For the third straight year, Azusa Pacific is sending both its men’s and women’s soccer teams to their respective NAIA Championship Tournaments, and with the triple double-dip, the Cougars join Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) and Park University (Mo.) as the only institutions to qualify both their men’s and women’s squads for the 2004, 2005 and now the 2006 NAIA Championship Tournaments.
The Cougars garnered automatic berths into this week’s 20-team championship tournaments by sweeping the NAIA regional crowns last week. The women capped a steamrolling performance through the regional field with a convincing 4-0 victory over Vanguard University. Likewise, the Cougar men downed Vanguard in the regional title game, but it was far from convincing, taking a 2-1 overtime nail-biter from the Lions.
Both Cougar teams fly to their tournaments Monday (Nov. 13), the women heading to Olathe, Kan., and the men to Daytona Beach, Fla. The Cougar women, who are 18-1, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA and are also the tournament’s top seed, begin their quest for a second NAIA crown (they won the 1998 title) against the winner of the Virginia Intermont/Tiffin game Thursday (Nov. 16) at 12:30 p.m. (CST, 10:30 p.m. PST). The Cougar men take a 15-3-2 record to the Atlantic coast where as the tournament’s No. 8 seed they meet Lee University of Cleveland, Tenn., Friday (Nov. 17) at 4:30 p.m. (EST, 1:30 p.m. PST).
Both tournaments compete over the course of 6 days with each championship game slated for Tuesday, Nov. 21. The complete NAIA women’s and men’s championship tournament brackets with first-round pairings and start times can be obtained via the Internet. Every game from both championship tournaments will be webcast live.
In addition, the men’s championship tournament will feature a live video and audio stream of each game. Fans can purchase live streams of individual games or the whole tournament by visiting www.naiasoccer.org.
