2010 NIRSA National Soccer Championship

The 2010 NIRSA national soccer championship was the 17th NIRSA National Soccer Championships, the annual national championships for United States-based, collegiate club soccer teams organized by NIRSA. It took place at Reach 11 Sports Complex, in Phoenix, Arizona from Thursday, November 18 to Saturday, November 20, 2010.^[1]

In the finals, 2005 champions Colorado would face finals debutants Missouri. Coming into the finals, both teams won their Sweet 16 matchup 1–0. While Colorado won their next two games against Northwestern and Arizona, respectively, by 3 goals each, Missouri needed a 10-round penalty shootout against Cal Poly in the quarterfinals and a late second half goal against Texas in the semifinals. In the finals, Colorado started early with a goal in the 18th minute by eventual MVP Connor Hutchinson then doubled their advantage right at the end of the first half with a goal from Anthony Smoller in the 40th minute. Conner Hutchinson added a third goal 5 minutes prior to the end of the game, but a last minute PK from Missouri's Shane Rasch would be the last meaningful action of the match as Colorado claimed a 3–1 victory and their second national title.^[2]

In the finals, the three time reigning champions, UC-Santa Barbara, were looking to claim their fourth straight title and fifth overall against finals debutants Texas. Coming into the finals, Texas would have to overcome a 1–0 deficit in the round of 16 against North Carolina, then would require penalties against UCLA in the quarterfinals and finally scored a game-winning second half goal in a 1–0 game against rivals Texas A&M in the semifinals. Meanwhile, after a dominant 4–0 victory in the round of 16 against Cornell, Florida, who won their first game in overtime, forfeited, sending UC-Santa Barbara directly to the semifinals against Penn State; a rematch of the previous tournament's finals. UC-Santa Barbara would also dominate this game, winning 3–0. In the finals, Emily Gross would open the scoring for Texas in the 10th minute, the first time UC-Santa Barbara would trail this tournament, and would remain at 1–0 until Kelsey Mulcahy of UC-Santa Barbara tied the game in the 55th minute. The score would remain tied after regulation and extra time, meaning the game would go to penalties. Texas would kick first and have their first attempt saved. The following four kicks would be converted, but UC-Santa Barbara would miss in the third round making the score 2–2. Both teams scored their attempts in the fourth and fifth rounds, meaning a sudden-death sixth round would be required. A block from UC-Santa Barbara's goalkeeper and a goal from Natalie Lemonnier would see UC-Santa Barbara win 4–3 on penalties, giving them their fifth national title and fourth straight. This victory also saw them be the only women's championship team with at least 5 titles, overtaking Colorado and Michigan who had 4 titles each, and became only the second team across all four divisions to win four straight tournaments (the first being BYU men's championship run from 1996 to 1999). UC-Santa Barbara's Tannia Hernandez would be named women's championship MVP.^[3]

In the finals, reigning champions JMU would face Cal Poly "B" in a rematch from Group A which Cal Poly "B" won 3–2. The game would be tied 1–1 at the end of regulation, meaning a 15-minute sudden victory overtime would be played. Cal Poly "B" would score and secure their first men's open title. Brian Romag of Cal Poly would go on to be named men's open MVP.^[4]

In the finals, 2001 women's open champions Colorado "Black" would face Illinois who were in their first open finals. Coming into the finals, Colorado "Black" had to beat Northeastern 2–1, then last year's runners-up Oregon 1–0. Meanwhile, Illinois had to beat Miami (FL) 4–3 then Missouri, the team who defeated reigning champs JMU, in a penalty shootout 4–3 after the game was tied 1–1 after regulation and extra time. In the finals, Illinois would score the lone goal of the match and claim their first women's open title. Illinois' Megan Reitz would be named women's open MVP.^[5]

The competition consisted of 80 teams: 48 championship division teams and 32 open division teams. Each of these divisions were further divided into two equal sized divisions for men and women. The championship division divided teams into eight groups of three teams each while the open division divided teams into four groups of four teams each, both engaging in a round-robin tournament that determined teams able to advance to a knockout stage. Pool play games were two 40-minute halves, separated by a seven-minute halftime and utilized the three points for a win system. After group stage play, the two highest ranked teams from each group advanced to their respective knockout stage. In the championship division, the third placed team advanced to a consolation bracket while in the open division, the third and fourth placed teams were eliminated.

Knockout stage games also consisted of two 40-minute halves. The round of 16 and quarterfinals were separated by a seven-minute halftime while the semifinals and finals had a ten-minute halftime. Knockout stage games needed to declare a winner, therefore if a game was tied at the end of regulation, one 15-minute, golden-goal overtime period would begin. If still tied after overtime, kicks from the mark would determine the winner.^[6]

Each of the six regions received three automatic bids for both the men's and women's championship that they awarded to its members. The final six bids were considered "at-large", and were given out by NIRSA to teams, typically based on their regional tournament results and RPI.^[7]

The 32 remaining teams participated in the open division, chosen on a first-come first-serve basis online on September 22, 2010.^[8]

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