams is a talented play-maker who is also returning for UNC. Starting goalkeeper Andrew Cordes will be back in net for another season, bringing great experience to this side. They also picked up NC State’s top scorer, Luke Hille, in the transfer portal.
The Heels lost 2 finishers up front, but return the majority of their stars. I think they will compete for the ACC Championship.
NC State
The Wolfpack had a disappointing season in 2023, winning just 1 game in conference play. They did, however, make it to the final in their spring league, which is positive news.
Like I mentioned earlier, Luke Hille is now at UNC, which leaves a hole at the striker position.
Will Buete, Calem Tommy, and Vusumzi Plamana will make up the midfield for The Pack, one of their bright spots for sure. Junior Nare will be a dangerous attacking weapon who will likely see more minutes in 2024. Taig Healy is a nice transfer pickup from UNH to join in the attack as well. His former teammate Isaac Heffess also joined NC State from UNH and will slot in nicely to the back line.
I think the Wolfpack will be better in 2024 and will finish in the middle of the table.
PITT
The Panthers are another strange one, after entering 2023 with a ton of hype, and not performing as well as they would’ve liked to. They snuck in to the NCAA Tournament with their 6 wins, but lost in the first round.
The departure of Filip Mirkovic hurts this team as he assisted on 9 goals in 2023.
Luis Sahmkow, Jackson Gillman, Matei and Albert Thorsen are all back after great seasons. Pitt also has 10 incoming Freshman joining the squad.
I think the Panthers will have a great season and compete for the ACC title, after getting another year of experience as a group.
Boston College
The Eagles struggled last season winning just 3 games and going winless in the ACC.
The addition of Leo Guarino from Wake Forest and A-10 Midfielder of the Year, Ask Ekeland, from Duquesne should bolster this BC roster.
They are bringing back 9 starters, which should prove to be helpful for this young squad.
I think they will be much better this year after another season together, and the experience and culture will be much improved from last season. I see them finishing in the middle of the table.
Virginia Tech
VTech struggled early in 2023, then got hot, then had a hard time again at the end of the year. They are a young team with talent, but lacked consistency last season.
They did lose Conor Pugh and Marco Vesterholm, but the remainder of their starters are still intact.
The Hokies have a great recruiting class in 2024, led by Tino Vasquez, a prolific goalscorer who is the wanted by Mexico, US, and Greek youth international teams. He will look to repeat what Noe Uwimana did last season, making the All-ACC Freshman team and contributing to a goal in 5 of his first 7 matches.
Oliver Roche also had a fantastic Freshman year, scoring 4 goals in his 12 starts.
I like Tech to be much improved from 2023, as the young squad gets more experienced and grows together.
2023 Final Standings
2024 Predictions
- North Carolina
- SMU
- Pitt
- Clemson
- Virginia
- Wake Forest
- Stanford
- NC State
- Syracuse
- Duke
- Boston College
- Notre Dame
- Virginia Tech
- Louisville
- CAL
Ivy League Preview
The Ivy League came down to the wire in 2023 and I expect the same to happen again this year. There is a gap between the top of the table and the struggling teams, but that means the first 3-4 will be even closer come the final week. I expect multiple teams to compete and think any of those few could win the league, as well as the tournament. I am having a really hard time picking the order of the top 3.
Atlantic 10 Preview
This conference is filled with attacking weapons, but there is quite a bit of turnover on the backlines of most of these sides. I expect high scoring, exciting games throughout the A-10 season. Watch out for URI and St. Bonaventure to be much improved and fight towards the top of the table. VCU struggled in non-conference play in 2023, but turned it on late, winning their last 3 matches to secure…
MVC Preview
WMU entered the conference last season and did not disappoint. It was a fantastic battle between them and Missouri St. for the title. Quite a few teams towards the bottom of the table struggled, but I really feel like one or two will make a real run towards the top 3 or 4. Call me crazy, but I think Western is going to have a rough year after losing 75% of their difference makers.
WCC Preview
Between Portland, Santa Clara, San Diego, and new comers Oregon State, this conference is absolutely loaded. The battle for the conference title will likely be extremely tight and these conference matchups will be incredible to watch. I think Portland and Oregon State will finish 1,2, but the questions is who will take home the championship? I’m going Portland!
Patriot League Preview
The Patriot League is always interesting because there seem to be new teams making surprise runs each season. I see Loyola and BU being strong again, and Holy Cross and American being those teams who shock some people. BU had a fantastic season last year, winning 12 matches, doubling their total from 2023, and tripling it from 2021. The Terriers also won the Patriot League…
Big East Preview
The Big East is a conference with a few top dogs at the top, headlined by Georgetown, but lacking the depth that many of these other big soccer conferences have. In 2022, Creighton made it to the NCAA Tournament semis, when Duncan McGuire went on an absolute terror, but they struggled last season. The Hoyas were one of the nation’s top ranked teams throughout 2023…