KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the 31 qualifiers for the 2014 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round. The Opening Rounds are comprised of 15 matches at various campus sites on
Nov. 22, with the 15 winners joining Northwood (Fla.) – the final site host – at the national championship in Delray Beach, Fla. The 56th annual national championship will occur
Dec. 1 – 6 at the Seacrest Soccer Complex in Delray Beach, Fla.
The Men’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round pairings and bracket will be unveiled via a live broadcast event
on Monday at 2 p.m. CST. That can be found at NAIANetwork.com
The 31 teams are comprised of 22 automatic qualifiers—which earned berths by winning conference, independent and unaffiliated group tournament or regular-season titles—and eight at-large teams—selected by the final Modified Ratings Percentage Index (MRPI), announced today. The 31st team, Northwood, earns an Opening Round bye and will play in Delray Beach, Fla.
There are 19 repeat qualifiers from last year. Conversely, there are three first-timers, that include Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.), Marymount (Calif.) and Northwestern Ohio. St. Andrews (N.C.), winners of the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament, is snapping the longest drought of this year’s qualifiers – the Knights last made a trip in 1968.
Lindsey Wilson, with a 14-2-2 record, is riding an NAIA-record 21-straight championship trips. The Blue Raiders, champions of the Mid-South Conference Tournament, hold NAIA championship all-time bests in overall postseason wins (51) and is second in overall appearances (22) and national championship titles (9). Another team with postseason experience, Rio Grande (Ohio) has advanced to the National Championship in each of the past 14 seasons, which is the second-longest active NAIA streak. Rio Grande won one national title in 2003.
Six teams will be playing in the championship for at least the 10th occasion, led by the NAIA-record 22 trips by Lindsey Wilson. Also included in that bunch is Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) (13), Grand View (Iowa) (10), Hastings (Neb.) (10), Mobile (Ala.) (17), Rio Grande (14).
The Heart of America Athletic Conference and the Southern States Athletic Conference each claim three teams in the National Championship Opening Round field, which is the most of any of the 21 conferences/unaffiliated groupings or the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.). The A.I.I., Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference, The Sun Conference and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference each landed a pair of teams in the event.
Texas at Brownsville is the only undefeated team remaining in NAIA men’s and women’s soccer – the Ocelots are 20-0-0 heading into the opening round. Texas at Brownsville is just the seventh program in any level of NAIA or NCAA men’s soccer to have zero losses on the year (3 – NCAA Division II; 3 – NCAA Division III). Indiana Wesleyan is enjoying the second-longest active NAIA win streak at 17-straight wins – the last loss occurred on
Aug. 29 against Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.), 2-1.
Four programs in this year’s event have won at least one national championship ring, led by the nine of Lindsey Wilson. In addition to the Blue Raiders, Bethel (Tenn.) (2008), Mobile (2002) and Rio Grande (2003) own one banner each. The defending national champion, Martin Methodist (Tenn.), did not qualify for this year’s event.
The eight at-large berths were awarded based on the final NAIA Men’s Soccer MRPI. The MRPI consists of the team’s modified winning percentage, their opponent’s winning percentage and the cumulative ratings points from the NAIA Men’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/neutral results and adds more value for games against opponents ranked in their respective national poll. To view the final MRPI, click
here.
The eight at-large teams include (by at-large seed): Ashford (Iowa), Missouri Valley, Auburn Montgomery, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Oklahoma Wesleyan, Mobile, Northwestern Ohio and Kansas Wesleyan.
NAIANetwork.com, the NAIA’s official video-streaming home, will broadcast all 15 matches live at the 2014 Men’s Soccer National Championship final site in Delray Beach. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, will include live statistics, social media interaction and be available on mobile-friendly devices. Single-championship packages can be purchased for $20, while an all-season pass (up to 17 championships during the 2014-15 season) is available for $75. For more information and to pre-register, click
here.
2014 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship Qualifiers (31)
|
School |
Record |
Qualification |
NC Record |
Apps^ |
Last Time |
Titles |
|
Ashford (Iowa) |
10-1-6 |
At-Large No. 1 |
4-2-1 |
4th |
2013 |
|
|
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) |
13-5-1 |
At-Large No. 3 |
21-10-3 |
13th |
2013 |
|
|
Baker (Kan.) |
9-8-3 |
Heart of America Athletic Tournament Champion |
5-5-1 |
7th |
2013 |
|
|
Bellevue (Neb.) |
14-2-2 |
Midlands Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
1-3-0 |
4th |
2013 |
|
|
Bethel (Tenn.) |
11-5-1 |
Southern States Athletic Tournament Champion |
9-3-1 |
6th |
2011 |
1 |
|
Corban (Ore.) |
12-7-1 |
Cascade Collegiate Tournament Champion |
0-1-0 |
2nd |
2013 |
|
|
Davenport (Mich.) |
18-3-0 |
Wolverine-Hoosier Tournament Champion |
0-2-0 |
3rd |
2013 |
|
|
Georgia Gwinnett |
12-2-2 |
Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion |
0-1-0 |
2nd |
2013 |
|
|
Grand View (Iowa) |
16-2-1 |
Midwest Collegiate Tournament Champion |
6-9-0 |
10th |
2013 |
|
|
Hastings (Neb.) |
17-2-2 |
Great Plains Athletic Tournament Champion |
16-6-3 |
10th |
2012 |
|
|
Indiana Wesleyan |
18-1-0 |
Crossroads League Tournament Champion |
1-1-0 |
2nd |
2013 |
|
|
Judson (Ill.) |
13-3-2 |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Regular-Season Runner-Up |
2-6-0 |
7th |
2008 |
|
|
Kansas Wesleyan |
15-3-2 |
At-Large No. 8 |
0-5-0 |
6th |
2013 |
|
|
Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) |
16-1-1 |
American Midwest Tournament Champion |
|
1st |
|
|
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
14-2-2 |
Mid-South Tournament Champion |
51-12-4 |
22nd |
2013 |
9 |
|
Marymount (Calif.) |
14-4-1 |
California Pacific Tournament Champion |
` |
1st |
|
|
|
McPherson (Kan.) |
14-3-2 |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
0-1-0 |
2nd |
2008 |
|
|
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
12-3-2 |
At-Large No. 4 |
3-4-3 |
5th |
2013 |
|
|
Missouri Valley |
14-4-0 |
At-Large No. 2 |
1-4-0 |
5th |
2013 |
|
|
Mobile (Ala.) |
13-3-3 |
At-Large No. 6 |
25-15-2 |
17th |
2012 |
1 |
|
Northwestern Ohio |
15-4-1 |
At-Large No. 7 |
|
1st |
|
|
|
Northwood (Fla.) |
8-4-3 |
Final Site Host Berth |
1-1-2 |
3rd |
2008 |
|
|
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
14-4-2 |
At-Large No. 5 |
2-3-0 |
4th |
2013 |
|
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
15-5-0 |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Regular-Season Champion |
1-2-1 |
4th |
2013 |
|
|
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
15-1-2 |
Unaffiliated Group (KIAC/GCAC) Tournament Champion |
22-10-2 |
14th |
2013 |
1 |
|
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
11-9-0 |
Unaffiliated Group (Frontier/North Star) Tournament Champion |
0-2-0 |
3rd |
2013 |
|
|
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
17-3-0 |
Sooner Athletic Tournament Champion |
5-5-0 |
6th |
2013 |
|
|
St. Andrews (N.C.) |
16-1-1 |
Appalachian Athletic Tournament Champion |
1-2-0 |
2nd |
1968 |
|
|
Texas at Brownsville |
20-0-0 |
Red River Athletic Tournament Champion |
0-3-1 |
5th |
2011 |
|
|
Thomas (Ga.) |
15-2-3 |
The Sun Tournament Champion |
0-1-0 |
2nd |
2013 |
|
|
Vanguard (Calif.) |
13-6-1 |
Golden State Athletic Tournament Champion |
1-1-0 |
2nd |
2010 |
|
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^ - includes 2014 championship |
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