The 2019 Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance Regional Tournament was the 10th edition of the Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance's postseason club soccer tournament, which was held at Glover Park in Richmond, Virginia, from October 25–27, 2019. A tournament was held for each the men's and women's division, with each tournament champion receiving an automatic bid to the 2019 NIRSA National Soccer Championship's championship division. The remaining 2 of NIRSA Region II's automatic bids for each division were given out based on RPI, with a special consideration to this tournament's performance. With only 20 teams, this was the lowest number of teams the SCSA has invited to the regional tournament[1]
Format
The tournament consisted of 8 women's teams and 12 men's teams. Each divisional champion received an automatic bid (6 for the women and 8 for the men) with the remaining wild card teams being the next highest RPI ranked teams that had not already qualified. Teams were divided into groups based on RPI.
For the men's division group stage, the 12 teams were split into three groups of four teams each. Each team played every other team in their group meaning a total of 6 games were played within a group. The top two teams from each group advanced to the knockout round, with the best two teams receiving a bye to the semi-finals.
For the women's division group stage, the 8 teams were split into two groups of four teams each. Each team played every other team in their group meaning a total of 6 games were played within a group. The top two teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals.
Pool play games were two 40-minute halves, separated by a seven-minute halftime and utilized the three points for a win system. After pool play, the two highest ranked teams from each group advanced to their respective gender division's knockout stage.
Tie-breaking criteria for group play
The ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria in order:
In a tie-breaking scenario involving more than 2 teams, the tie-breaker procedure would begin. If one team is identified as different and both remaining teams are still tied, the procedure is restarted.
If a tie still remained after the first 5 criteria, the following was used to break a tie:
If there was a three-way tie, a coin-flip would be conducted. The two teams that chose the same outcome would compete in kicks from the mark between each other. The winner would compete with the last remaining team in kicks from the mark
If there's a four-way tie, a drawing of lots would be conducted
Knockout stage games also consisted of two 40-minute halves. The quarterfinals were separated by a seven-minute halftime while the semifinals and finals had a ten minute halftime. Knockout stage games needed to declare a winner. If a knockout-stage game was tied at the end of regulation, overtime would begin. Overtime consisted of one, 15-minute, golden-goal period. If still tied after overtime, kicks from the mark would determine the winner.[2]
