The 1997 NIRSA national soccer championship was the 4th NIRSA National Soccer Championships, the annual national championships for United States-based, collegiate club soccer teams organized by NIRSA. It took place at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia from Thursday, November 20 to Saturday, November 22, 1997.
In the finals, reigning champions, BYU, would face 1995 champions, Texas, in a rematch of the previous year's group stage opener. Prior to this, in the group stage, Texas would win all three games by a score of 2âÂÂ0, first beating Wyoming and Ohio State, respectively, on Thursday then JMU on Friday. Meanwhile, BYU would also win all three games beating Texas A&M 3âÂÂ0, Penn State 2âÂÂ0, and finally, Clemson tournament winners, Georgia, 1âÂÂ0.
In the quarterfinals, in what was described as wet and rainy conditions, BYU would beat Salt Lake Community College 2âÂÂ1 while Texas would defeat in-state rival, Texas A&M, for the fourth time that season following a goal from David Sorenson with 10 minutes remaining in the match. In the semifinals, Texas would face North Carolina and would score the first three goals of the match but would concede their first goal in 12 matches off of a corner that made the game 3âÂÂ1 at the time. Texas would then score two more goals in route to a 5âÂÂ1 win and their second finals appearance. Meanwhile, BYU would face JMU and would open the scoring early in the second half but would concede late which sent the game to overtime. After a scoreless overtime, the game would go into penalties where BYU's goalkeeper Bryce Jolley saved two attempts and scored the winning goal to send BYU to their second straight final.
In the finals, the game would remain deadlocked at 0âÂÂ0 after regulation meaning a 10-minute golden goal overtime would be required. With 30 seconds remaining, BYU's freshman forward, Ryan Hawkins, would score a scissor kick to secure BYU's second consecutive title, the first men's championship team to win two titles and the first team in any division to win back-to-back titles. BYU's senior midfielder, Steven Crook, would be named tournament MVP.
In the finals, Colorado State would face Penn State. Prior to this, Colorado State tied their opener 0âÂÂ0 to Ohio State, then beat Clemson 4âÂÂ0, and finally beat Maryland 7âÂÂ0. Meanwhile, Penn State won their opener against Kansas 3âÂÂ0 on goals from Courtney Davis, Angela Nolfi, and Christa Rimonneau, outshooting Kansas 20âÂÂ1. They would then face Salt Lake CC who would score early but a goal from Jessica Ashbaugh would tie the game at 1âÂÂ1, a score the game ended on. Finally, Penn State would defeat Dayton 4âÂÂ0 on goals from Courtney Davis, Angela Nolfi, and two from Katie Stober.
In the quarterfinals, Penn State would face Ohio State where they'd score the first two goals from Georgia Hartnett and Katie Stober. Ohio State would then score but another goal from Stober would secure a 3âÂÂ1 win. Meanwhile, Colorado State would face reigning runners-up, Purdue, and would end regulation with a 1âÂÂ1 draw. Colorado State would score in overtime to win 2âÂÂ1 and advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Colorado State would defeat North Carolina 3âÂÂ0 to advance to their first finals while Penn State would face undefeated JMU. Penn State's Courtney Davis would open the scoring and Angela Nolfi would double the advantage. JMU would score late in the first half but that wouldn't be enough as Penn State won 2âÂÂ1. In the finals, in front of what was reported as 400 spectators, the first half would be scoreless. In the second half, Colorado State would score the lone goal of the match and claim their first national title. Colorado State's freshman, Erin Ortega, would be named tournament MVP.
In the finals, Texas Tech would face Texas' "B" team. Prior to this, in the group stage, Texas Tech would defeat Illinois Central College 8âÂÂ1, then Morehouse 4âÂÂ0, and finally JMU's "B" team 2âÂÂ0 to top their group. Meanwhile, Texas would beat South Dakota School of the Mines 8âÂÂ0, then beat the hosts, Georgia Southern's, "B" team 5âÂÂ0, and finally beat Colorado State 1âÂÂ0 to also top their group. In the knockout round, Texas Tech would defeat Colorado State 4âÂÂ1 in the quarterfinals, then beat regional tournament runners-up, San Antonio College, 5âÂÂ0 in the semifinals to advance to their second open finals in three years. Meanwhile, Texas "B" defeated Miami (FL) 5âÂÂ1 in the quarterfinals then would face Clemson in the semifinals. The game would remain 0âÂÂ0 after regulation and overtime, but Texas "B" would win in penalties to set up a rematch of the finals from two years ago where Texas "B" would claim the inaugural open title. In the finals, Texas Tech would defeat Texas "B" 4âÂÂ1 to claim their first open title. Texas Tech's Jeff Dupre would be named tournament champions.
The division was composed of 4 teams, three of which were region II teams. The teams were Virginia Tech, Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado State's "Green" team (also known as their "B" team as their "A", or "Gold", team competed in the championship division). In the group stage opening round, Florida would defeat Colorado State "Green" 1âÂÂ0 while Virginia Tech beat Tennessee 4âÂÂ1. In the second round of the group stage, Colorado State "Green" beat Tennessee 2âÂÂ0 while Virginia Tech beat Florida 2âÂÂ1. The group stage would end with two ties with Colorado State "Green" tying Virginia Tech 0âÂÂ0 and Florida tying Tennessee 1âÂÂ1 meaning Virginia Tech would top the group, Florida would be placed second on the head-to-head tiebreaker over third placed Colorado State "Green" who were tied with Florida on points, and finally Tennessee would be 4th. In the semifinals, Virginia Tech defeated Tennessee 3âÂÂ0 while Colorado State "Green" would defeat Florida 1âÂÂ0, advancing to the finals like their "Gold" team in the championship division. In the finals, Virginia Tech would win 3âÂÂ2 and claim their first open title. Virginia Tech's Amy Mayer would be named division MVP and notably, Virginia Tech's roster also included former Virginia Tech varsity player, Shannon Mullen, who participated in the first two years of the program's varsity history and would be named to the all-tournament team.
The competition consisted of 52 teams partitioned into 32 men's teams and 20 women's teams. Each of these partitions were further divided into a 16-team, invite-only championship division and an open division for the remaining teams. The championship divisions and men's open division were divided into four groups of four teams each while the women's open tournament divided teams into a single group of four.
All 4 divisions began with a round-robin tournament where teams played each of the other teams in their group once. Following this, in the championship divisions and men's open, the two best teams in each group advanced to a single-elimination, knockout round while all four teams in the women's open division advanced to their single-elimination, knockout round. The knockout stage was an 8-team tournament for each division except the women's open which was 4 teams. While not specifically stated, it appears, based on results, that the three points for a win system was used with head-to-head being the first tiebreaker and goal difference being the second.
NIRSA extended invitations to the 16 men's and 16 women's teams to participate in the championship division beginning on October 20, 1997 with those invitations being extend to who NIRSA believed were the best in the nation. Reigning champions BYU in the men and Miami (OH) in the women received an automatic bid as well as the winner of the Clemson tournament for the men's and women's division. The teams that participated in the open division were chosen on a first-come first-serve basis with registration beginning on September 15, 1997 with a maximum of 12 teams per division.
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