The 1994 NIRSA national soccer championship was the 1st NIRSA National Soccer Championships, an annual national championships for United States-based, collegiate club soccer teams organized by NIRSA. It took place at the Whitaker Fields at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas from Friday, November 18 to Sunday, November 20, 1994. Notably, this tournament is the only one that didn't feature an open division.[1][2]
Overview
Men's championship
Purdue and Washington State would face off in the inaugural finals. Prior to this, in the group stage, Washington State would top their group after defeating Texas A&M 6–0 and defeating Texas Tech via forfeit. While Washington State reported beating Oklahoma 6–0, Oklahoma reported the match being a 3–3 draw, and since Washington State didn't receive the lone tournament bye, Oklahoma's report is the one that's assumed actually occurred. It's also assumed that Purdue won all their matches and were the only team to receive a bye to the semifinals.
In the quarterfinals, Washington State would defeat Arapahoe CC 15–0 and Oklahoma would defeat Wichita State 3–2. This is notable because this is the only time Arapahoe CC or Wichita State were mentioned, and since it's known only 7 teams attended, one of these teams were likely added to replace Texas Tech who forfeited their finale against Washington State. It's assumed the team that replaced them was Wichita State because they're closer to Austin than Arapahoe CC and therefore were not mentioned in official qualification/selection statistics. In the semifinals, Purdue would defeat Oklahoma 3–0 in what, presumably, was only their third match of the tournament while Washington State defeated hosts, Texas, 2–1, conceding their first goal of the tournament.
In the finals, Washington State would open the scoring and would take the 1–0 lead into halftime. Purdue would equalize with 14 minutes remaining in the match. Purdue would then take the lead and end up claiming the first NIRSA national championship with a 2–1 win over Washington State. Purdue's Michael Rowe would be named the division's MVP.[3][4][5]
Women's championship
Miami (OH) and Florida would face off in the first championship finals. Prior to this, Miami (OH) would win their first three group stage games, first a 2–0 win over the hosts, Texas, then, presumably, a 1–0 win over Purdue, and then a dominant 12–0 win over Wichita State. In the group stage finale, Miami (OH) would face Tennessee and would end up losing 3–0, their first loss of the season. Due to this loss, Miami (OH) would claim the second overall seed and would face Purdue in the semifinals, while Florida would likely play Tennessee, assumed due to the fact that Tennessee was the only team to beat Miami (OH). In the semifinals, Miami (OH) would defeat Purdue 2–0 to advance to the finals to face Florida, who also won their semifinal match. Miami (OH) would defeat Florida 2–0 in the finals and claim the first national title. Miami (OH)'s Corey Manning would be named the tournament's MVP.[3][6]
^Technically, the team playing represented Texas A&M of Galveston, but since that's a branch college of Texas A&M they are counted as the general Texas A&M
^Texas Tech forfeited their final match, it's assumed Wichita State replaced them for the quarterfinals
^Washington State reported the match as a 6–0 win but Oklahoma's report was the one used
^While not known for sure, it's assumed Tennessee topped the group since they were the only team to beat Miami (OH)
