NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament

The NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament is an annual event organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the national champions of men's collegiate soccer among its Division III members in the United States. It has been held every year since 1974.^[1]

NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament

NCAA logo
Association	NCAA
Sport	Men's college soccer
Founded	1974; 51 years ago (1974)
Division	Division III
No. of teams	62
Country	United States
Most recent champion(s)	Amherst (2nd)
Most titles	Messiah (11)
Official website	ncaa.com/soccer

Messiah have been the most successful program, with 11 titles.

Amherst are the reigning champions, winning their second championship in 2024.

History

It has been held each year since 1974, except 2020, when the Division III championship was established for universities that do not award athletics scholarships. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.^[2] Division III teams had previously competed as part of the NCAA College Division Men's Soccer Championship (now Division II). A total of 64 teams participate, making it the largest of the NCAA's men's soccer tournaments.

Traditionally, the tournament is held in November and December at the end of the regular season. The tournament finals were initially held on the campus of one of the teams participating in the semifinals. Since 2004, however, they have been held at the same pre-determined neutral site as the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship (added in 1986).

Selection format

Of the three NCAA divisions, Division III has the most complicated selection process. In 2012, the tournament was a 62-team, single-elimination tournament. Teams are divided into three pools. Pool A consists of the 36 conference champions, who all receive automatic bids to the tournament. Pool B consists of all teams which are not in conferences or which are in conferences that do not meet the requirements to be awarded an automatic bid. Four teams are selected from Pool B. Pool C consists of all the other teams, plus those Pool B teams not already selected. The remaining teams in the field are selected from Pool C. Two teams received first round byes, and the rest of the bracket was filled by geographical proximity. The early rounds of the championship were played at campus sites with the higher seeded team hosting the match. The semifinals and finals are played at a predetermined campus site. The 2012 Division III final rounds were held at Blossom Soccer Complex in San Antonio.^[3]

Results

Keys

• (a.e.t.) – match went to extra time
• (p) – match result defined on penalties

Ed.	Year	Host city		Championship				Semifinalists
				Champion	Score	Runner-Up		Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
1	1974	Wheaton, IL		Brockport State (1)	3–1	Swarthmore		Westfield State	3–1	MacMurray
2	1975	Brockport, NY		Babson (1)	1–0	Brockport		OWU	1–0	Johns Hopkins
3	1976	Elizabethtown, PA		Brandeis (1)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Brockport		Elizabethtown	2–1	MacMurray
4	1977	Wellesley, MA		Lock Haven (1)	1–0	Cortland		Babson	1–0	Wooster
5	1978	Wellesley, MA		Lock Haven (2)	3–0	Washington (SL)		Cortland	2–1 (a.e.t.)	North Adams
6	1979	Trenton, NJ		Babson (2)	2–1	Rowan		Washington (SL)	2–1	Lock Haven
7	1980	Wellesley, MA		Babson (3)	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Scranton		Rowan	1–0	Washington (SL)
8	1981	Elizabethtown, PA		Rowan (1)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Scranton		Brandeis	4–2	OWU
9	1982	Greensboro, NC		UNCG (1)	2–1	Bethany (WV)		Cortland and Scranton
10	1983	Greensboro, NC		UNCG (2)	3–2	Claremont		Plymouth State and Scranton
11	1984	Wheaton, IL		Wheaton (IL) (1)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Brandeis		Kean and RIT
12	1985	St. Louis, MO		UNCG (3)	5–2	Washington (SL)		Fredonia and Rowan
13	1986	Greensboro, NC		UNCG (4)	2–0	UC San Diego		Fredonia and Messiah
14	1987	Greensboro, NC		UNCG (5)	6–1	Washington (SL)		Cal State (SB) and Salem State
15	1988	Rochester, NY		UC San Diego	3–0	RIT		Messiah and Salem State
16	1989	Elizabethtown, PA		Elizabethtown (1)	2–0	Greensboro		UC San Diego and RIT
17	1990	Delaware, OH		Rowan (1)	1–1 (? p)	OWU		Salem State and Wheaton (IL)
18	1991	San Diego, CA		UC San Diego (2)	1–0	TCNJ		Babson and OWU
19	1992	Union, NJ		Kean (1)	3–1	OWU		Colorado and RIT
20	1993	Williamstown, MA		UC San Diego (3)	1–0	Williams		Clarkson and Kenyon
21	1994	Trenton, NJ		Bethany (WV)	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Johns Hopkins		Trenton State & Wisconsin–Oshkosh
22	1995	Williamstown, MA		Williams (1)	2–1	Methodist		Chapman and Muhlenberg
23	1996	Gambier, OH		TCNJ (1)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Kenyon		Chicago and Ithaca
24	1997	Fredericksburg, VA		Wheaton (IL) (2)	3–0	TCNJ		Amherst and Mary Washington
25	1998	Delaware, OH		OWU (1)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Greensboro		Rowan and Williams
26	1999	Wheaton, IL		St. Lawrence (1)	2–0	Wheaton (IL)		Alma and Stockton
27	2000	Glassboro, NJ		Messiah (1)	2–0	Rowan		Linfield and Wisconsin–Oshkosh
28	2001	Grantham, PA		Stockton (1)	3–2	Redlands		Messiah and OWU
29	2002	Canton, NY		Messiah (2)	1–0	Otterbein		St. Lawrence and Trinity
30	2003	Madison, NJ		Trinity (1)	2–1	Drew		Wheaton (MA) and Wisconsin–Oshkosh
31	2004	Greensboro, NC		Messiah (3)	4–0	UC Santa Cruz		Geneseo State and Salisbury
32	2005	Greensboro, NC		Messiah (4)	1–0	Gustavus Adolphus		Plattsburgh State and Wheaton (IL)
33	2006	Lake Buena Vista, FL		Messiah (5)	3–0	Wheaton (IL)		NYU and OWU
34	2007	Lake Buena Vista, FL		Middlebury	0–0 (4–3 p)	Trinity		Loras and Messiah
35	2008	Greensboro, NC		Messiah (6)	1–1 (3–0 p)	Stevens		Amherst and Loras
36	2009	San Antonio, TX		Messiah (7)	2–0	Calvin		Dominican (IL) and Williams
37	2010	San Antonio, TX		Messiah (8)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Lynchburg		Bowdoin and Wisconsin–Oshkosh
38	2011	San Antonio, TX		OWU (2)	2–1	Calvin		Montclair State and Oneonta State
39	2012	San Antonio, TX		Messiah (9)	5–1	Ohio Northern		Loras and Williams
40	2013	San Antonio, TX		Messiah (10)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Rutgers–Camden		Loras and Williams
41	2014	Kansas, MO		Tufts	4–2	Wheaton (IL)		OWU and SUNY Oneonta
42	2015	Kansas, MO		Amherst (1)	2–1	Loras		Calvin and SUNY Oneonta
43	2016	Salem, VA		Tufts (2)	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Calvin		Brandeis and St. Thomas (MN)
44	2017	Greensboro, NC		Messiah (11)	2–1	North Park		Brandeis and Chicago
45	2018	Greensboro, NC		Tufts (3)	2–1	Calvin		Chicago and Rochester (NY)
46	2019	Greensboro, NC		Tufts (4)	2–0	Amherst		Calvin and Centre
–	2020	–		(Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic)				–
47	2021	Greensboro, NC		Connecticut College (1)	1–1 (4–1 p)	Amherst		Chicago and Washington & Lee
48	2022	Salem, VA		Chicago (1)	2–0	Williams		Stevens and Mary Washington
49	2023	Salem, VA		St. Olaf (1)	2–0	Amherst		Washington and Lee and Washington (MD)
50	2024	Las Vegas, NV		Amherst (2)	4–3	Connecticut College		Middlebury and Washington & Lee
51	2025	Salem, VA
52	2026	Columbus, OH
53	2027	Pittsburgh, PA

Champions

St. Olaf

BU

EC

Kean

Williams

TCNJ

Middlebury

CC

Stockton

Bethany

St. Lawrence

Brockport

↓ Trinity

Chicago

AC

Wheaton

RU

Ohio Wesleyan

BC

Tufts

Messiah

NCAA Division III national championships, by school: 13, 5, 2, 1

Team	Titles	Winning years
Messiah	11	2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017
Tufts	4	2014, 2016, 2018, 2019
Babson	3	1975, 1979, 1980
Amherst	2	2015, 2024
Ohio Wesleyan		1998, 2011
Rowan		1981, 1990
Wheaton (IL)		1984, 1997
St. Olaf	1	2023
Chicago		2022
Connecticut College		2021
Middlebury		2007
Trinity (TX)		2003
Stockton (Richard Stockton)		2001
St. Lawrence		1999
TCNJ (Trenton State)		1996
Williams		1995
Bethany (WV)		1994
Kean		1992
Elizabethtown		1989
Brandeis		1976
Brockport		1974

Former programs

Team	Titles	Winning years
UNC Greensboro	5	1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987
UC San Diego	3	1988, 1991, 1993
Lock Haven	2	1977, 1978

• All of the above schools have reclassified their athletic programs from NCAA Division III. UC San Diego and UNC Greensboro are now Division I, and Lock Haven is Division II.

See also

• NCAA Men's Soccer Championships (Division I, Division II)
• NCAA Women's Soccer Championships (Division I, Division II, Division III)
• NAIA national men's soccer championship
• Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association