Country USA Defending champions Akron Zips Runners-up Charlotte | Teams 48 Champions North Carolina Semi-finalists Creighton
UCLA | |
The 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship was a single-elimination tournament involving 48 teams to determine the champion of the 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The 53rd edition of the tournament began on November 17, 2011 and culminated with the North Carolina Tar Heels defeating the Charlotte 49ers 1–0, in the final on December 13 at Regions Park in Hoover, Alabama.
Contents
While the tournament resulted in few upsets, most national soccer headlines were made behind Charlotte's run to the championship. Although nationally ranked throughout portions of the regular season, the 49ers entered the tournament through an at-large bid, and were not seeded. Despite that, the 49ers were able to defeat defending champions, the Akron Zips, 1–0 in the third round, before defeating the Connecticut Huskies 4–2 in a penalty shootout to advance to the College Cup. Joining the Tar Heels and the 49ers in the College Cup included the UCLA Bruins and the Creighton Bluejays.
With the victory in the national final, the Tar Heels won their second NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship in program history. It was also the first time in the history of the UNC Charlotte Athletics Program that a team reached a national championship. In 1996, Charlotte reached the College Cup before being eliminated.
Qualified Teams
A total of 48 teams will qualify into the tournament proper, either automatically, or through an at-large bid that is determined by a selection committee. Each conference that field varsity soccer teams are admitted one automatic berth into the tournament. Depending on the conference, that automatic berth is either given the champions of the regular season, or the tournament that culminates the regular season. Twenty-two teams earn automatic bids into the tournament, while 26 enter through an at-large bid.
Format
Like previous editions of the NCAA Division I Tournament, the tournament featured 64 participants out of a possible field of 198 teams. Of the 64 berths, 22 were allocated to the conference tournament or regular season winners. The remaining 42 berths were determined through an at-large process based upon teams' Ratings Percentage Index that did not win their conference tournament. The most at-large berths went to schools from the Big East and Atlantic Coast conferences, containing half of the tournament field's at-large berths (six and five berths, respectively). Of the remaining 11 berths, six were from the Colonial Athletic and Conference USA conferences, each earning three berths.
From there, the NCAA Selection Committee selected the top sixteen seeds for the tournament, that earned an automatic bye to the second round of the tournament. The remanining 48 teams played in a single-elimination match in the first round of the tournament, to play a seeded team in the second round.
Similar to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, each of the tournament rounds were single-elimination. However, matches tied at the end of regulation went to two 10-minute golden goal periods, followed by a penalty shoot-out, if necessary. All matches in the first, second and third rounds, as well as the quarterfinals, were hosted by the higher seed. The College Cup, also known as the semifinals and final for the tournament were held at a neutral venue, this time being at Regions Park in Hoover, Alabama (south of Birmingham.
Schedule
Host team, or higher seed, is listed on the right. Away team or lower seed is listed on the left.
Second round
Numbers represent the seed the team earned in the tournament.