The 1997 NIRSA national soccer championship was the 4th 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 20 to Saturday, November 22, 1997.

Overview

Men's championship

In the finals, reigning champions, BYU, would face 1995 champions, Texas, in a rematch of the previous year's group stage opener. Prior to this, in the group stage, Texas would win all three games by a score of 2–0, first beating Wyoming and Ohio State, respectively, on Thursday then JMU on Friday. Meanwhile, BYU would also win all three games beating Texas A&M 3–0, Penn State 2–0, and finally, Clemson tournament winners, Georgia, 1–0.

In the quarterfinals, in what was described as wet and rainy conditions, BYU would beat Salt Lake Community College 2–1 while Texas would defeat in-state rival, Texas A&M, for the fourth time that season following a goal from David Sorenson with 10 minutes remaining in the match. In the semifinals, Texas would face North Carolina and would score the first three goals of the match but would concede their first goal in 12 matches off of a corner that made the game 3–1 at the time. Texas would then score two more goals in route to a 5–1 win and their second finals appearance. Meanwhile, BYU would face JMU and would open the scoring early in the second half but would concede late which sent the game to overtime. After a scoreless overtime, the game would go into penalties where BYU's goalkeeper Bryce Jolley saved two attempts and scored the winning goal to send BYU to their second straight final.

In the finals, the game would remain deadlocked at 0–0 after regulation meaning a 10-minute golden goal overtime would be required. With 30 seconds remaining, BYU's freshman forward, Ryan Hawkins, would score a scissor kick to secure BYU's second consecutive title, the first men's championship team to win two titles and the first team in any division to win back-to-back titles. BYU's senior midfielder, Steven Crook, would be named tournament MVP.

Women's championship

In the finals, Colorado State would face Penn State. Prior to this, Colorado State tied their opener 0–0 to Ohio State, then beat Clemson 4–0, and finally beat Maryland 7–0. Meanwhile, Penn State won their opener against Kansas 3–0 on goals from Courtney Davis, Angela Nolfi, and Christa Rimonneau, outshooting Kansas 20–1. They would then face Salt Lake CC who would score early but a goal from Jessica Ashbaugh would tie the game at 1–1, a score the game ended on. Finally, Penn State would defeat Dayton 4–0 on goals from Courtney Davis, Angela Nolfi, and two from Katie Stober.

In the quarterfinals, Penn State would face Ohio State where they'd score the first two goals from Georgia Hartnett and Katie Stober. Ohio State would then score but another goal from Stober would secure a 3–1 win. Meanwhile, Colorado State would face reigning runners-up, Purdue, and would end regulation with a 1–1 draw. Colorado State would score in overtime to win 2–1 and advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Colorado State would defeat North Carolina 3–0 to advance to their first finals while Penn State would face undefeated JMU. Penn State's Courtney Davis would open the scoring and Angela Nolfi would double the advantage. JMU would score late in the first half but that wouldn't be enough as Penn State won 2–1. In the finals, in front of what was reported as 400 spectators, the first half would be scoreless. In the second half, Colorado State would score the lone goal of the match and claim their first national title. Colorado State's freshman, Erin Ortega, would be named tournament MVP.

Men's open

In the finals, Texas Tech would face Texas' "B" team. Prior to this, in the group stage, Texas Tech would defeat Illinois Central College 8–1, then Morehouse 4–0, and finally JMU's "B" team 2–0 to top their group. Meanwhile, Texas would beat South Dakota School of the Mines 8–0, then beat the hosts, Georgia Southern's, "B" team 5–0, and finally beat Colorado State 1–0 to also top their group. In the knockout round, Texas Tech would defeat Colorado State 4–1 in the quarterfinals, then beat regional tournament runners-up, San Antonio College, 5–0 in the semifinals to advance to their second open finals in three years. Meanwhile, Texas "B" defeated Miami (FL) 5–1 in the quarterfinals then would face Clemson in the semifinals. The game would remain 0–0 after regulation and overtime, but Texas "B" would win in penalties to set up a rematch of the finals from two years ago where Texas "B" would claim the inaugural open title. In the finals, Texas Tech would defeat Texas "B" 4–1 to claim their first open title. Texas Tech's Jeff Dupre would be named tournament champions.

Women's open

The division was composed of 4 teams, three of which were region II teams. The teams were Virginia Tech, Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado State's "Green" team (also known as their "B" team as their "A", or "Gold", team competed in the championship division). In the group stage opening round, Florida would defeat Colorado State "Green" 1–0 while Virginia Tech beat Tennessee 4–1. In the second round of the group stage, Colorado State "Green" beat Tennessee 2–0 while Virginia Tech beat Florida 2–1. The group stage would end with two ties with Colorado State "Green" tying Virginia Tech 0–0 and Florida tying Tennessee 1–1 meaning Virginia Tech would top the group, Florida would be placed second on the head-to-head tiebreaker over third placed Colorado State "Green" who were tied with Florida on points, and finally Tennessee would be 4th. In the semifinals, Virginia Tech defeated Tennessee 3–0 while Colorado State "Green" would defeat Florida 1–0, advancing to the finals like their "Gold" team in the championship division. In the finals, Virginia Tech would win 3–2 and claim their first open title. Virginia Tech's Amy Mayer would be named division MVP and notably, Virginia Tech's roster also included former Virginia Tech varsity player, Shannon Mullen, who participated in the first two years of the program's varsity history and would be named to the all-tournament team.

Format The competition consisted of 52 teams partitioned into 32 men's teams and 20 women's teams. Each of these partitions were further divided into a 16-team, invite-only championship division and an open division for the remaining teams. The championship divisions and men's open division were divided into four groups of four teams each while the women's open tournament divided teams into a single group of four.

All 4 divisions began with a round-robin tournament where teams played each of the other teams in their group once. Following this, in the championship divisions and men's open, the two best teams in each group advanced to a single-elimination, knockout round while all four teams in the women's open division advanced to their single-elimination, knockout round. The knockout stage was an 8-team tournament for each division except the women's open which was 4 teams. While not specifically stated, it appears, based on results, that the three points for a win system was used with head-to-head being the first tiebreaker and goal difference being the second.

Qualification and selections NIRSA extended invitations to the 16 men's and 16 women's teams to participate in the championship division beginning on October 20, 1997 with those invitations being extend to who NIRSA believed were the best in the nation. Reigning champions BYU in the men and Miami (OH) in the women received an automatic bid as well as the winner of the Clemson tournament for the men's and women's division. The teams that participated in the open division were chosen on a first-come first-serve basis with registration beginning on September 15, 1997 with a maximum of 12 teams per division.

Men's championship +Participating teamsRegionTeamAppearanceLast BidIMaryland2nd1996IPenn State1stNeverIIJMU2nd1996IINorth Carolina2nd1996IIGeorgia1stNeverIIIPurdue4th1996IIIMiami (OH)2nd1996IIIOhio State2nd1995IVTexas4th1996IVKansas State2nd1995IVTexas A&M2nd1994VColorado2nd1995VWyoming1stNeverVIOregon3rd1996VISalt Lake CC3rd1996VIBYU2nd1996 Source:

Women's championship +Participating teamsRegionTeamAppearanceLast BidIPenn State3rd1996IMaryland1stNeverIIClemson2nd1996IIJMU2nd1996IINorth Carolina1stNeverIIWest Virginia1stNeverIIIPurdue4th1996IIIMiami (OH)4th1996IIIOhio State3rd1996IIIDayton1stNeverIVKansas2nd1996IVTexas3rd1995IVTexas A&M1stNeverVColorado3rd1996VColorado State1stNeverVISalt Lake CC2nd1996

Men's open RegionNumTeamI0 –II8Clemson, Daytona Beach CC, Georgia Southern "A", Georgia Southern "B", JMU "B", Miami (FL), Morehouse College, Oxford CollegeIII2Grand Valley State, Illinois Central CollegeIV4Houston, San Antonio College, Texas Tech, Texas "B"V2Colorado State, South Dakota MinesVI0 –

Women's open RegionNumTeamI0 –II3Florida, Tennessee, Virginia TechIII0 –IV0 –V1Colorado State "Green"VI0 – Source:

Group stage

Men's championship +Group APosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Kansas State321074 +37Advanced to knockout stage2Oregon3201104 +663Purdue310247 −334Maryland301239 −61

+Group BPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1North Carolina320153 +26Advanced to knockout stage2Salt Lake CC312065 +153Colorado311143 +144Miami (OH)301226 −41

+Group CPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1BYU330060 +69Advanced to knockout stage2Texas A&M311134 −143Georgia302112 −124Penn State301204 −41

+Group DPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Texas330060 +69Advanced to knockout stage2JMU320193 +663Ohio State310245 −134Wyoming3003112 −110

Women's championship +Group APosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Colorado State3210110 +117Advanced to knockout stage2Ohio State312030 +353Clemson311125 −344Maryland3003112 −110

+Group BPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Penn State321081 +77Advanced to knockout stage2Salt Lake CC321051 +473Dayton310226 −434Kansas300318 −70

+Group CPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1North Carolina321084 +47Advanced to knockout stage2Colorado311123 −143Miami (OH)311122044Texas A&M30122511

+Group DPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1JMU3300101 +99Advanced to knockout stage2Purdue320154 +163Texas310237 −434West Virginia300328 −60

Men's open +Group EPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Texas Tech3300141 +139Advanced to knockout stage2Morehouse College320154 +163JMU "B"310236 −334Illinois Central College (ICC)3003213 −110

+Group FPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Texas "B"3300140 +149Advanced to knockout stage2Colorado State320192 +763South Dakota Mines3102517 −1234Georgia Southern "B"3003312 −90

+Group GPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1San Antonio College32019906Advanced to knockout stage2Miami (FL)320154 +163Georgia Southern "A"311187 +144Grand Valley State301268 −21

+Group HPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Clemson3300170 +179Advanced to knockout stage2Daytona Beach CC3201124 +863Houston3012112 −1134Oxford College3012115 −143

Women's open +Group OPosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1Virginia Tech321062 +47Advanced to knockout stage2Florida311133043Colorado State "Green"311121 +144Tennessee301227 −51

Tournament bracket

Men's championship

Women's championship

Men's open

Women's open

All-tournament teams

Men's championship NameTeamSteven CrookBYUMark HamreTexasNathan MorrisBYUTyler JonesJMUTavi BrunsonNorth CarolinaBill BrownTexasDom ManbrathKansas StateGlenn PuckrinBYUChad WrightOregonTodd WhiteJMUAblakhat TuleshovTexas A&MEric LandonSalt Lake CC

Women's championship NameTeamErin OrtegaColorado StateCarissa LawsonPenn StateCasey HagenColorado StateSonya NagyNorth CarolinaVarna SwartzJMUJamie MillerSalt Lake CCKatie StoberPenn StateStacie MilamColoradoAbby IllyesPurdueJenny KellyColorado StateCourtney DavisPenn StateJoannah RosemanNorth Carolina

Men's open