KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship qualifiers for the 30th annual event. The 31-team championship will get underway with the National Championship Opening Round at 15 campus locations on Nov. 23. The 15 Opening Round winners, as well as host Mobile (Ala.), will advance to the national championship final site in Orange Beach, Ala. The Orange Beach Sportsplex houses the 16 teams from Dec. 2 – 7.
The national championship bracket will be released Monday at 2 p.m. CST via a graphical video show. Go to www.NAIA.org for more details.
Defending national champion Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) earned its 15th-consecutive trip after winning the Mid-South Conference tournament title. The Blue Raiders, who claimed their third all-time championship crown in 2012, are one of four teams in the field with at least one banner. Westmont (Calif.), an at-large selection out of the Golden State Athletic Conference, boasts the most national crowns among the field with five.
Two squads punched a ticket to their first-ever national championship after winning their respective conference crowns – Columbia (Mo.) and Our Lady of the Lake (Texas). The Cougars finished the year with a 16-2-1 record and claimed the America Midwest Conference’s automatic bid with a 2-0 win over Park (Mo.) on Nov. 14. Our Lady of the Lake – 16-2-1 on the season – won the Red River Athletic Conference crown almost one week prior with a 2-1 victory against Texas at Brownsville.
This year’s 31 teams include 24 automatic qualifiers – awarded to conference, independent, and unaffiliated group tournament and regular-season champions – six at-large bids and one host berth. There are 17 teams that qualified for the 2012 championship and are back again this year.
The six at-large teams were selected based on the final official NAIA Women’s Soccer Modified Ratings Percentage Index (MRPI). The MRPI consists of the team’s modified winning percentage, their opponents’ winning percentage and the cumulative ratings points from the NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. Each of the three values has a weighted percentage calculated in the MRPI. The MRPI modifies the value of home, away and neutral results, and adds more value for games against opponents ranked in their respective national poll. To view the final MRPI, please click here.
Five of this year’s qualifiers have made 10-or-more national championship appearances, led by Westmont with 16. Lindsey Wilson is second with 15 trips to the event, while Concordia (Ore.) is third with 13. Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and Martin Methodist (Tenn.), who each have punched a ticket 10 times, round out the group.
NeuLion, the NAIA’s official video streaming company, will be broadcasting all final site games of the 2013 Women’s Soccer National Championship in Orange Beach, Ala. Single day packages can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-tournament pass is available for $29.95. For more information and to pre-register, click here.
2013 NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship Qualifiers
|
School |
Qualification |
Record^ |
Appearances |
Last Time |
NC Record |
Titles |
|
Asbury (Ky.) |
Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
11-8-0 |
2nd |
2009 |
0-1-0 |
0 |
|
Bellevue (Neb.) |
Midlands Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
10-7-3 |
4th |
2012 |
0-2-1 |
0 |
|
Cal State San Marcos |
Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion |
11-5-1 |
5th |
2012 |
1-4-0 |
0 |
|
Columbia (Mo.) |
American Midwest Tournament Champion |
16-2-1 |
1st |
N/A |
0-0-0 |
0 |
|
Concordia (Calif.) |
Golden State Athletic Tournament Champion |
16-0-3 |
2nd |
2011 |
0-0-1 |
0 |
|
Concordia (Ore.) |
Cascade Collegiate Tournament Champion |
17-1-1 |
13th |
2012 |
23-12-2 |
0 |
|
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
At-Large No. 4 |
15-3-1 |
2nd |
2012 |
1-1-0 |
0 |
|
Davenport (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Tournament Champion |
17-2-1 |
2nd |
2012 |
0-1-0 |
0 |
|
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 2 |
14-4-1 |
10th |
2012 |
5-9-0 |
0 |
|
Graceland (Iowa) |
Heart of America Athletic Tournament Champion |
13-5-3 |
8th |
2012 |
6-5-4 |
0 |
|
Hastings (Neb.) |
Great Plains Athletic Tournament Champion |
16-4-1 |
4th |
2011 |
3-3-2 |
0 |
|
John Brown (Ark.) |
Sooner Athletic Tournament Champion |
14-3-3 |
3rd |
2010 |
0-2-0 |
0 |
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
Mid-South Tournament Champion |
18-3-0 |
15th |
2012 |
28-12-1 |
3 |
|
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) |
Southern States Athletic Tournament Runner-Up |
15-5-1 |
10th |
2012 |
14-5-3 |
2 |
|
Mobile (Ala.) |
National Championship Final Site Host |
10-8-2 |
8th |
2012 |
12-5-1 |
1 |
|
Northwood (Fla.) |
The Sun Regular Season Champion |
14-1-1 |
8th |
2012 |
5-7-0 |
0 |
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
At-Large No. 6 |
16-3-2 |
4th |
2012 |
4-2-2 |
0 |
|
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
Red River Athletic Tournament Champion |
16-2-1 |
1st |
N/A |
0-0-0 |
0 |
|
Ottawa (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
13-6-2 |
3rd |
2011 |
0-2-0 |
0 |
|
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
Appalachian Athletic Tournament Champion |
15-3-2 |
2nd |
2011 |
0-1-0 |
0 |
|
Robert Morris (Ill.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Regular Season Champion |
13-4-1 |
8th |
2012 |
7-6-1 |
0 |
|
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
Crossroads League Tournament Champion |
18-2-1 |
5th |
2012 |
3-4-1 |
0 |
|
St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
Midwest Collegiate Tournament Champion |
14-4-1 |
3rd |
2011 |
0-2-0 |
0 |
|
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
The Sun Tournament Champion |
16-1-1 |
5th |
2000 |
1-6-0 |
0 |
|
The Master's (Calif.) |
At-Large No. 5 |
15-5-0 |
2nd |
2010 |
1-1-0 |
0 |
|
Trinity International (Ill.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
13-5-3 |
4th |
2001 |
0-4-0 |
0 |
|
Vanguard (Calif.) |
At-Large No. 3 |
15-4-0 |
3rd |
2012 |
2-1-1 |
0 |
|
Westminster (Utah) |
Unaffiliated Group (Frontier/GCAC/North Star) Tournament Champion |
11-7-2 |
2nd |
2011 |
0-1-0 |
0 |
|
Westmont (Calif.) |
At-Large No. 1 |
15-1-3 |
16th |
2012 |
28-6-6 |
5 |
|
William Carey (Miss.) |
Southern States Athletic Tournament Champion |
17-4-0 |
6th |
2012 |
5-5-1 |
0 |
|
William Jessup (Calif.) |
California Pacific Athletic Tournament Champion |
14-6-0 |
3rd |
2010 |
0-2-0 |
0 |