2014 NIRSA National Soccer Championship

The 2014 'NIRSA national soccer championship' was the 21st NIRSA National Soccer Championships, the annual national championships for United States-based, collegiate club soccer teams organized by NIRSA. It took place at Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memphis, Tennessee from Thursday, November 20 to Saturday, November 22, 2014. This marks a return to play after the [2013 National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association|NIRSA National Soccer Championship|previous tournament] was unable to name a champion due to rain.

Overview

Men's championship

In the finals, Ohio State and San Diego State would face off in both teams' first finals. Coming into the finals, San Diego State defeated reigning champion from the 2012 tournament, Michigan State, 1–0 in the semi-finals while Ohio State beat 2004 champion, Texas A&M 4–2 in the semifinals. The game would be scoreless at the end of regulation, meaning a 15-minute, sudden-victory period would be played. Three minutes before the end of extra time, eventual MVP Alex Bujenovic of Ohio State would score a low cross and lead Ohio State to a 1–0 victory and their first national title.

Women's championship

In the finals, Ohio State and Miami, two Region III opponents, would meet for the third time this season. Miami won the first two meetings 1–0, the first being on October 5 in the regular season and the second being in the W-MASC Region III regional tournament. Coming into the finals, Miami had won their first 4 games, including a 4–3 penalty shootout victory against the division's most successful team, UC-Santa Barbara. Conversely, Ohio State lost their opener to aforementioned UC-Santa Barbara, but won their next 4, including a 1–0 victory in extra time over Texas via a PK. In the finals, eventual MVP Ellen Haas of Ohio State would score in the 35th and 63rd minute to win 2–0 and prevent Miami from beating them 3 straight times. This was Ohio State's first national title, joining their male counterparts.

Men's open

In the finals, the 2012 open finalists, UC-Berkeley, were looking to claim their second open title over Region II regional finalist UCF in their first open division finals. In the finals, UC-Berkeley scored first in the 50th minute but UCF tied it 8 minutes later, the first goal they conceded all tournament. 3 minutes prior to the end of regulation, UC-Berkeley would take the lead again, which would be enough for them to claim their second open title. UC-Berkeley only scored 5 goals in their six games with 2 of them coming in the finals, and their own Amir Guedoir was named MVP.

Women's open

In the finals, 2008 open division champions UCLA would face 2005 championship division champions Michigan in their first open divisional finals. Michigan started the knockout round by beating the reigning open division champions, JMU, 2–0 in the quarterfinals while UCLA needed extra time in their quarterfinal matchup against Northeastern. Michigan took the lead in the 56th minute and doubled it in the 61st minute to win 2–0 and claim their first women's open division title. Michigan didn't give up a goal in any of their 6 games and their own Beth Boyer was named divisional MVP.

Format

The competition consisted of 96 teams: 48 men's teams and 48 women's teams. Each of these divisions were further divided into two 24-team divisions: the championship and open. The championship division divided teams into eight groups of three while the open division divided teams into six groups of four, both engaging in a round-robin tournament that determined teams able to advance to a knockout stage. Pool play games were two 40-minute halves, separated by a seven-minute halftime and utilized the three points for a win system. In the championship division, the two highest ranked teams from each group advanced to their knockout stage, with the third placed team advancing to a consolation bracket. In the open division, the top team from each group as well as the two best second placed teams advanced to their knockout stage.

Tie-breaking criteria for group play

The ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria in order:

Highest number of points
Winner of head-to-head competition
Greatest goal difference
* Maximum ± 5 goal difference per match
Most goals scored
Most shutouts

In a tie breaking scenario involving more than 2 teams, the tiebreaker procedure would begin. If one team is identified as different and both remaining teams are still tied, the tie breaker procedure is restarted.
If a tie still remained after the first 5 criteria, the following was used to break a tie:

NCAA kicks from the mark
* If there was a three-way tie, a coin-flip would be conducted. The two teams that chose the same outcome would compete in kicks from the mark between each other. The winner would compete with the last remaining team in kicks from the mark
* If there's a four-way tie, a drawing of lots would be conducted

Knockout stage games also consisted of two 40-minute halves. The round of 16 and quarterfinals were separated by a seven-minute halftime while the semifinals and finals had a ten-minute halftime. Knockout stage games needed to declare a winner. If a knockout-stage game was tied at the end of regulation, overtime would begin. Overtime consisted of one, 15-minute, golden-goal period. If still tied after overtime, kicks from the mark would determine the winner.

Qualification and selections

Each of the six regions received three automatic bids for both the men's and women's championship that they awarded to its members. The final six bids were considered "at-large", and were given out by NIRSA to teams, typically based on their regional tournament results and RPI.
The 48 remaining teams participated in the open division and were selected via a lottery draw that aired on on September 30, 2014, at 3pm EST. This was the first time a lottery was utilized. If a selected team qualified for the championship division, an alternate took their spot. 54 men's teams and 43 women's were selected.

Men's championship

Region	Team	Appearance	Last Bid
I	UMass	2nd	2010
II	Virginia	7th	2010
III	Marquette	1st	Never
III	Michigan State	8th	2013
IV	Texas A&M	15th	2013
VI	San Diego State	4th	2007

Source:

Women's championship

Region	Team	Appearance	Last Bid
I	Cornell	8th	2012
II	Florida	12th	2013
II	Florida State	2nd	2000
III	Illinois	10th	2013
VI	UC-Santa Barbara	14th	2013
VI	USC	2nd	2013

Source:

Men's lottery selection

Region	Team	Selection Type	Bid result
I	George Mason	Automatic	Accepted
I	Cornell	Automatic	Accepted
I	SUNY Cortland	Automatic	Accepted
I	Boston College	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
I	Northeastern	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
I	Stony Brook	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
II	Mary Washington	Automatic	Accepted
II	UCF	Automatic	Accepted
II	Miami	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
II	JMU	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
III	Purdue	Automatic	Accepted
III	Illinois	Automatic	Accepted
III	UW-Milwaukee	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
IV	Texas	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Wash U	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Missouri	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Arkansas	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Texas Tech	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
V	Colorado Springs	Automatic	Accepted
VI	UC-Berkeley	Automatic	Accepted
VI	Oregon	Automatic	Accepted
VI	UC-Davis	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
VI	Utah Valley	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
VI	UCLA	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist

Women's lottery selection

Region	Team	Selection Type	Bid result
I	Georgetown	Automatic	Accepted
I	Northeastern	Automatic	Accepted
I	Penn	Automatic	Accepted
I	Fordham	Automatic	Accepted
I	UConn	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
I	UMass	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
II	Vanderbilt	Automatic	Accepted
II	UCF	Automatic	Accepted
II	Virginia Tech	Automatic	Accepted
II	Mary Washington	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
II	JMU	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
II	Miami	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
III	UW-Milwaukee	Automatic	Accepted
III	Michigan	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Texas Tech	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Wash U	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Missouri	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
V	Iowa	Automatic	Accepted
V	Iowa State	Automatic	Accepted
V	Colorado	Automatic	Accepted
V	Colorado Mesa	Invite	Accepted via invite
VI	USC	Automatic	Accepted
VI	UCLA	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
VI	San Diego State	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist

Source:

Group stage

Men's championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San Diego State	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3	4	Advanced to knockout stage
2	SMU	2	0	2	0	1	1	0	2	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Iowa State	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3	1	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cal Poly	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Colorado State	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	UMass	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2	1	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ohio State	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Virginia	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	UTEP	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Virginia Tech	2	2	0	0	7	2	+5	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	UConn	2	1	0	1	3	4	−1	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Marquette	2	0	0	2	2	6	−4	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Florida State	2	1	1	0	1	1	0	4	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Utah State	2	0	2	0	1	0	+1	2	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Delaware	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cincinnati	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Texas A&M	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	4	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Colorado Mines	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Illinois	2	2	0	0	5	3	+2	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Texas	2	1	0	1	4	2	+2	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Tufts	2	0	0	2	2	6	−4	0	Consolation

Women's championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Miami	2	2	0	0	7	3	+4	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Colorado	2	1	0	1	4	6	−2	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Florida	2	0	0	2	4	6	−2	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Oregon	2	0	2	0	4	4	0	2	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Kansas	2	0	2	0	3	3	0	2	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Pittsburgh	2	0	2	0	1	1	0	2	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Illinois	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	3	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Delaware	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Cal State Northridge	2	1	0	1	1	3	−2	3	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UC Davis	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2	4	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Colorado Mines	2	1	0	1	1	2	−1	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	NC State	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Michigan State	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	North Carolina	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Cornell	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Colorado State	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Texas	2	1	0	1	5	2	+3	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Florida State	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UC-Santa Barbara	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Ohio State	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Penn State	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0	Consolation

Men's open

----
----
----
----

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UCF	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	UC-Berkeley	3	2	1	0	3	0	+3	7	Advanced to knockout stage
3	George Mason	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2	1	-
4	Texas “B”	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1	-

----
----

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Arkansas	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Oregon	3	2	0	1	8	1	+5	6	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Boston College	3	1	1	1	5	3	+2	4	-
4	Colorado Springs	3	0	0	3	1	15	−12	0	-

----
----

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UCLA	3	3	0	0	8	0	+8	9	Advanced to knockout stage
2	SUNY Cortland	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4	-
3	Mary Washington	3	1	1	1	3	6	−3	4	-
4	Wash U	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	0	-

----
----

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UC Davis	3	3	0	0	6	0	+6	9	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Stony Brook	3	2	0	1	3	4	−1	6	-
3	Miami	3	1	0	2	2	2	0	3	-
4	Purdue	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5	0	-

----
----

Women's open

----
----

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Colorado “Black”	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	UCF	3	1	2	0	1	0	+1	5	-
3	Missouri	3	0	2	1	0	2	−2	2	-
4	Georgetown	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1	-

----
----

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Virginia Tech	3	3	0	0	9	4	+5	9	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Fordham	3	2	0	1	7	3	+4	6	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Wash U	3	1	0	2	4	6	−2	3	-
4	Colorado Mesa	3	0	0	3	1	8	−7	0	-

----
----

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Michigan	3	3	0	0	9	0	+9	9	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Northeastern	3	2	0	1	2	2	0	6	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Iowa	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3	-
4	Mary Washington	3	0	0	3	0	8	−8	0	-

----
----

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San Diego State	3	3	0	0	10	1	+9	9	Advanced to knockout stage
2	UMass	3	1	1	1	6	3	+3	4	-
3	Vanderbilt	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4	-
4	UW Milwaukee	3	0	0	3	1	13	−12	0	-

----
----

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UCLA	3	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Miami	3	1	1	1	4	6	−2	4	-
3	UConn	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4	-
4	Iowa State	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1	-

----
----

External Links

Ohio State's men's championship title winning goal