Five Heart Teams Qualify for NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) officially announced the teams and pairings for the 2024 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship on Saturday afternoon and five Heart of America Athletic Conference teams earned a spot in the 40-team field.

No. 4 Missouri Valley, No. 5 William Penn, No. 24 MidAmerica Nazarene, (RV) Clarke and (RV) Baker all earned a spot to nationals. Each will compete in the NAIA Opening Round. If they advance past the Opening Round, they will then travel to Wichita, Kansas for the NAIA National Site. December 2-9.

The Heart is tied with the Crossroads League for the most teams to qualify for the National Championship by a conference.

Missouri Valley earned the No. 4 seed and will host their Opening Round matchup in Marshall, Mo., and will take on the winner of Louisiana Christian and Hastings (Neb.) on November 23.

No. 3 William Penn will also host its Opening Round on November 23, as they await the winner of Missouri Baptist and Governors State (Ill.). 

No. 16 Clarke will travel to Spring Arbor, Mich., to face Spring Arbor University on November 23.

The defending National Champion, MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers will host No. 13 Huntington (Ind.) on November 23.

Baker will also host their Opening Round contest, welcoming UC-Merced (Calif.) to Baldwin City, KS.