The USCAA has released the seeding and pairings for the 2013 USCAA Men’s and Women’s Soccer National Championships. The championships will feature an expanded field of ten institutions and be hosted by West Virginia University Institute of Technology on October 30th-November 2nd in Charleston, WV.
The men’s bracket features four returning teams from the 2012 National Championship, including defending National Champion Briarcliffe College, 2012 runner-up and tournament host WVU Tech, 2010 National Champion and perennial championship contender University of Maine-Fort Kent, and Yankee Small College Conference power NHTI.
The West Virginia University Institute of Technology Golden Bears earned the number one overall seed in the men’s tournament after a 14-2-1 regular season. They’ll face the winner of Wednesday’s 1:30 PM matchup of #8 seed University of Maine-Machias and the winner of the Penn State University Athletic Conference tournament, scheduled on October 26th. The Clippers of University of Maine-Machias won the Yankee Small College Conference championship to gain their berth to Charleston.
This year’s #3 seed, the Briarcliffe College Bulldogs, were the story of last year’s tournament after escaping the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy on their region to make the trip to the tournament and win their program’s second USCAA Men’s Soccer National Championship. The Bulldogs will take on in-state rival Berkeley College-New York in their first round matchup. The Knights of Berkeley College earned their program’s first soccer National Championship bid on the strength of a 13-3 regular season record.
Returning to the tournament after a one year absence are the 2011 National Champions and this year’s #5 seed, Lindenwood University-Belleville. The Lynx will be squaring off against #4 Rochester College in the quarterfinal game. Rochester College will be making their first appearance in the Men’s Soccer National Championship since 2009.
University of Maine-Fort Kent returns for a fourth consecutive year. The Bengals have secured the second-seed in the bracket following another strong season. They’ll wait to play the winner of #7 Washington Adventist University and #10 NHTI, who will play at 11:00 AM on Wednesday. The Washington Adventist University Shock return to the tournament after an extended absence whereas NHTI will be making their second straight trip to the USCAA Soccer National Championships.
In the women’s bracket an unprecedented six teams from last year’s eight-team field will be heading to Charleston. 2012 National Champion Daemen College, and 2010 and 2011 National Champion University of Maine-Fort Kent, will lead a group of returners that also includes Paul Smith’s College, Albany College of Pharmacy, Penn College, and University of Maine-Machias.
The number one seed in the tournament will be the Lady Bengals from Fort Kent. Along with being the back-to-back National Champions in 2010 and 2011, the University of Maine-Fort Kent finished as the 2013 runner-up. They’ll take on the winner of Wednesday’s matchup of #8 Penn College and #9 University of Maine-Machias, two teams that met in the consolation bracket during last year’s National Championship resulting in a narrow 3-2 win by the Lady Clippers of Machias.
Defending National Champions, the Daemen College Wildcats, will enter as the #2 seed. Their quest to repeat will start against the winner of #7 Paul Smith’s College and host institution, #10 WVU Tech. Paul Smith’s College narrowly defeated University of Maine-Machias to take home the Yankee Small College Conference crown in a decision that involved two overtime periods and 9 penalty kicks over the weekend.
The third-seeded Florida College Lady Falcons will return to the USCAA Women’s Soccer National Championship after a two year absence to take on 2012 semi-finalist #6 Albany College of Pharmacy. Florida College enters the 2013 tournament with an 8-5 record following a tough regular season schedule. Meanwhile, Albany will return each of their 2012 USCAA All-Americans in an effort to build on last year’s tournament performance.
The last first-round matchup in the women’s bracket will feature #4 SUNY-ESF taking on #5 Alfred State University. SUNY-ESF is in the midst of a nearly flawless season, having gone 10-0-1 in their program’s fourth year. The Alfred State Lady Pioneers, like SUNY-ESF, will be making their inaugural appearance at the USCAA Soccer National Championships.
Tournament play begins on Wednesday, October 30th at 11:00 a.m. in both brackets. Championship games are scheduled for Saturday, November 2nd at 1:00 PM (women) and 3:30 PM (men). Click below to view full brackets with seeding and times, and be sure to the follow all of the action from the tournament on the USCAA Soccer National Championship Website.