2019 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship Qualifiers & Opening Round Schedule Announced
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Opening Round Schedule | Watch Video Announcement Live| Full Bracket] The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has officially announced the teams and Opening Round pairings for the 2019 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship. The 46-team event will begin with 15 National Championship Opening Round presented by Select Soccer matches at campus sites on Nov. 22-23. Westmont (Calif.) is the 46th team in the field and receives an NAIA Opening Round bye due to earning the host berth of the NAIA National Championship Final Site in Irvine, Calif.
The 15 NAIA Opening Round presented by Select Soccer winners will join Westmont (Calif.) in Irvine for NAIA National Championship Final Site play, beginning on December 2nd. The 16-team single-elimination event runs from Dec. 2 - 7 at the Orange Country Great Park Soccer Stadium.
The 2019 Opening Round field includes 27 automatic qualifiers, 18 at-large selections and the one host berth. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, regular-season championship or finished runner-up during the regular season or at the conference tournament; the number of automatic qualifiers differ conference-to-conference based on conference size and postseason-eligible teams.
The at-large bids were determined by the Soccer National Selection Committee. For more information on the National Selection Committee, see Appendix B of the Soccer Coaches Manual.
The NAIA Network – the association’s official video-streaming home – will broadcast all matches live at the 2019 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship final site in Irvine, Calif. 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; an all-tournament package is available for $29.95.
2019 NAIA Men’s Soccer Qualifier Highlights
- No. 1-seed Central Methodist (Mo.) is making its second NAIA men’s soccer postseason appearance. After attending for the first time in 2018 and coming home with a red banner. The Eagles were the top-ranked team for most of the regular season. Central Methodist earned an automatic berth as the Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season champion with a 20-1 record.
- The Cougars of Columbia (Mo.) are the No. 2-seed going into the national championship. The proved to be a strong team all season long posting 13 shutouts and perfect 20-0 record.
- Overall, the Heart of America Athletic Conference led the way with representatives; the conference sent six teams to the National Championship Opening Rounds. Southern States Athletic Conference followed closely with five representatives.
- 19 institutions return from 2018
- Six of the 46 are making their first NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round appearance; Eastern Oregon, William Penn (Iowa), Cumberlands (Ky.), LSU Shreveport (La.), Dalton State (Ga.) and St. Thomas (Fla.)
- Life (Ga.) earned an At-Large berth to the make their first tournament appearance since 1999.
- Eight qualifiers are in double digits in tournament appearances including: Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 26, Rio Grande (Ohio) 19, Mobile (Ala.) 19, Westmont (Calif.) 18, Hastings (Neb.) 15, William Carey (Miss.) 13, Baker (Kan.) 12 and Grand View (Iowa) 12.
- Seven qualifiers join Central Methodist in earning a national title including Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) who has been crowned national champions nine times dating back to 1992.
- Rio Grande remains the only team in NAIA postseason history to serve as an Opening Round host each year since the format began in 2008. This year the Red Storm will host Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) and Huntington (Ind.) in the Opening Round.
2019 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship Qualifiers
| School | Conference | Qualification Method | Record | Appearances | Most Recent | Championship Record | Titles |
| Baker (Kan.) | Heart of America Athletic Conference | At-Large | 11-6-3 | 12th | 2018 | 7-10-1 | 0 |
| Bethel (Tenn.) | Southern States Athletic Conference | At-Large | 14-4-2 | 8th | 2015 | 9-5-1 | 1 |
| Campbellsville (Ky.) | Mid-South Conference | At-Large | 12-5-1 | 3rd | 2016 | 1-1-1 | 0 |
| Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference | Regular-Season Champion | 16-4 | 5th | 2018 | 3-3-1 | 0 |
| Central Methodist (Mo.) | Heart of America Athletic Conference | Regular-Season Champion | 20-1 | 2nd | 2018 | 5-0-0 | 1 |
| Columbia (Mo.) | American Midwest Conference | Regular-Season Champion | 20-0 | 9th | 2018 | 5-7-2 | 0 |
| Corban (Ore.) | Cascade Collegiate Conference | Tournament Champion | 17-0-2 | 6th | 2018 | 2-5-0 | 0 |
| Cumberlands (Ky.) | Mid-South Conference | At-Large | 10-6-2 | 1st | N/A | N/A | 0 |
| Dalton State (Ga.) | Southern States Athletic Conference | At-Large | 13-5-1 | 1st | N/A | N/A | 0 |
| Eastern Oregon | Cascade Collegiate Conference | Tournament Runner-Up | 9-9-3 | 1st | N/A | N/A | 0 |
| Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | California Pacific Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 15-4-1 | 3rd | 2013 | 0-2-0 | 0 |
| Friends (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 17-2-1 | 2nd | 2016 | 0-1-1 | 0 |
| Georgia Gwinnett | A.I.I | Tournament Champion | 12-3-3 | 6th | 2018 | 3-5-0 | 0 |
| Grand View (Iowa) | Heart of America Athletic Conference | Tournament Runner-Up | 14-5 | 12th | 2016 | 11-11-0 | 0 |
| Hastings (Neb.) | Great Plains Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 16-2-2 | 15th | 2018 | 24-9-4 | 2 |
| Houston-Victoria (Texas) | Red River Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 16-0-3 | 2nd | 2017 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Huntington (Ind.) | Crossroads League | Tournament Champion | 15-4-2 | 3rd | 2018 | 1-3-0 | 0 |
| Indiana Tech | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference | Regular-Season Champion | 16-4-1 | 4th | 2009 | 3-3-0 | 0 |
| John Brown (Ark.) | Sooner Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 17-3 | 6th | 2016 | 1-5-1 | 0 |
| Keiser (Fla.) | Sun Conference | Tournament Champion | 11-5-1 | 6th | 2017 | 2-3-2 | 0 |
| Life (Ga.) | Mid-South Conference | At-Large | 13-4-0 | 4th | 1999 | 3-3-0 | 0 |
| Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | Mid-South Conference | Tournament Champion | 13-3-1 | 26th | 2018 | 52-15-6 | 9 |
| LSU Shreveport (La.) | Red River Athletic Conference | At-Large | 12-5-3 | 1st | N/A | N/A | 0 |
| Lyon (Ark.) | American Midwest Conference | Regular-Season Runner-Up | 15-5-1 | 2nd | 2015 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Madonna (Mich.) | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference | Tournament Runner-Up | 13-4-3 | 6th | 2018 | 5-5-0 | 0 |
| Martin Methodist (Tenn.) | Southern States Athletic Conference | At-Large | 13-7-0 | 3rd | 2013 | 7-1-0 | 1 |
| Menlo (Calif.) | Golden State Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 13-4-1 | 2nd | 2011 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Midland (Neb.) | Great Plains Athletic Conference | At-Large | 13-4-2 | 3rd | 2013 | 0-2-0 | 0 |
| Missouri Valley | Heart of America Athletic Conference | At-Large | 12-6-0 | 9th | 2018 | 13-7-1 | 0 |
| Mobile (Ala.) | Southern States Athletic Conference | At-Large | 16-1-2 | 19th | 2017 | 28-17-3 | 1 |
| Morningside (Iowa) | Great Plains Athletic Conference | Regular-Season Champion | 17-3 | 2nd | 2018 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Oklahoma Wesleyan | Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference | Regular-Season Champion | 17-3 | 9th | 2018 | 10-4-4 | 0 |
| Rio Grande (Ohio) | River States Athletic Conference | At-Large | 15-3-1 | 19th | 2018 | 23-14-3 | 2 |
| Roosevelt (Ill.) | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 12-5-1 | 2nd | 2015 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Southeastern (Fla.) | Sun Conference | At-Large | 11-5-3 | 3rd | 2018 | 1-2-0 | 0 |
| Spring Arbor (Mich.) | Crossroads League | At-Large | 15-2-2 | 7th | 2018 | 5-9-0 | 0 |
| St. Thomas (Fla.) | Sun Conference | At-Large | 12-2-2 | 1st | N/A | N/A | 0 |
| Tennessee Wesleyan | Appalachian Athletic Conference | Regular-Season Champion | 15-3-2 | 3rd | 2012 | 0-5-0 | 0 |
| UC Merced | California Pacific Athletic Conference | Regular-Season Champion | 15-3-1 | 3rd | 2018 | 0-2-0 | 0 |
| Union (Ky.) | Appalachian Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 12-8-1 | 3rd | 2016 | 2-2-1 | 0 |
| University of Northwestern Ohio | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference | At-Large | 11-3-6 | 5th | 2017 | 4-4-1 | 0 |
| Vanguard (Calif.) | Golden State Athletic Conference | At-Large | 12-5 | 6th | 2018 | 6-5-1 | 0 |
| Westmont (Calif.) | Golden State Athletic Conference | Host Berth | 13-2-1 | 18th | 2017 | 16-23-2 | 1 |
| William Carey (Miss.) | Southern States Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 13-0-5 | 13th | 2018 | 15-14-4 | 0 |
| William Penn (Iowa) | Heart of America Athletic Conference | At-Large | 15-5 | 1st | N/A | N/A | 0 |
| WVU Tech | River States Athletic Conference | Tournament Champion | 17-0-2 | 4th | 2017 | 2-3-0 | 0 |
Opening Round Match-Ups
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) vs. Houston-Victoria (Texas)
Baker (Kan.) vs. Eastern Oregon
Madonna (Mich.) vs. Cumberlands (Ky.)
University of Northwestern Ohio vs. Roosevelt (Ill.)
Southeastern (Fla.) vs. John Brown (Ark.)
Menlo (Calif.) vs. UC Merced (Calif.)
Missouri Valley vs. Lyon (Ark.)
Dalton State (Ga.) vs. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)
Life (Ga.) vs. Union (Ky.)
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) vs. Huntington (Ind.)
LSU Shreveport (La.) vs. Morningside (Iowa)
Campbellsville (Ky.) vs. Keiser (Fla.)
Grand View (Iowa) vs. Midland (Neb.)
Hastings (Neb.) vs. Friends (Kan.)
