Women's Soccer Opening Round Qualifiers Announced
CU represents the CCC
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is proud to announce the qualifiers for the 31st annual NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship, presented by the Sports Medicine Center at the Orthopedic Group, P.C. The 31-team championship is set to kick off with the National Championship Opening Round at 15 campus locations on Nov. 22.
The 15 Opening Round winners – as well as host Mobile (Ala.) – will advance to the national championship final site at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala. The 16-team, single-elimination tournament take place Dec. 1-6, with the national championship final slated for 3 p.m. CST on Dec. 6.
The national championship bracket will be released Monday at 1 p.m. CST via a broadcast event onNAIANetwork.com. Go to www.NAIA.org for more details.
Leading the talented field is defending national champion Concordia (Ore.). The Cavaliers look to claim another title after defeating Westmont (Calif.), 1-0, in 2013. Last year’s victory snapped a three-match losing streak in the national final for Concordia, who has played in four championship matches since 2004 (04-08-11-13). In his 18th season at the helm, current NAIA Coach of the Year Grant Landy and his squad have now won 15-straight Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) championships and booked 14-consecutive trips to the national championship.
2013 runner-up Westmont leads all schools in the competition with five banners to its name. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) is second with three titles and Martin Methodist (Tenn.) owns a pair of championships. Mobile joins Concordia (Ore.) as teams in the field with one crown apiece.
This year’s 31 teams include 24 automatic qualifiers – awarded to conference, association of independent institutions, and unaffiliated group tournament and regular-season champions – seven at-large bids and one host berth.
Seven teams will be getting their first taste of national championship action – AIB (Iowa), Concordia (Neb.), Menlo (Calif.), Northwestern Ohio, Oklahoma Baptist, Rio Grande (Ohio) and William Woods (Mo.). Only two programs were new faces in the national championship a season ago – Columbia (Mo.) and Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) – and both squads are back again in 2014.
Five of this year’s qualifiers have made double-digit national championship appearances, led by Westmont with 17. Lindsey Wilson is second with 16 trips to the event, while Concordia (Ore.) is third with 14. Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and Martin Methodist (Tenn.) have 11 all-time appearances each.
The Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) has the most schools in the national championship with four. Westmont, the postseason GSAC tournament champion, headlines the foursome. The three GSAC at-large programs are Concordia (Calif.), The Master’s (Calif.) and Vanguard (Calif.).
The seven at-large teams were selected based on the final 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. To view the final MRPI, click here.
NAIANetwork.com, the NAIA’s official video-streaming home, will broadcast all 15 matches live at the 2014 Women’s Soccer National Championship final site in Orange 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.
|
School |
Record |
Qualification |
NC Record |
Apps^ |
Last Time |
Titles |
|
AIB Iowa |
12-6-2 |
Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion |
0-0-0 |
1st |
N/A |
0 |
|
Bellevue (Neb.) |
16-1-0 |
Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-3-1 |
5th |
2013 |
0 |
|
Benedictine (Kan.) |
18-1-0 |
Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-2-0 |
3rd |
2012 |
0 |
|
Cal State San Marcos |
11-2-4 |
Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion |
2-5-0 |
5th |
2013 |
0 |
|
Columbia (Mo.) |
11-6-1 |
America Midwest Conference Regular Season Champion |
0-0-1 |
2nd |
2013 |
0 |
|
Concordia (Calif.) |
11-7-1 |
At-Large No. 6 |
2-1-1 |
3rd |
2013 |
0 |
|
Concordia (Neb.) |
15-2-4 |
Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-0-0 |
1st |
N/A |
0 |
|
Concordia (Ore.) |
16-1-2 |
Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion |
28-11-3 |
14th |
2013 |
1 |
|
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
15-3-1 |
At-Large No. 2 |
2-2-0 |
3rd |
2013 |
0 |
|
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
16-1-0 |
The Sun Conference Regular Season Champion |
7-10-0 |
11th |
2013 |
0 |
|
Hastings (Neb.) |
16-4-1 |
At-Large No. 7 |
3-4-2 |
5th |
2013 |
0 |
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
13-3-3 |
Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion |
31-13-2 |
16th |
2013 |
3 |
|
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) |
12-5-1 |
At-Large No. 3 |
15-6-3 |
11th |
2013 |
2 |
|
Menlo (Calif.) |
12-6-2 |
California Pacific Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-0-0 |
1st |
N/A |
0 |
|
Mobile (Ala.) |
15-2-3 |
Final Site Host Berth |
12-6-1 |
9th |
2013 |
1 |
|
Northwestern Ohio |
18-1-1 |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-0-0 |
1st |
N/A |
0 |
|
Northwood (Fla.) |
14-5-2 |
The Sun Conference Tournament Champion |
8-8-0 |
9th |
2013 |
0 |
|
Oklahoma Baptist |
15-5-1 |
Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-0-0 |
1st |
N/A |
0 |
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
16-3-1 |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Champion |
5-3-2 |
5th |
2013 |
0 |
|
Otawa (Kan.) |
12-2-6 |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-3-0 |
4th |
2013 |
0 |
|
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
12-7-1 |
Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-1-0 |
2nd |
2013 |
0 |
|
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
15-3-2 |
Appalaciachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-2-0 |
3rd |
2013 |
0 |
|
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
12-5-0 |
Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
0-0-0 |
1st |
N/A |
0 |
|
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
18-1-1 |
Crossroads League Tournament Champion |
3-5-1 |
6th |
2013 |
0 |
|
The Master's (Calif.) |
12-5-1 |
At-Large No. 4 |
1-2-0 |
3rd |
2013 |
0 |
|
Trinity International (Ill.) |
14-3-2 |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Runner-Up |
0-4-0 |
5th |
2013 |
0 |
|
Vanguard (Calif.) |
16-3-1 |
At-Large No. 5 |
2-2-2 |
4th |
2013 |
0 |
|
Westminster (Utah) |
15-3-2 |
Unaffiliated Group - Frontier Conference/North Star Athletic Association Tournament Champion |
0-1-1 |
3rd |
2013 |
0 |
|
Westmont (Calif.) |
15-3-0 |
Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament Champion |
30-6-8 |
17th |
2013 |
5 |
|
William Carey (Miss.) |
17-2-1 |
At-Large No. 1 |
6-6-1 |
6th |
2013 |
0 |
|
William Woods (Mo.) |
12-6-3 |
America Midwest Conference Tournament Champion |
0-0-0 |
1st |
N/A |
0 |
|
|
^ Includes 2014 championship