(Portions of this story courtesy of the NCAA)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The 2015 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer regular season and tournament champions, Trinity University, will make its 14th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship Tournament as the Tigers will host first and round matches this weekend. Interactive Bracket | Printable Bracket
Trinity (19-2-0) earned the SCAC automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs by virtue of its 1-0 victory over Colorado College yesterday afternoon. The SCAC championship was the 13th league crown for Trinity in the last 14 years and assured the Tigers of their 19th appearance in NCAA postseason play since 1992.
Fourth-ranked Trinity will play the University of Texas-Dallas (15-3-3), winner of the American Southwest Conference tournament, in Saturday's first match at 11 a.m. CT.
On the other side of the bracket, 25th-ranked University of Redlands (16-3-2), winner of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament, takes on ninth-ranked Whitworth University (16-1-1), the Northwest Conference champion, in Saturday's second match scheduled to begin at approximately 1:30 p.m. CT.
The winners of Saturday's matches play on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen on the line.
The first-round matchup will be a rematch from an earlier regular season battle as Trinity traveled to and defeated UT-Dallas 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 13. The two also played in last year's NCAA tournament with Trinity advancing with a 1-0 second round victory - which was also played at UT-Dallas.
Since dropping two straight games in September, Trinity has reeled off 14 straight victories.
Forty-two conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the championship. One team was selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions, as well as members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final 18 berths were reserved for Pool C, which includes institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that did not win their conference championship, and any remaining Pool B teams.
All tournament games leading up to the national semifinals will be played on the campuses of the competing institutions. Three first-round games will be conducted Nov. 12 with the winners advancing to play Sunday, Nov. 15, against the three institutions that earned first-round byes. Thirteen sites will host four teams for first-and second-round competition Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 14-15.
Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites Nov. 21-22. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the national semifinals, which take place Dec. 4 at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri, with Fontbonne University and the Kansas City Sports Commission serving as co-hosts. The national championship game will be played Dec. 5. The Division III women’s soccer national semifinals and championship games will also be held at Swope Soccer Village Dec. 4 and 5.
