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 Men’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round. The 40-team NAIA Opening Round event at 10 campus locations will occur from April 22-24.

The 2020-21 NAIA Opening Round winners will meet up in Columbia County, Ga. at the NAIA National Championship final site event. The 62^nd annual championship takes place at the Blanchard Woods Park May 4-10, 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 Men’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-Men’s Soccer Coaches Association, and four at-large representatives. 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 Men’s Soccer National Championship final site in Columbia County, Ga. 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

• No. 1 overall seed Central Methodist (Mo.) qualified for their 3^rd time in program history and looks to collect their third consecutive red banner.
• The Eagles have a perfect record at the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship of 10-0-0
• The Eagles of Oklahoma Wesleyan earned the No. 2 overall seed and will face the Lynx of Lincoln (Ill.)
• Oklahoma Wesleyan currently ranks No. 1 in four different statistical categories including total assists, total goals, assists per game and goals per game.
• Briar Cliff (Iowa), Lincoln (Ill.), Southwestern Christian (Okla.) and Sterling (Kan.) are the four first-time qualifiers in the 2020 field.
• Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) boosts the most tournament appearances in the field, with this year being their 27^th. Following closely is Rio Grande (Ohio) and Mobile (Ala.) who are both qualifying for their 20^th time.
• Rocky Mountain (Mont.) and UC Merced (Calif.) both enter the 2020 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship undefeated with a record of 8-0-0
• UC Merced is currently No. 1 in three different statistical categories including shutouts per game, shots per game, and shots on goal per game.
• Seven programs have earned at least one national title in program history, highlighted by Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) who has claimed nine red banners in program history.
• 25 of the 40 qualifiers are returning from the field last year
• The No. 3 overall seed is Columbia (Mo.) enters the tournament 13-2-0, this is the Cougars 10^th time in the field and they look to earn their first red banner in program history.
• McPherson (Kan.) out of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference qualifies for the time since 2014 and will head to Olathe (Kan.) to play the Bruins of Bellevue (Neb.)
• For a full look at all of the Opening Round tournaments and matchups, click HERE

2020 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship Qualifiers