Santa Barbara, Calif. - The No. 1 Central Methodist men's soccer team will begin its national title defense with a matchup against UC Merced in the Opening Round of the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship Thursday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. (CST) in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Eagles drew the No. 1 seed in the Santa Barbara bracket while UC Merced will serve as the No. 4 seed. Joining both teams in the bracket are No. 2 seed, host Westmont, and No. 3 Corban (Ore.).
CMU enters the tournament with a 19-1 overall record and a perfect 12-0 mark in conference play. They clinched an automatic berth into this year's field as the Heart Regular Season Conference and Tournament Champion. Dating back to Sept. 2019, the Eagles compiled a 32 game winning streak, the third-longest in NAIA history. CMU has also defeated three NCAA DI opponents this past spring and two NAIA Top 25 teams including No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan.
Central currently ranks No. 2 in NAIA in shutouts (10), No. 4 in NAIA assists (48), No. 5 in NAIA in total goals (62), and No. 8 in shots on goal/game (19.200).
UC Merced is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the NAIA Opening Round as the No. 30 overall seed, earning an automatic bid after winning the first California Pacific Conference Tournament Championship in program history. The Bobcats are currently 8-0 overall and are one of just two undefeated teams in the 40-team NAIA Opening Round Event.
Thursday's match will be the first-ever meeting between the two sides. The Bobcats head to Santa Barbara with a 3-1-1 record in their last five meetings vs. ranked opponents.
Corban, who is making its eighth NAIA Championship appearance, earned an automatic berth into the NAIA National Championship as the winner of the Cascade Conference West Division. The Warriors from Oregon posted a 6-1-1 record in the conference, losing 5-1 to Warner Pacific (Ore.) on March 28 but then defeating the same team the next day 2-1. Corban enters the tournament as the 24th overall seed.
Rounding out the field of four is host Westmont. Serving as the tournament's 12th seed overall, the Warriors won the right to play in the championship by defeating Ottawa (Ariz.) 2-1 in the GSAC Championship last Friday night. The Warriors also won the GSAC West title with a 5-0-1 season record. Westmont's only loss this season came on February 10 to NCAA Division II Point Loma Nazarene.
The winners of Thursday's semifinal games will meet at 3:00 p.m. (CST) Saturday on Westmont's Lovik Field to play for the right to advance to the NAIA Final Site in Columbia County, Georgia.
#TakeFlight
