KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [
Opening Round Schedule] The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the teams and pairings for the 2020-21 NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round. The 40-team NAIA Opening Round event at 10 campus locations will occur from April 15-17.
The Cascade Collegiate Conference saw three teams qualify for the national tournament in two divisional champions – College of Idaho (East Division Champion) and Oregon Tech (West Division Champion), while No. 11-ranked Eastern Oregon University grabbed an at-large bid.
The 2020-21 NAIA Opening Round winners will meet up in Foley, Ala., at the NAIA National Championship final site event. The 37th annual championship takes place at the Foley Sports Tourism Championship Field April 27 – May 3, 2021.
This year’s opening round field includes 27 automatic qualifiers and 13 at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, regular-season championship, finished runner-up at the conference tournament, or was selected by their conference in absence of a conference tournament. The at-large bids were determined by the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Selection Committee. This committee consists of one representative from each geographical area, a representative from the National Administrative Council, the president of the NAIA-Women’s Soccer Coaches Association, and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.
The NAIA Network – the association’s official video streaming home – will broadcast all 10 matches live at the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship final site in Foley, Ala. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics, and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-championship tournament package is available at $29.95. For more information and to pre-register, click
HERE.
Qualifier Highlights
• La Sierra (Calif.), College of Idaho and Briar Cliff are all getting their first taste of NAIA Women’s Soccer Championship play.
• The Crossroads League and the Mid-South lead all conferences with five teams in the field. The Heart of America follows closely behind with four.
• Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) leads the field in number of appearances in the championship field with its 22
nd this season. Westmont follows with its 21
st appearance.
• Westmont’s five national titles are the most among the opening round qualifiers.
• Keiser (Fla.) will attempt to become the first team since 2011 to win back-to-back national championships. Former member institution Lee (Tenn.) won four-in-a-row from 2008 through 2011.
• 24 teams from the 2019 national championship field will return in 2020-21.
• Central Methodist (Mo.) and Marian (Ind.) lead all teams with 18 wins.
• Missouri Valley is snapping the longest absence from championship play with its last appearance coming in 1991.
• For a full look at all of the Opening Round tournaments and matchups, click
HERE
2020 NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship Qualifiers
| Institution |
Conference |
Qualifying Method |
2020-21 Record |
Appearances |
Championship Record |
Titles |
Overall Seed |
| Aquinas (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference |
WHAC Regular Season Champion |
13-2-0 |
3rd |
1-2-0 |
0 |
17 |
| Baker (Kan.) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference |
At-Large |
12-5-1 |
6th |
10-4-1 |
0 |
21 |
| Benedictine (Kan.) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference |
At-Large |
11-5-2 |
9th |
12-7-2 |
0 |
24 |
| Bethel (Tenn.) |
Mid-South Conference |
At-Large |
9-5-1 |
5th |
3-3-1 |
0 |
29 |
| Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference |
GPAC Regular Season Champion |
12-2-2 |
1st |
0-0 |
0 |
20 |
| Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference |
Chicagoland Tournament Champion |
11-1-1 |
3rd |
1-2 |
0 |
23 |
| Central Methodist (Mo.) |
Heart of America Athletic Conference |
Heart Regular Season/Tournament Champion |
18-3-0 |
4th |
1-2-1 |
0 |
8 |
| College of Idaho |
Cascade Collegiate Conference |
Cascade East Division Winner |
8-3-2 |
1st |
0-0 |
0 |
30 |
| Columbia (Mo.) |
American Midwest Conference |
AMC Tournament Champion |
15-2-0 |
8th |
3-6-2 |
0 |
15 |
| Concordia (Neb.) |
Great Plains Athletic Conference |
GPAC Tournament Champion |
11-6-2 |
3rd |
0-2 |
0 |
37 |
| Cumberland (Tenn.) |
Mid-South Conference |
At-Large |
9-3-0 |
6th |
6-5-2 |
0 |
18 |
| Cumberlands (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference |
Mid-South Tournament Champion |
16-1-0 |
2nd |
1-1 |
0 |
6 |
| Eastern Oregon |
Cascade Collegiate Conference |
At-Large |
7-1-2 |
5th |
2-4-2 |
0 |
16 |
| Georgia Gwinnett |
Association of Independent Institutions |
A.I.I. Tournament Champion |
8-5-1 |
5th |
2-4 |
0 |
25 |
| Grace (Ind.) |
Crossroads League |
At-Large |
11-5-1 |
4th |
3-3 |
0 |
13 |
| Indiana Wesleyan |
Crossroads League |
At-Large |
9-2-3 |
8th |
4-7 |
0 |
12 |
| IU East (Ind.) |
River States Conference |
River States Tournament Champion |
11-3-1 |
2nd |
0-1 |
0 |
40 |
| John Brown (Ark.) |
Sooner Athletic Conference |
Sooner Tournament Champion |
12-0-0 |
7th |
1-5-1 |
0 |
11 |
| Kansas Wesleyan |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference |
KCAC Tournament Runner Up |
14-5-0 |
8th |
2-7-2 |
0 |
28 |
| Keiser (Fla.) |
The Sun Conference |
At-Large |
16-2-1 |
15th |
22-13 |
1 |
3 |
| La Sierra (Calif.) |
California Pacific Conference |
Cal Pac Tournament Champion |
10-4-1 |
1st |
0-0 |
0 |
38 |
| Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
Mid-South Conference |
At-Large |
9-3-0 |
22nd |
44-17-3 |
4 |
14 |
| LSU Shreveport (La.) |
Red River Athletic Conference |
RRAC Tournament Champion |
14-5-1 |
2nd |
0-1 |
0 |
36 |
| Madonna (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference |
WHAC Tournament Champion |
9-4-0 |
3rd |
1-2-1 |
0 |
34 |
| Marian (Ind.) |
Crossroads League |
Crossroads Regular Season Champion |
18-2-0 |
3rd |
4-1-2 |
0 |
5 |
| Martin Methodist (Tenn.) |
Mid-South Conference |
Mid-South Regular Season Champion |
16-0-0 |
17th |
23-10-6 |
2 |
4 |
| Middle Georgia State |
Southern States Athletic Conference |
At-Large |
9-4-1 |
2nd |
0-1 |
0 |
22 |
| Missouri Valley |
Heart of America Athletic Conference |
Heart Tournament Runner-Up |
12-7-0 |
2nd |
2-1 |
0 |
19 |
| Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) |
Crossroads League |
At-Large |
10-6-2 |
2nd |
0-1 |
0 |
31 |
| Northwestern Ohio |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference |
At-Large |
8-3-0 |
7th |
17-5 |
1 |
32 |
| Oklahoma Wesleyan |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference |
KCAC Regular Season/Tournament Champion |
17-2-0 |
3rd |
2-2 |
0 |
10 |
| Oregon Tech |
Cascade Collegiate Conference |
Cascade West Division Winner |
11-1-0 |
2nd |
0-1 |
0 |
35 |
| Reinhardt (Ga.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference |
AAC Tournament Champion |
15-1-0 |
6th |
2-5-0 |
0 |
26 |
| Southeastern (Fla.) |
The Sun Conference |
The Sun Tournament Champion |
15-1-1 |
4th |
8-3-0 |
0 |
2 |
| Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
Crossroads League |
At-Large |
11-2-1 |
12th |
23-8-2 |
2 |
7 |
| Thomas (Ga.) |
Association of Independent Institutions |
A.I.I. Tournament Runner-Up |
7-5-2 |
2nd |
1-1 |
0 |
39 |
| Trinity Christian (Ill.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference |
Chicagoland Regular Season Champion |
13-3-0 |
6th |
4-4-1 |
0 |
27 |
| Truett McConnell (Ga.) |
Appalachian Athletic Conference |
AAC Regular Season Champion |
13-4-2 |
3rd |
0-2-0 |
0 |
33 |
| Westmont (Calif.) |
Golden State Athletic Conference |
GSAC Tournament Champion |
7-4-0 |
21st |
36-10-8 |
5 |
9 |
| William Carey (Miss.) |
Southern States Athletic Conference |
SSAC Tournament Champion |
15-0-1 |
12th |
19-9-2 |
1 |
1 |