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 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 (OH) 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 playThe 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 (only could occur in open division) 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 YouTube 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 +Automatic bidsRegionTeamAppearanceLast BidIPenn State14th2013IDelaware10th2014ICornell8th2006IIVirginia Tech8th2014IIFlorida State2nd2014IIUCF2nd2010IIIMichigan12th2013IIICincinnati4th2014IIIWisconsin1stNeverIVTexas17th2014IVTexas A&M16th2014IVUTEP4th2014VMinnesota12th2012VColorado Mines5th2014VIowa State2nd2014VIWeber State14th2013VICal Poly7th2014VIUC-Berkeley5th2011 +At-large bidsRegionTeamAppearanceLast BidIINorth Carolina11th2011IIIIllinois13th2014IIILoyola-Chicago1stNeverIVMissouri8th2013VColorado State18th2014VIUCLA5th2012
Women's championship +Automatic bidRegionTeamAppearanceLast BidIPenn State20th2014IDelaware13th2014IPitt6th2014IIFlorida13th2014IIVirginia Tech14th2013IINorth Carolina12th2014IIIOhio State15th2014IIIMichigan16th2013IIIIllinois11th2014IVTexas16th2014IVTexas A&M16th2014IVKansas6th2014VColorado21st2014VColorado State19th2014VColorado Mines4th2014VIUC-Santa Barbara15th2014VIArizona8th2011VICal Poly5th2013 +At-large bidsRegionTeamAppearanceLast BidICornell9th2014IIIMiami (OH)15th2014IIIMichigan State12th2014IVWash U2nd2011VICal State – Long Beach1stNeverVINorthern Arizona1stNever Source:
Men's lottery selection Full men's lottery selectionsRegionTeamSelection TypeBid resultIVillanovaAutomaticAcceptedIUConnAutomaticAcceptedISUNY BrockportAutomaticAcceptedIBoston CollegeAutomaticAcceptedIStony BrookWaitlistAccepted from waitlistITowsonWaitlistNot givenIWest PointWaitlistNot givenIPenn StateWaitlistChampionshipIGeorge MasonWaitlistNot givenIIMary WashingtonAutomaticNot acceptedIIUCFAutomaticChampionshipIIJMUAutomaticAcceptedIIGeorgia CollegeAutomaticAcceptedIIKennesaw StateWaitlistAccepted from waitlistIIOld DominionWaitlistNot acceptedIIIPurdueAutomaticAcceptedIIIIllinoisAutomaticAcceptedIIIUW-MilwaukeeAutomaticAcceptedIIICincinnatiAutomaticNot acceptedIVBaylorAutomaticNot acceptedIVArkansasAutomaticAcceptedIVTexas TechAutomaticAcceptedIVMissouriAutomaticChampionshipIVSt. EdwardsWaitlistAccepted from waitlistIVKansas StateWaitlistAccepted from waitlistIVTexasWaitlistAccepted from waitlistIVLSUWaitlistNot givenVColorado MinesAutomaticAcceptedVColoradoAutomaticAcceptedVColorado State-PuebloAutomaticAcceptedVDenverAutomaticAcceptedVIOregonAutomaticAcceptedVICal State-FullertonAutomaticAcceptedVIUtah ValleyAutomaticAcceptedVIWashington StateAutomaticNot acceptedVIOregon StateWaitlistNot acceptedVIUC-DavisWaitlistAccepted from waitlistVIUC BerkeleyWaitlistChampionshipVINorthern ArizonaWaitlistNot givenVIUCLAWaitlistChampionshipVIUC-San DiegoWaitlistNot given +Participating teamsRegionTeamSelection TypeBid resultIVillanovaAutomaticAcceptedIUConnAutomaticAcceptedISUNY BrockportAutomaticAcceptedIBoston CollegeAutomaticAcceptedIStony BrookWaitlistAccepted from waitlistIIJMUAutomaticAcceptedIIGeorgia CollegeAutomaticAcceptedIIKennesaw StateWaitlistAccepted from waitlistIIIPurdueAutomaticAcceptedIIIIllinoisAutomaticAcceptedIIIUW-MilwaukeeAutomaticAcceptedIVArkansasAutomaticAcceptedIVTexas TechAutomaticAcceptedIVSt. EdwardsWaitlistAccepted from waitlistIVKansas StateWaitlistAccepted from waitlistIVTexasWaitlistAccepted from waitlistVColorado MinesAutomaticAcceptedVColoradoAutomaticAcceptedVColorado State-PuebloAutomaticAcceptedVDenverAutomaticAcceptedVIOregonAutomaticAcceptedVICal State-FullertonAutomaticAcceptedVIUtah ValleyAutomaticAcceptedVIUC-DavisWaitlistAccepted from waitlist
Women's lottery selection