Four Heart Squads Qualify for NAIA Men’s Soccer First Round
The Heart of America Athletic Conference will be represented by four teams in this week’s NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship First Round.
The Heart of America Athletic Conference will be represented by four teams in this week's NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship First Round.
No. 3 Central Methodist, No. 8 MidAmerica Nazarene, No. 11 Missouri Valley and William Penn will all compete on Thursday, November 17 in the NAIA First Round.
CMU has earned the No. 1 seed and is joined in their First and Second Round bracket by No. 2 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), No. 3 Rio Grande (Ohio) and No. 4 University of St. Mary (Kan.).
CMU will host the Columbia Bracket and will take on No. 4 USM on Thursday at 1:30 pm in Columbia, Mo., at Battle High School.
This is the fourth appearance in the NAIA National Championship for CMU, they are two-time NAIA National Champions, winning the national title in 2018 and 2019.
With a win on Thursday, they will take on the winner of No. 2 Olivet Nazarene and No. 3 Rio Grande on Saturday, November 19 at 1 pm.
The Eagles were the Heart Co-Regular Season and Conference Tournament Champions this season.
MNU is hosting the Olathe Bracket and is the No. 1 seed in the bracket. They will be joined by No. 2 William Carey (Miss.), No. 3 LSU Shreveport (La.) and No. 4 Oregon Tech.
The Pioneers will host Oregon Tech at 11 am on Thursday, November 17.
With a victory, the Pioneers will face the winner of No. 2 William Carey and No. 3 LSU Shreveport at 1 pm on Saturday.
MNU has now appeared in 10 NAIA Men's Soccer National Tournaments. This season, they earned a berth, as an at-large selection.
Missouri Valley will host the Marshall Bracket as the No. 1 seed and will host No. 2 Williams Baptist (Ark.) , No. 3 Madonna (Mich.) and No. 4 Cardinal Stritch (Wisc.). The Vikings were the 2022 Heart Regular Season Co-Champions.
Missouri Valley will take on No. 4 Cardinal Stritch on Thursday at 1 pm. With a win, they would take on the winner of No. 2 Williams Baptist and No. 3 Madonna at 1 pm on Saturday.
The Vikings have now appeared in 11 NAIA Men's Soccer National Tournaments, they won the 2022 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship. This season, they earned a berth, as an at-large selection.
William Penn qualified for the 2022 NAIA Men's Soccer First Round with an impressive run through the Heart Conference Tournament and they finished as the Heart Conference Tournament Runner-Up.
They have advanced to the Mishawaka Bracket, hosted by Bethel (Ind.). The Statesmen are the No. 4 seed and will take on No. 1 Bethel at 3 pm on Thursday, November 17.
Also joining the bracket are No. 2 University of Northwestern Ohio and No. 3 Hastings (Neb.). With a win on Thursday, WPU would take on No. 2 UNO or No. 3 Hastings on Saturday at 1 pm.