The 1995 NIRSA national soccer championship was the 2nd 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 16 to Saturday, November 18, 1995. Notably, this is the first tournament that added the open division for the men and women.[1]
Overview
Men's championship
In the finals, hosts Texas would face Kansas State. Prior to this, in the group stage, both teams would win all three of their games. Texas would defeat Ohio State 5-0 in their opener, then Grand Valley State 7-0, and finally Colorado 2-0 while Kansas State defeated Tulane via forfeit, then reigning champions Purdue 4-1, and finally Xavier 5-2.
In the knockout round, Texas would concede their first goal of the tournament in a 8–1 win over Xavier while Kansas State would remain tied 1–1 with Oregon after regulation and overtime, meaning a penalty shootout was required. Kansas State would win the shootout 5–3 and advance to the semifinals to face Ohio State. In the semifinals, Texas would defeat reigning champions, Purdue, 2–0 while Kansas State would once again require overtime after a 0–0 draw with Ohio State. In overtime, Kansas State would score and advance to the finals against hosts Texas. In the finals, Texas would defeat Kansas State 5–0 and claim their first national title. Texas' Peter Narvarte would be named the tournament's MVP.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Women's championship
In the finals, Colorado would face the reigning champions Miami (OH) in a rematch of their second group stage game. In the group stage opener, Miami (OH) would defeat hosts, Texas, 4-1 while Colorado defeated Iowa 7-0. In the second group stage match, the teams would remain tied 1-1 after regulation, but Miami (OH) would claim the victory with a goal in overtime. In the group stage finale, Miami (OH) defeated Iowa 2-0 while Colorado defeated hosts, Texas, 3-1, sending both teams to the knockout round.
In the knockout round, Miami (OH) would defeat reigning semifinalists, Purdue, 4-3 while Colorado defeated Baylor 5-0. In the semifinals, Colorado would defeat Penn State 2-0 while Miami (OH) defeated Illinois 3-2, meaning they were the only reigning champion to reach the finals with Purdue's men's team losing to Texas in the semifinals of the men's championship division. In the finals, despite the first match being close enough to require overtime, Colorado would defeat Miami (OH) handidly 4-0 and claim their first national title. Former Texas A&M varsity player, Brittan Hlista of Colorado, would be named the MVP.[8][9][10]
Men's open
In the inaugural open tournament, in-state rivals Rice and hosts Texas' "B" team would face off in a rematch of both teams' group stage finale. In the seeding matches, Texas "B" would win their opener 7-1 over TAMU-Galveston and their second match 6-0 over Kirkwood CC. Meanwhile, Rice would lose their opener to Sam Houston State 0-5 then lost 1-4 to Texas Tech. In the group stage finale for both teams, Texas "B" would defeat Rice 4-0 giving Texas "B" the number 1 overall seed and an automatic bye to the semifinals while Rice had the sixth, and worst, seed and would have to face Sam Houston State again in the opening round. In the opening round, Kirkwood CC would defeat TAMU-Galveston 5-2 and advance to the semifinals to play Texas "B" while Rice would defeat in-city rival and 3 seed, Sam Houston State, 4–0 and would now face another in-state rival in Texas Tech. In the semifinals, Texas "B" would defeat Kirkwood Community College 5-0 while Rice would tie Texas Tech 1–1 after regulation meaning overtime would be required. Rice's midfielder Mike Eggen, who scored Rice's first goal, would score in overtime to improbably send his team to the finals. In the finals, Rice's Mike Eggen would open the scoring but Texas "B" would tie the game up shortly after that. The game would remain tied 1–1 through regulation and overtime meaning a penalty shootout would determine the champion. Rice would make four of their five kicks and would defeat Texas "B".
However, shortly after this, tournament officials determined Rice used an ineligible player following the opening round match against Sam Houston State and vacated their title. Rather than leaving the first title without a champion, initial runners-up Texas "B" would be given the title and since they lost to Rice in the semifinals, initial semifinalist Texas Tech would be judged as the runners-up with Kirkland CC being judged as a "finalist". To date, this is the only time an open division team has been judged to have used ineligible players and the only time when a forfeited title was given to another team (the only other instance of this was in 2006 where Illinois men vacated their title but the championship was left without a champion rather than awarding it to the finalists, Utah Valley State).[11]
Women's open
In the inaugural women's open finals, Ohio State would face Kansas in a rematch of their group stage finale. Prior to this, in the group stage, Ohio State won their opener 7-0 over Sam Houston State then beat Colorado State 3-0 while Kansas would lose their opener 0-1 to Grand Valley State but would beat Texas Tech 4-1 in the following match. In the group stage finale, Ohio State would defeat Kansas 3-0 giving Kansas the 4-seed to face 5-seed Texas Tech in the opener while Ohio State received the number two overall seed and automatically advanced to the semifinals.
In the opening round, both games would result in a forfeit with Sam Houston State forfeiting to Colorado State who would advance to the semifinals to face Ohio State and with Texas Tech forfeiting to Kansas, advancing them to the semifinals to face Grand Valley State. In the semifinals, Ohio State would defeat Colorado State 5-0 while Kansas defeated Grand Valley State 2–1 despite previously losing to them. In the finals, Ohio State would claim the first women's open title after defeating Kansas 7-0. Ohio State's Kristi Malen would be named MVP.[7][12]
^ abcdDue to an ineligible player, Rice would vacate the title. The title would be given to runners-up Texas "B" and since they lost to Rice in the semifinals, Texas Tech would be named runners-up
