Men's Soccer Opening Round Qualifiers Announced - Cascade Collegiate Conference Skip To Main Content

Cascade Collegiate Conference

Men's Soccer Opening Round Qualifiers Announced

Men's Soccer Opening Round Qualifiers Announced

Bookmark and Share

Corban to represent the CCC

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
^ - includes 2014 championship  

Sponsors