Round Rock, Texas was the site of the 28th Annual NIRSA National Soccer Championships, played November 17–19. It was a bit cooler and wetter than usual, but nothing could dampen the spirits of our teams; the competition was hotter than ever!

Men’s Championship Division

Brigham Young University won the Men’s National Championship! It was their third consecutive title and the program’s ninth national title, a NIRSA Soccer record.

BYU bulldozed their way to the title game. They won their pool play games by a combined 10-1 score line, with victories over Rutgers 6-0 and Texas A&M 4-1. The Cougars did not slow down during bracket play. BYU defeated Colorado State 6-0 in the Round of 16 and Ohio State 3-0 in the quarterfinals. That led to a rematch of the 2021 title game against Texas. It was more of the same as BYU won a methodical match 4-1 to head to their third straight title game.

BYU faced Minnesota in the national title game. The Golden Gophers gave the Cougars their first challenge of the tournament right off the opening whistle. Samuel Yarmulnik gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the match—a lead Minnesota would hold at halftime. BYU began to dominate control of the ball in the second half. They peppered the goal with a multitude of shots and so it was only a matter of time before they tied it up. That time came in the sixty-seventh minute when Eric Morris found the net. Regulation was running out and the match seemed destined for extra time but a seventy-eighth minute goal by Thys Call sealed the match and the national title. Thys Call of BYU was the Most Valuable Player in the Men’s Championship Division.

Women’s Championship Division

Cal Poly and the University of Connecticut played a fierce battle in the title match. The game took extra time to decide the outcome but was abruptly ended by a header off a corner kick that gave Cal Poly their first national championship.

Cal Poly began their championship campaign with two controlling victories in pool play with a 2-0 win over Florida State and a 1-0 victory over Texas. From there, the one goal victories continued all the way to the end. Cal Poly defeated Vanderbilt 1-0 in the Round of 16. The Mustangs then collected a pair of 2-1 victories over Colorado in the quarterfinals and Ohio State in the semifinals.

The final against Connecticut was a hard-fought battle that lasted 93 minutes. UConn had a few chances during the match, but the control belonged to Cal Poly. Shot after shot on the UConn goal was stopped by Most Outstanding Goalkeeper Estelle Jarrett from UConn. Cal Poly had a huge advance in corner kicks throughout the match.

In the final minutes of extra time, Cal Poly won a corner. The corner entered the box and onto the head of Bethany Love who drove it into the back of the net. Love’s goal ended the match and gave Cal Poly its first national championship. Fiona Plunkett of Cal Poly was named most valuable player in the Women’s Championship Division.

Open Division Champions

The UCLA Bruins are the 2022 Men’s Open Division Champions! UCLA won their second open title in history and the Bruins finished first in their pool. UCLA had victories over Cal Poly and Missouri in bracket play. In the final, UCLA controlled their match against Miami (OH) to win 3-0. UCLA was led by Ciaran Hernon the Men’s Open Most Valuable Player.

The UCLA Bruins are also the 2022 Women’s Open Division Champions! UCLA won their third open title in their history and tied the record for most championships in the Women’s Open Division, going level with James Madison. UCLA finished second in their pool. In bracket play, UCLA defeated Missouri and Notre Dame. In the final, UCLA scored the lone goal of the match to win 1-0 over Kansas. Alison Shea of UCLA was the Most Valuable Player in the Women’s Open Division.

Looking beyond competition

Winning the Sportsmanship Awards were Washington University St. Louis in the Women’s Division and Michigan State University in the Men’s Division. Both schools should be commended for their outstanding sportsmanship and fair play during the tournament.

To ensure student success in the classroom, NIRSA proctored exams for students at the tournament. A few highlights:

  • NIRSA administered 15 exams from eight institutions
  • The longest exam took one and half hours
  • The longest exam in terms of page count was nine pages long

The NIRSA Championship Series is committed to student development and the number of proctored tests just goes to show that the Series really is about more than competition!

Thank you!

NIRSA would like to thank the city of Round Rock for their outstanding assistance as host of the 2022 NIRSA National Soccer Championships. More results are available on the NIRSA Championship Series Soccer webpage.

Thank you to all our officials and to the following tournament staff:

  • Angie Adame, University of Colorado, Denver
  • Joel Arancibia, Florida International University
  • Cybbi Barton, University of Michigan
  • Sophia Caro, Sam Houston State University
  • Shane Conti, Boston College
  • Jessica Cuadra, Syracuse University
  • Brooks Ford, Texas A&M University
  • Randall Ford, The University of Texas at Austin
  • Kayla Irlbeck, Utah State University
  • Jon Janis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Jonathan Johnston, Texas A & M University – Commerce
  • Bridget Jones, The University of Texas at Austin
  • Chelsea Jones, Texas A&M University
  • Gracelyn Jones, West Virginia University
  • Paul Joseph, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Bailey Kenney, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Amber Mateer, Plymouth State University
  • Max Miller, Swarthmore College
  • Valeria Ortega, The University of Texas at Austin
  • Chris Porras, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Alex Provini, University of Michigan
  • Christian Ramirez, University of Central Florida
  • Mario Rios, Texas State University
  • Alexandra Sanchez, Boise State University
  • Chris Sato, George Mason University
  • Laura Shively, Duke University
  • Yadira Soto, Texas State University
  • Kristen Sullivan, Drexel University
  • Sylvain Tchaptchet
  • Nick White, Texas A&M – Corpus Christi
  • Amara Wiggan, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Keith Woolems, Purdue University

Finally, tremendous thanks are owed to the tournament’s directors:

  • Chris McAlpine, Co-Director of Competition, University of Texas at Dallas
  • Laurel Hanna, Co-Director of Competition, University of Michigan
  • Caroline Ciell, Director of Operations, University of Florida
  • Alec Triggiano, Assistant Director of Operations, University of Wisconsin – Madison
  • Erik Jaeke, Director of Officials, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Kevin Mauer, Officials Assignor
  • Chad Zimmerman, Director of Team Experience and Logistics
  • Valerie McCutchan, Tournament Director, NIRSA Headquarters
  • Nicole Jackson, Assistant Tournament Director, NIRSA Headquarters

This tournament would not have been possible without the contributions of everyone involved. Congratulations to all the teams and staff for making the tournament experience a wonderful one! We hope to see everyone next year at the 2023 NIRSA National Soccer Championships!

  • For more information about NIRSA’s National Soccer Championships, contact NIRSA Assistant Director of National Sport Programs Nicole Jackson.
Assistant Director of Sport Clubs at Texas State University | NIRSA Profile

Mario Rios is currently the Assistant Director of Sport Clubs at Texas State University.