Read all about the 2015 NIRSA National Soccer Championships!

By Mario Rios, Tournament Blogger and Assistant Director, Club Sports at The University of Texas at San Antonio

The 22^nd Annual NIRSA National Soccer Championships, which took place November 19–21, turned out to be a thrilling event that crowned four new champions. The tournament was co-hosted by Arizona State University, Visit Phoenix, and the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix, Arizona.

The University of North Carolina won the Men’s National Championship by defeating Penn State University 2-0. They opened up group play with a 2-2 draw over Cal Poly and a win over Iowa State 2-0 to finish second in their group.

North Carolina had a strong start in bracket play with a 4-1 win over Michigan. They played a tough match with Central Florida in the quarterfinal which ended with an own goal in extra time that saw North Carolina make it through. An even tougher game came in the semifinal against Illinois which saw the match head to spot kicks after a 0-0 score. North Carolina won after 9 rounds 8-7 to advance to the final.

The final got off to a quick start with a goal in the fifth minute putting North Carolina ahead. Penn State pressed for an equalizer the entire match, but an opening created late in the match saw North Carolina slot home an insurance goal in the eightieth minute to win the match 2-0.

North Carolina was led by tournament MVP Pearce Veazy and Most Outstanding Goalkeeper Murat Calikoglu. Alex Requarth, Brett Griffith, and Eric Rossitch rounded up their placing on the All-Tournament Team with their performances.

In the women’s tournament, Michigan State is your national champion for 2015. They opened up group play with a 1-0 victory over Colorado “Gold” and a draw with Kansas 1-1. Michigan State had wins over North Carolina (1-0) and Florida (2-0) to begin bracket play. In the semifinal against Virginia Tech, they went down 1-0 early, tied the score, went down again a minute later, and tied it again in the second half. This led to extra time in which they prevailed 3-2.

The final was a tough battle with Colorado State. Each team had chances that were not put away. It was 0-0 heading to extra time. In the fourth minute of extra time, Danielle Manning found the ball in the box and slotted it home to win the national championship.

Michigan State was led by tournament MVP Danielle Manning and Most Outstanding Goalkeeper Katie Foss. Samantha Chouinard, Grace Noyola, and Margaret Galea rounded up their placing on the All-Tournament Team with their performances.

In the Open Division finals, the University of Oregon won the Men’s Open title by defeating the University of California-Davis in a thrilling match 3-2 in extra time. Andrew Saenz from Oregon was named Men’s Open Tournament MVP. UCLA triumphed in the Women’s Open championship match, defeating James Madison University 2-0. Isis Piccillo was named Women’s Open Tournament MVP.

Winning the sportsmanship awards were the University of Connecticut in the Men’s Division and California State University-Long Beach in the Women’s Division. Both schools are to be commended for displaying both the athletic ability and the great sportsmanship that help make the NIRSA National Soccer Championships such an outstanding event.

The tournament proctor was also very busy this year. A total of 41 tests—including some final exams—were administered over the three-day event. 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!

NIRSA would like to thank Brine for providing the official ball of the tournament. Thanks also go to Sunflower Marketing, ClubSoccerPhotos.com, Visit Phoenix, the Reach 11 Sports Complex, and Arizona State University. More results and the NIRSA National Soccer Championships blog are available on the NIRSA Championship Series soccer webpage.

Thanks are also due to our officials who officiated the tournament and the following tournament staff:

Cybbi Barton, Western Kentucky University
Brenda Beilman, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Ryan Bradshaw, George Mason University
Vinnie Daino, Pittsburgh State University
Chad Ellsworth, Arizona State University
Scott George, Central Michigan University
Shelby Gunter, University of Florida
Jordan Halstead, Central Washington University
Joshua Hamilton, Georgia Institute of Technology
Laurel Hanna, University of Iowa
Jason Harrington, Lamar University
Elise Harvey, University of Georgia
John Howard, Colorado School of Mines
Jon Janis, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Nick Kramer, Bradley University
Kris Kuchler, Arizona State University
Derek Lower, University of Central Florida
Chris “CMac” McAlpine, University of Texas – Dallas
Chad McKenzie, Round Rock Sports Center
Raquel McKim, University of Southern Mississippi
Suzanne Merrill, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Ashlee Miller, The University of Texas at Austin
Justin Mumford, The Ohio State University
Emily Patterson, Arizona State University
David Podschun, California State University, Northridge
Mario Rios, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Daryl Shreve, Boston College
Nicholas Singer, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
Laura Thomas, Texas Tech University

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

Doug Ewing, Fort Lewis College, Co-Director of Competition
Danny Feitel, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Co-Director of Competition
Sadat Khan, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Director of Operations
Kristi Levanduski, University of Colorado, Assistant Director of Operations
Noah Yannie, Director of Officials

It was a fun and exciting tournament that would not have been possible without the contributions of all those involved. Congratulations to all the teams and to the staff for making the tournament such a success. We hope to see everyone again at the 2016 NIRSA National Soccer Championships in Foley, Alabama!