KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the teams and pairings for the 2024 NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship on Saturday, November 16. Marian University has once again qualified for the NAIA National Championship with an automatic bid as the runner-up in the Crossroads League Regular Season and Tournament, and will host Life University in the NAIA Tournament Second Round on November 23.
The 40-team field will kick things off in the NAIA National Championship First & Second Rounds presented by Select Sport America, at 16 campus locations on November 21-23. The 2024 NAIA National Championship Second Round winners will meet up in Pensacola, Fla., at the NAIA National Championship final site event. The final site will be held at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex from December 2-9, 2024, hosted by Pensacola Sports.
This year's championship field includes 26 automatic qualifiers and 14 at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, regular-season championship, finished runner-up at the conference tournament as determined by each conference qualification plan. The at-large bids were determined by the NAIA Women's Soccer National Selection Committee. This committee consists of one representative from each geographical area, a representative from the National Administrative Council, the current and past president of the NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches Association, and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.
This is the seventh year time that Marian has qualified for the NAIA National Tournament, and is the sixth consecutive season that Marian will compete for an NAIA Championship. The Knights have hosted in each of their seven appearances in the NAIA First or Second Round, and will do so again this year, appearing in the NAIA Second Round to take on Life University. Last season Marian also hosted the NAIA Second Round.
Marian enters the NAIA National Tournament with a record of 16-3-2, falling in their most recent match against No. 11 Spring Arbor in the Crossroads League Tournament Championship. Marian finished as the runner-up to the Cougars in both the regular season and the tournament, putting together a strong resume throughout the 2024 season. On the year, Marian played in 11 contests against schools that were rated or receiving votes in the NAIA Top-25, going 7-2-2 in such matches this season. The Knights have recorded 15 shutouts on the season, setting a new program record. Marian University is 12-5-2 overall all-time in the NAIA National Tournament.
Marian was one of three Crossroads League institutions to reach the NAIA Tournament, joining Spring Arbor and Indiana Wesleyan.
The opponent for the Knights in the NAIA National Tournament will be the Life University Eagles, who are rated No. 14 in the most recent NAIA Top-25. Life is in the NAIA Tournament for the second time in their history, and this season posted a record of 14-4-1. The Eagles have a record of 2-4 against teams rated in the NAIA Top-25 this season, which includes a pair of losses to their conference champion, No. 3 William Carey. Life reached the Southern-States Tournament Semifinals, and went 8-2-1 overall in their conference season. The Eagles are 3-1 all-time in the NAIA National Tournament.
The match between Marian and Life will kick at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 23 from Ascension St. Vincent Field. The NAIA Tournament Second Round will be streamed on the ISC Sports Network, and the match will be pay-per-view, with the stream charging at $9.99. Live stats will be available at MarianStats.com, and tickets will go on sale on Monday afternoon for the match.
Live updates will be posted to the Marian University Athletics social media channels throughout the match. Follow along on X and Instragram with by following @MUKnights.
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