The 2016 NCAA Division I men's soccer championship game was the final game of the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, determining the national champion for the 2016 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The match was played on December 11, 2016, at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas, a soccer-specific stadium that is home to Major League Soccer club, Houston Dynamo. Stanford of the Pac-12 Conference won the match, and successfully defended their national championship. Stanford defeated Wake Forest of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The crowd of 6,315 saw the match decided on penalty kicks, where Stanford prevailed on a 5–4 scoreline, following a 0–0 draw in regulation and overtime. The title was Stanford's second ever title, in their fourth-ever appearance. It was Wake Forest's second appearance in the final.
Both teams were seeded in the NCAA Tournament, meaning they bypassed the first round of the tournament, and entered into the second round of play. Wake Forest was seeded second in the tournament, while Stanford was seeded fifth. Wake Forest and Stanford entered the tournament as their respective conference champions. Wake Forest had won their first ACC Men's Soccer Tournament since 1989, and their second altogether. The Pac-12 Conference does not have a conference tournament, so the regular season champions are also crowned the conference champions. Stanford won their third-straight Pac-12 title, and their fourth title overall. Wake Forest secured its place in the final by defeating Coastal Carolina, SIU Edwardsville, Virginia Tech and Denver. Stanford reached the final with victories over Pacific, Virginia, Louisville, and North Carolina.
Road to the final
The NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champion. The tournament has been formally held since 1959, when it was an eight-team tournament. Since then, the tournament has expanded to 48 teams, in which every Division I conference tournament champion is allocated a berth. It was Wake Forest's first appearance since 2007, which they won. Stanford entered the final as the defending champion, winning their first ever national title in their first NCAA final appearance. It was the Cardinal's fourth NCAA championship appearance, finishing as runners-up in 1998 and 2002.
Wake Forest
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons entered the NCAA Tournament as the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season champions, the Atlantic Division divisional champions as well as the conference tournament champions. The Demon Deacons amassed a conference record of five wins, one loss and two draws (5–1–2), and an overall regular season record of twelve wins, two losses and three draws (12–2–3). The Deacons began the season ranked fifth nationally, but suffered a shock 1–0 home loss to the unranked Saint Louis Billikens in their season opener. The loss caused the Demon Deacons to fall from fifth in the national polls to 21st. However, following the home loss to the Billikens, Wake Forest went on a four-match winning streak, and a nine-match undefeated streak. During this run, Wake Forest picked up notable victories against the 17th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers and two major road victories at Duke and Davidson.
During this win streak, the Deacons ascended from number 21 in the nation, to reach number 10 in the nation. Their nine-match undefeated streak ended with a 1–0 away loss at number five, Clemson. The Deacons rebounded from the loss by picking up a critical away point by tying the top-ranked Notre Dame, 2–2. Despite failing to beat either Clemson or Notre Dame, Wake Forest jumped in the NSCAA polls from eleventh to seventh. Following the loss at Clemson and the draw at Notre Dame, the Deacons would go on to win their next four matches. This included a home win against the then-second ranked, Louisville, a major non-conference away win at number 21, South Carolina, as well as an ACC conference-play win at home against then-number 18, Boston College. The Deacons concluded the regular season with a 1–1 road draw at the sixth-ranked Syracuse on October 28.
Wake Forest qualified for the 2016 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament as the number two seed. The Deacons earned a bye to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament where they hosted Notre Dame on November 6. A 74th-minute goal from Wake Forest midfielder, Jacori Hayes, proved to be the difference in the match, giving the Deacons a 1–0 win over the Irish. In the semifinals, Wake Forest hosted the three-seed, Louisville. Wake Forest struck first in the match, with Hayden Partain netting the opening goal of the contest in the 29th minute. Louisville's Tim Kübel scored on the near side of the Wake Forest defense with 50 seconds remaining in regulation, in order to force sudden death overtime. Ninety seconds into the first overtime period, Wake Forest's Jon Bakero lead a counterattack and fed a pass to striker, Ema Twumasi, who scored the golden goal to allow the Deacons to advance to the ACC Championship.
Wake Forest played against Clemson in the 2016 ACC Men's Soccer Championship Game. The match was held at the neutral site, MUSC Health Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. The soccer-specific stadium serves regularly as the home ground for United Soccer League side, Charleston Battery. In the match, the Deacons roared out to a quick start, scoring three goals in the first half. Deacons captain, Ian Harkes, the son of former U.S. international, John Harkes, scored the opening goal in 24th minute. Nine minutes later, Partain netted a second goal to give the Deacons a 2–0 lead. Shortly before halftime, Steven Echvarria scored a third goal for Wake Forest to give the Deacons a 3–0 lead going into halftime. In the second half Clemson defender, Tanner Dieterich, scored a consolation goal to prevent a shutout, but the 3–1 scoreline proved to be the final result. It was Wake Forest's first ACC championship since 1989.
The ACC title gave the Deacons an automatic berth in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The Deacons earned the number two overall seed in the tournament, and thus, earned a bye to the second round of the competition. Wake Forest played Coastal Carolina in the second round, where they advanced by winning 2–0 over the Chanticleers. Luis Argudo and Hayden Partain scored the Deacons' two goals of the match. Wake Forest hosted SIU Edwardsville in the Sweet Sixteen of the tournament, where the Deacons won 2–1. Wake Forest roared out to a quick start thanks to a third-minute goal by Bakero; however, SIU Edwardsville tied the match thanks to a goal by Austin Ledbetter in the 41st minute. Bakero scored a second half goal for the Deacons to secure victory and send Wake Forest to the quarterfinals. There, the Deacons hosted fellow ACC rival, Virginia Tech, who were making their first NCAA quarterfinal and overall tournament appearance since 2007. In front of 3,410 people at Spry Stadium, Wake Forest's Twumasi two late goals to give the Deacons a 2–0 victory over the Hokies to send them into the College Cup.
Wake Forest played against the sixth-seeded Denver in the semifinals. Denver, who had their best collegiate campaign since 1970, had not lost a match in regulation or overtime in a record 35 matches. The Pioneers had a season record of 20 wins, no losses and 3 draws heading into the College Cup. While the Pioneers played in the considerably weaker Summit League, the program had several major non-conference results including victories over the then-ranked Butler, Rutgers, New Mexico and Portland. Again, in the match, Wake Forest scored quickly into the game with Jon Bakero scoring in the seventh minute. The lead was short lived, as Denver's Andre Shinyashiki tied the match just 10 minutes later. The match would remain 1–1 until overtime. In the second period of overtime, Ian Harkes netted a goal in the bottom left corner off a counterattack to seal the Deacons' first NCAA championship appearance in nearly 10 years.
Stanford
The Stanford Cardinal entered the tournament as the defending national champions. During the regular season, the Cardinal amassed a conference record of eight wins, one draw and one loss. The record was good enough to have the best Pac-12 conference regular season, which doubled as the Pac-12 championship. Stanford secured their fourth Pac-12 title, and their third-consecutive conference championship with a 3–0 away victory at Oregon State on October 27.
Entering the 2016 season, the Cardinal were ranked first in the nation in the NSCAA Poll. Ahead of the regular season, Stanford played two in-state colleges in exhibitions, picking up a 5–0 win at home against Sacramento State and a 2–1 win at Cal Poly. The regular season however, began slowly for Stanford, as the Cardinal failed to pick up a win in their first four matches. Stanford were forced to settle with two home draws against Penn State and Saint Mary's. Following their 0–0–2 start to the season, the Cardinal dropped from first to fifteenth in the polls. In their third and fourth games of the season, Stanford traveled out to Indiana to participate in the early season Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic tournament. There, the Cardinal had a loss to the fourth-ranked, Notre Dame and a draw against the seventh-ranked, Indiana.
Despite these results, Stanford remained ranked at number 25, and managed to go on a three-match win streak, which allowed the Cardinal to rise modestly to 23rd in the nation. In a road match against unranked San Francisco, the Cardinal had their second loss of the season, losing by a 1–2 scoreline against the Dons. The Cardinal became unranked for the first time since 2013 the following week. Entering Pac-12 play, the Cardinal went on a good run of form going undefeated for their next eight matches. The streak saw Stanford improve their overall record to 10–2–4, and their conference record to 7–0–1, causing them to ascend to number nine in the nation. The Cardinal would eventually have a loss at home to number 16, Washington, but would remain ranked in the top 10 as they finished off Pac-12 play.
Stanford earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament by the virtue of winning the Pac-12 regular season, which doubled as the championship. Their Rating Percentage Index and the quality of their wins allowed the Cardinal to earn the fifth overall seed in the tournament, and thus earn a bye to the second round of the competition. In the second round, Stanford hosted nearby University of the Pacific. Goals from Foster Langsdorf and Tomas Hilliard-Arce secured a 2–0 victory for the Cardinal. Langsdorf would end up being the winning goalscorer in the Cardinal's third round matchup against the 12th-seeded, Virginia. A golden goal broke the scoreless stalemate, and gave Stanford 1–0 victory over the Cavaliers.
For the quarterfinals, the Cardinal took on their second ACC opponent of the tournament, and traveled to Kentucky to take on the Louisville Cardinals. Langsdorf would prove to be the hero again for Stanford, scoring in the 64th minute. Stanford midfielder, Sam Werner, would add an insurance goal in the 79th minute to give Stanford a 2–0 away win at Louisville and secure their spot in the College Cup. There, Stanford took on their third straight ACC opponent, North Carolina. The match, also played at BBVA Compass Stadium ended in a scoreless draw after regulation and two overtime periods. After a marathon of penalty kicks, Stanford prevailed when Alex Comsia missed his penalty kick in the 10th round of the shootout. It allowed Stanford to win the penalty shoot-out, 10–9 and advance to their second straight national championship.
Pre-match
Venue selection