In-Season Match Demands Of Men’s Collegiate Soccer: A Comparison By Half, Position, Match Outcome, Match Location, And Competition Phase

The purpose of this study was to quantify athlete external workload by half, position, match outcome, location, and competition phase (e.g., conference vs non-conference) during play across a men’s NCAA DIII soccer season. Throughout the competitive season, 16 players wore GPS device in 17 matches. Workload metrics collected were: total distance (TD), per minute (D/min), speed zones (SZ) 1-5, sprint efforts, (SD), top speed, accelerations, player load (PL), (PL/min). TD (4164±1235 m), PL (169±52 AU) D/min (116±20 m/min), PL/min (4.7±0.8 AU), SD (80±55 accelerations (32±14), decelerations (35±14), PP (30±10), SZ2 (1520±469 SZ3 (582±222 m) were significantly higher 1st half play. Forwards demonstrated speeds (9.5±2.0 m/s) than midfielders (8.0±1.1 defenders (7.7±1.2 m/s). (309.45±83.86 (216.82±59.26 (8.76±2.26 AU/min), (15.82±3.41 m/s), (1059.45±403.27 SZ4 (139.52±75.78 greater matches that resulted wins. However, SZ5 (20.59 ± 23 losses. (321.73±93.38 (229.26±74.58 (9.24±2.84 (16.03±4.43 (2819.48±891.09 (1130.63±460.09 (150.33±80.52 (20.84±22.86 home (321.85±88.79 (228.2±64.66 (9.16±2.45 (2850.53±795.83 (1145.27±456.34 (142.49±74.89 nonconference (19.23 22.87 Match workloads help coaches identify physical demands needed compete. Tailoring training monitoring accumulated fatigue will allow optimize team performance.