2015 NIRSA National Soccer Championship

The 2015 'NIRSA national soccer championship' was the 22nd NIRSA National Soccer Championships, the annual national championships for United States-based, collegiate club soccer teams organized by NIRSA. It took place at the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix, Arizona from Thursday, November 19 to Saturday, November 21, 2015.

Overview

Men's championship

In the finals, the [2000 National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association|NIRSA National Soccer Championship|2000] champions, Penn State, would face three-time semifinalist North Carolina in their national finals debut. Prior to this, in the group stage, Penn State would top their group after tying UCLA 0–0 in their opener and defeating reigning quarterfinalists Cincinnati 3–2 in the group stage finale. Meanwhile, North Carolina would tie Cal Poly 2–2 in the opener and a 2–0 win in their second game over Iowa State would not be enough to top their group as they would finish second on goal difference.
In the knockout round, Penn State would defeat both Cornell and 2004 champions, Texas A&M, 1–0 in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively, and would defeat 2011 champions, Weber State, 2–1 to advance to the finals. Meanwhile, North Carolina would defeat 2006 champions, Michigan, 4–1 in the round of 16 and then would defeat regional opponent, UCF, 3–2 in overtime following a golden goal own goal from UCF. They'd then face 2006 runners-up, Illinois, in the semifinals. The game would remain deadlocked after regulation and extra time meaning penalties would be required. In the shootout, North Carolina would gain the edge after 9 rounds with an 8–7 victory to advance to their first title game.
In the finals, North Carolina opened the scoring with a goal from Eric Rossitch in the 5th minute off of a header near the 6-yard box off of a free kick. A goal in the last minute by Daniel Goff while Penn State had all 11 men in North Carolina's half would see North Carolina win 2–0. This was North Carolina's first national title and the first national title by a Region II team, the only region who hadn't had a team claim a men's championship national title previously.

Women's championship

In the finals, the 2012 champions, Michigan State, would face 2004 co-champions, Colorado State who were looking on claiming their fourth national title. Prior to this, in the group stage, both teams would top their groups with 4 points with Michigan State defeating 2004 co-champions, Colorado, 1–0 and tying Kansas 1–1 and Colorado State would defeat 2008 runners-up, Arizona, 6–0 and tying 2001 champions, Penn State, 1–1.
In the knockout round, Michigan State would defeat 3 region II teams to advance to the finals. First, in the round of 16, they'd defeat reigning quarterfinalist, North Carolina 1–0, then would defeat 1994 runners-up, Florida, 2–0 in the quarterfinals and finally would defeat 2011 semifinalist, Virginia Tech 3–2 in extra time following a 2–2 regulation where they trailed twice. Meanwhile, Colorado State would defeat reigning quarterfinalist Illinois 2–0 in the round of 16. They would then require penalties in their next two matches. First against reigning runners-up, Miami in following a deadlocked 0–0 regulation and extra time in the quarterfinals then fellow 2004 co-champion, Michigan, in the semifinals following a 1–1 match
In the finals, the game would remain 0–0 after 80 minutes, meaning extra time would be required again for both these teams. Four minutes into extra time, eventual MVP Danielle Manning of Michigan State would break the deadlock with a golden goal that gave Michigan State their second women's national title. This also ensured that both of Michigan State's titles were won in extra time.

Men's open

In the finals, Oregon would return to the open finals after their title 10 years ago in 2005 to face UC-Davis who were making their debut. Coming in, Oregon won each of their previous 5 games by at least 2 goals while UC-Davis had only given up a single goal. UC-Davis would go up 2–1 in the match, but Oregon's Henry Fassinger would score a penalty kick late into the game to tie the game at 2–2, forcing the game into extra time. Eventual MVP, Andrew Saenz of Oregon, would score a sudden-victory goal to secure Oregon's 3–2 win and their second national title.

Women's open

In the finals, 2012 open champions, JMU, would face last year's open runners-up UCLA. Coming in, JMU would require a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals while UCLA required extra time in the semifinals. UCLA would redeem their finals loss the previous year and defeat JMU 2–0, claiming their second open title. Isis Piccillo of UCLA would be named 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 29, 2015, at 4pm EST. If a selected team qualified for the championship division, an alternate took their spot. 41 men's teams and 40 women's were selected.

Men's championship

Region	Team	Appearance	Last Bid
II	North Carolina	11th	2011
III	Illinois	13th	2014
III	Loyola-Chicago	1st	Never
IV	Missouri	8th	2013
V	Colorado State	18th	2014
VI	UCLA	5th	2012

Women's championship

Region	Team	Appearance	Last Bid
I	Cornell	9th	2014
III	Miami	15th	2014
III	Michigan State	12th	2014
IV	Wash U	2nd	2011
VI	Cal State – Long Beach	1st	Never
VI	Northern Arizona	1st	Never

Source:

Men's lottery selection

Region	Team	Selection Type	Bid result
I	Villanova	Automatic	Accepted
I	UConn	Automatic	Accepted
I	SUNY Brockport	Automatic	Accepted
I	Boston College	Automatic	Accepted
I	Stony Brook	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
II	JMU	Automatic	Accepted
II	Georgia College	Automatic	Accepted
II	Kennesaw State	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
III	Purdue	Automatic	Accepted
III	Illinois	Automatic	Accepted
III	UW-Milwaukee	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Arkansas	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Texas Tech	Automatic	Accepted
IV	St. Edwards	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
IV	Kansas State	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
IV	Texas	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
V	Colorado Mines	Automatic	Accepted
V	Colorado	Automatic	Accepted
V	Colorado State-Pueblo	Automatic	Accepted
V	Denver	Automatic	Accepted
VI	Oregon	Automatic	Accepted
VI	Cal State-Fullerton	Automatic	Accepted
VI	Utah Valley	Automatic	Accepted
VI	UC-Davis	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist

Women's lottery selection

Region	Team	Selection Type	Bid result
I	Vermont	Automatic	Accepted
I	Northeastern	Automatic	Accepted
I	Penn	Automatic	Accepted
I	UConn	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
I	Boston College	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
II	Vanderbilt	Automatic	Accepted
II	Miami	Automatic	Accepted
II	UCF	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
II	JMU	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
III	Iowa	Automatic	Accepted
III	UW-Milwaukee	Automatic	Accepted
IV	St. Edwards	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Texas Tech	Automatic	Accepted
IV	TCU	Automatic	Accepted
IV	Rice	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
V	Denver	Automatic	Accepted
V	Colorado	Automatic	Accepted
VI	UC-Berkeley	Automatic	Accepted
VI	UCLA	Automatic	Accepted
VI	San Diego State	Automatic	Accepted
VI	USC	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
VI	Oregon	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist
VI	Arizona State	Waitlist	Accepted from waitlist

Source:

Group stage

Men's championship

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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Texas A&M	2	2	0	0	8	3	+5	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Illiniois	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Minnesota	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cal Poly	2	1	1	0	7	3	+4	4	Advanced to knockout stage
2	North Carolina	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	4	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Iowa State	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wisconsin	2	2	0	0	8	2	+6	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Missouri	2	1	0	1	4	5	−1	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Colorado Mines	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Penn State	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	4	Advanced to knockout stage
2	UCLA	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Cincinnati	2	0	1	1	4	5	−1	1	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UTEP	2	0	2	0	4	4	0	2	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Cornell	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Texas	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UCF	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Weber State	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Loyola – Chicago	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7	0	Consolation

Women's championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UC Santa Barbara	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Texas A&M	2	1	0	1	1	4	−3	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Cornell	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Florida	2	1	1	0	6	2	+4	4	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Michigan	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	4	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Northern Arizona	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	0	Consolation

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

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

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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Delaware	2	2	0	0	8	1	+6	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	North Carolina	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	3	Advanced to knockout stage
3	CSU Long Beach	2	0	0	2	1	9	−7	0	Consolation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Colorado State	2	1	1	0	7	1	+5	4	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Penn State	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Arizona	2	0	0	2	0	8	−7	0	Consolation

Men's open

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Oregon	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	9	Advanced to knockout stage
2	CSU-Pueblo	3	1	1	1	4	7	−3	4	-
3	UConn	3	1	0	2	5	5	0	3	-
4	Texas – B	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1	-

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Purdue	3	2	0	1	5	5	0	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Boston College	3	1	1	1	7	7	0	4	-
3	Kennesaw St.	3	1	1	1	5	7	−2	4	-
4	Texas Tech	3	1	0	2	8	6	+2	3	-

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UC Davis	3	3	0	0	4	0	+4	9	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Illinois – B	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4	-
3	Villanova	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3	3	-
4	St. Edward's	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2	1	-

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Utah Valley	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	5	Advanced to knockout stage
2	SUNY-Brockport	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1	5	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Colorado	3	1	0	2	1	4	−3	3
4	Arkansas	3	0	2	1	1	1	0	2

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cal State Fullerton	3	2	0	0	5	4	+1	6	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Kansas State	3	1	1	1	2	3	−1	4	-
3	Denver	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4	-
4	JMU	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2	-

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Women's open

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Southern Cal	3	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Vermont	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Miami	3	1	0	2	5	4	+1	3
4	St. Edward's	3	0	0	3	1	11	−10	0

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Boston College	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Oregon	3	2	0	1	8	1	+6	6	-
3	Rice	3	0	2	1	1	3	−2	2	-
4	Vanderbilt	3	0	1	2	0	9	−8	1	-

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UCLA	3	2	1	0	7	0	+7	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Penn	3	2	0	1	4	4	0	6	-
3	UCF	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4	-
4	UW-Milwaukee	3	0	0	3	0	7	−7	0	-

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	UC-Berkeley	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Northeastern	3	1	2	0	4	0	+4	5	-
3	TCU	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4	-
4	Denver	3	0	0	3	0	8	−8	0	-

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Tournament bracket

Women's open

Source: