The 2005 NIRSA national soccer championship, also referred to as the NIRSA Collegiate Soccer Sport Club championship, was the 12th NIRSA National Soccer Championships, the annual national championships for United States-based, collegiate club soccer teams organized by NIRSA. It took place at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama from Thursday, November 17 to Saturday, November 19, 2005.
Overview This tournament marked the first year back following the initial cancellation of the previous tournament with only the men's championship declaring a winner in a rescheduled event.
Men's championship In finals, two teams would make their finals debuts in Colorado and Vanderbilt. Prior to this, both teams were coming off quarterfinals defeats the previous tournament. In the group stage, Colorado beat Dayton 4–1 in their opener then defeat UTEP 3–1 to top their group. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt would beat 1994 champions, Purdue, 1–0 then beat 2000 champions, Penn State, 1–0 to also top their group.
In the knockout round, Colorado would beat Missouri 4–1 in the sweet 16 then would beat Penn State 2–0 in the quarterfinals while Vanderbilt would beat Northern Iowa 5–0 in the sweet 16, then concede their first goal of the tournament in a 3–1 win over Dayton. In the first semifinals for both teams, Colorado would defeat reigning champions, Texas A&M, 3–1 while Vanderbilt would beat 2002 champions and regional champions, Weber State, 3–1 to advance to their first finals.
In the finals, Vanderbilt would concede a penalty in the first half that Eric Bjork of Colorado would score to give Colorado a 1–0 lead. Colorado would hold this lead until eventual all-tournament member Nick Van Buecken would inadvertently handle the ball in his own box in the final minute of regulation to give Vanderbilt a penalty that they would convert tying the game at 1–1 and force the game to go into two ten-minute sudden victory overtime periods. In overtime, Nick Van Buecken would make-up for his previous mistake when he assisted eventual tournament MVP Chris Brosz with a cross into the box in overtime. The game would instantly end with this goal, giving Colorado their first national championship in overtime.
Women's championship In the finals, two of the previous year's co-champions, Colorado State and Michigan, were both looking to claim their 4th national title and join Colorado as the team with the most titles at 4. In the group stage, both teams would struggle and finish second in their group. Colorado State would lose their opener to a fellow reigning co-champion UC-Santa Barbara 1–2 then would win their second match against Texas A&M 2–1 and finally, a 1–1 tie against Illinois would be enough to advance to the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Michigan would win their opener 2–1 against Delaware, then would lose to eventual group winners Texas 1–0, and finally would win their finale against UCLA 1–0.
In the knockout round, Colorado State would win their quarterfinal match against Florida 2–1 then would win their semifinal matchup against Texas 4–0. Meanwhile, Michigan would beat Arizona 2–1 in the quarterfinals then would face fellow reigning co-champion Colorado. Following a 1–1 draw and a scoreless overtime, penalties would be required to determine the winner. In the shootout, senior captain for Michigan, Bre Bennett saved all three of Colorado's attempts, meaning the three makes for Michigan would be enough to advance to the finals. In the finals, Colorado would score first but junior captain Dana Restrick tied the game at 1–1 with six minutes to play. The game would remain tied 1–1 at the end of regulation meaning two ten-minute sudden victory overtime periods would be required to determine a winner. In overtime, freshman striker, Katie Miller of Michigan, would score immediately ending the game at 2–1 and giving Michigan their fourth national title. Following this, Katie Miller would be named the tournament's MVP and eventually would make Michigan's varsity roster following a February 2006 tryout, becoming the team's first player that originated from the club team.
Men's open In the finals, 2000 men's open finalist, Oregon, were looking to claim their first national title against men's open finals debutants UC-Berkeley. Both teams would win all three group stage games with Oregon beating SE Louisiana 2–0, UW-Eau Claire 4–0, then finally Georgia Tech 2–0 while UC-Berkeley would beat UW-Stout 2–0, Georgia Southern 3–1, then North Dakota State 2–0. In the quarterfinals, Oregon would beat Georgia Southern 2–0 and UC-Berkeley would beat Georgia Tech 4–3 in overtime. In the semifinals, Oregon would beat Arizona 5–1 while UC-Berkeley would beat Alabama 3–2. In the finals, Oregon would win 2–0 and claim their first national title. Oregon's Brian Mikalaitis would be named tournament MVP.
Women's open In the finals, 2000 women's open championship, Virginia, would face in-state rival and 1997 women's open champion, Virginia Tech. In the group stage, despite winning their second match against Miami 1–0 and their finale against Colorado State's "Green" team 3–1, Virginia would finish second in their group due to a 3–3 draw in their opener and a lost coin flip to group winners Cornell. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech would be in one of the three groups that only had 3 teams and would finish with 9 points following a 2–0 win over Virginia Tech and a 1–0 win over Colorado's "Black" team. In the quarterfinals, Virginia would beat 2003's open division finalist Kansas 2–1 while Virginia Tech would beat Iowa State 1–0. In the semifinals, Virginia would beat Colorado's "Black" team 2–0 while Virginia Tech would beat Cornell 2–1. In the finals, Virginia would score the lone goal in a 1–0 win over Virginia Tech to claim their second open title, the first women's team to do so. Virginia's Lauren Nuffer would be named tournament MVP.
Format The competition consisted of 72 teams: 40 championship teams and 32 open teams. The divisions were further divided into a men's and women's division: 24 men's and 16 women's teams in the championship division as well as 16 men's and 16 women's teams in the open division. The divisions were then further divided into groups: eight groups of three teams in the men's championship then four teams of four teams in the remaining 3 divisions.
All four divisions engaged in a round-robin tournament that determined teams able to advance to a knockout stage. Each team played every other team in their group once in pool play which consisted of two 40-minute halves separated by a seven-minute halftime and utilized the three points for a win system. After pool play, the two highest ranked teams from each group advanced to their respective knockout stage, with the third placed team in the men's championship advancing to a consolation bracket while the third and fourth placed teams in the other divisions were eliminated. 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 Most goals scored
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 4 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 with the round of 16 and quarterfinals separated by a seven-minute halftime and the semifinals and finals had a ten-minute halftime. Knockout stage games needed to declare a winner, therefore if a game was tied at the end of regulation in the round of sixteen or quarterfinals, no more than two five-minute sudden victory overtime periods would be played, while in the semifinals and finals, no more than two ten-minute sudden victory overtime periods would be played. Teams would change ends after the conclusion of the first overtime 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 the Men's Championship Division and two automatic bids for the Women's Championship Division. The final 6 bids for the Men's Championship Division and final 4 bids for the Women's Championship were given out by NIRSA to teams, typically based on their regional tournament results and RPI.
The remaining teams participated in the open division, chosen on a first-come first-serve basis via online registration beginning on September 6, 2005, with a max of 16 teams per gender division.
Men's championship +Participating teamsRegionTeamAppearanceLast BidICornell6th2004IPenn State6th2001IDelaware4th2004IPenn2nd2004IINorth Carolina5th2004IIVanderbilt3rd2004IIVirginia3rd2003IIVirginia Tech3rd2000IIIPurdue7th2003IIIIllinois6th2003IIIMichigan5th2003IIIDayton2nd2004IVTexas10th2004IVTexas A&M6th2004IVMissouri1stNeverIVNorth Texas1stNeverIVUTEP1stNeverVColorado State9th2004VColorado7th2004VNorthern Iowa1stNeverVIWeber State7th2004VIUtah Valley State4th2004VIUC Santa Barabara3rd2004VISan Diego1stNever
Women's championship +Participating teamsRegionTeamAppearanceLast BidIPenn State11th2004IDelaware5th2004IIJMU9th2004IIFlorida6th2004IIIMichigan7th2004IIIPurdue7th2003IIIIllinois6th2001IIIDayton2nd1997IVTexas A&M8th2004IVTexas7th2003IVRutgers1stNeverVColorado11th2004VColorado State9th2004VIUC-Santa Barbara6th2004VIArizona2nd2001VIUCLA1stNever
Men's open RegionNumTeamI1UConnII5Alabama, UCF, Florida State, Georgia Southern, Georgia TechIII2UW-Eau Claire, UW-StoutIV2UL-Lafayette, Southeastern LouisianaV2Colorado, North Dakota StateVI4Arizona, Arizona State, UC-Berkeley, Oregon
Women's open RegionNumTeamI1CornellII5UCF, MTSU, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia TechIII2Miami (OH), Michigan StateIV4LSU, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas TechV2Colorado, Colorado StateVI2UC-Berkeley, San Diego State
Group stage
Men's championship +Group APosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Colorado220072 +56Advanced to knockout stage2Dayton210134 −133Texas-El Paso200215 −40Consolation
+Group BPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Illinois211020 +24Advanced to knockout stage2UC-Santa Barbara210112 −133North Carolina201101 −11Consolation
+Group CPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Weber State210164 +23Advanced to knockout stage2North Texas210199033Virginia210146 −23Consolation
+Group DPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Texas211043 +14Advanced to knockout stage2Missouri210154 +133Delaware201124 −21Consolation
+Group EPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Vanderbilt220020 +26Advanced to knockout stage2Penn State201123 −113Purdue201123 −11Consolation
+Group FPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1San Diego211032 +14Advanced to knockout stage2Colorado State210133033Penn201123 −11Consolation
+Group GPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Texas A&M220050 +56Advanced to knockout stage2Michigan210141 +333Virginia Tech200208 −80Consolation
+Group HPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Utah Valley State211052 +34Advanced to knockout stage2Northern Iowa211032 +143Cornell200204 −40Consolation
Women's championship +Group APosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Florida330060 +69Advanced to knockout stage2Colorado320152 +363Dayton310238 −534Rutgers300337 −40
+Group BPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1UC Santa Barabara330091 +89Advanced to knockout stage2Colorado State311144043Texas A&M310224 −234Illinois301217 −61