The 2023 Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance Regional Tournament was the 13th edition of the Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance's postseason club soccer tournament, which was held at Dorey Park in Henrico, Virginia from October 27–29th, 2023. A tournament was held for each the men's and women's divisions, with each tournament champion receiving an automatic bid to the 2023 NIRSA National Soccer Championships' 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.[1]
Format
The tournament consisted of twelve women's teams and sixteen 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 16 teams were split into four 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 round of 8.
For the women's division group stage, a team dropped out prior to the tournament and was unable to be replaced, meaning the tournament would only have 11 teams. The tournament would have two groups of four teams and one group of three teams. Each team played 2 games against teams in their group, and the top two teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinals. The final 2 spots were given to the highest ranked third placed teams. Seeding was adjusted based on teams' final game timings.
Pool play games were two 35-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.[2]
Tie-breaking criteria for group play
The ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria in order:
Knockout stage games also consisted of two 35-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.[3]