2016 NIRSA National Soccer Championship

In the men's championship division finals, 2014 champion Ohio State would face Virginia who had played every one of their 5 previous tournament games to 1-0, with one of those being a loss. The game started fast when eventual MVP Tyler Miller-Jones of Virginia scored the game's first goal in the 11th minute. Ohio State would counter with a goal a minute later, tying the game, meaning this was already the highest scoring game Virginia would have this tournament, only 12 minutes into the game. Virginia would then score two more goals, the first being in the 24th minute by Tysen Tresness and the second being right before halftime by Brian Leibowitz, making the game 3-1 going into halftime. Ohio State once again countered fast with a goal 5 minutes into the second half, pulling the game within one goal. However, eventual Tournament Most Outstanding Goalkeeper Blake Ruzich of Virginia wouldn't give up any more goals, despite a barrage of shots from Ohio State, and Virginia would go on to win 3-2 and claim their first ever national title. This was the second year in a row a Region II team would claim the men's national title despite not winning any of the previous 21 iterations.[2][3]

In the women's championship division finals, familiar face UC-Santa Barbara was looking to claim their 7th national title against North Carolina who were making their first finals appearance. Coming into the finals, North Carolina had been an offensive threat scoring 13 goals in five games (2.6 goals per game). Conversely, UC-Santa Barbara had been a defensive powerhouse and hadn't given up a single goal in their five games, but had only scored five goals in that time. In the finals, eventual MVP Lindsay Ringman of UC-Santa Barbara opened the scoring in the 35th minute. Despite eight shots on goal from North Carolina, none were able to get past eventual Most Outstanding Goalkeeper Lauren Racioppi of UCSB and UC-Santa Barbara would go on to win their 7th national title 1-0. This meant, UCSB didn't allow a single goal in all six games of the tournament and only scored six goals.[4][5]

In the men's open division finals, last year's championship finalist Penn State would take on familiar face Oregon who were looking to defend their open title in their 4th open division finals. Penn State took the lead in the first half from eventual Tournament MVP Matthew Lundstrom, but midway through the second half, Oregon would equalize with a goal from Rikunosuke Kawashima. In the 70th minute, Robbie Edwards of Penn State would retake the lead off of a header, which was all that was needed for them to claim their first open division title in a 2-1 win.[6][7]

In the women's open division finals, Virginia Tech would face Oregon. Despite needing a seven-round PK shootout in the semifinals against defending champion UCLA, Virginia Tech dominated their first 3 games of the tournament by scoring 15 goals while only giving up 1. Oregon were also dominate by scoring 13 goals in their previous four games while only giving up 3. Virginia Tech started hot by scoring 2 goals in the first five minutes with the first coming from eventual MVP Emily Fitzsimmons. However, these were the only goals they would score, meaning when Meghan Schroeder of Oregon scored in the 66th minute, it was just a one goal game. Eventual Most Outstanding Goalkeeper Catherine McNicol of Virginia Tech would ensure that the two goals scored in the first five minutes would be enough, as Virginia Tech went on to win 2-1 for their second women's open national title.[8][9]

The competition consisted of 96 teams: 48 men's teams and 48 women's teams. Each of these divisions were further divided into two 24-team divisions: the championship and open. The championship division divided teams into eight groups of three while the open division divided teams into six groups of four, both engaging in a round-robin tournament that determined teams able to advance to a knockout stage.

Pool play games were two 40-minute halves, separated by a seven-minute halftime and utilized the three points for a win system. In the championship division, the two highest ranked teams from each group advanced to their knockout stage, with the third placed team advancing to a consolation bracket. In the open division, the top team from each group as well as the two best second placed teams advanced to their knockout stage.

Knockout stage games also consisted of two 40-minute halves. The round of 16 and quarterfinals were separated by a seven-minute halftime while the semifinals and finals had a ten minute halftime. Knockout stage games needed to declare a winner. If a knockout-stage game was tied at the end of regulation, overtime would begin. Overtime consisted of one, 15-minute, golden-goal period. If still tied after overtime, kicks from the mark would determine the winner.[10]

Each of the six regions received three automatic bids for both the men's and women's championship that they awarded to its members. The final six bids are considered "at-large", and were given out by NIRSA to teams, typically based on the regional tournament results and RPI.

The 48 remaining teams participated in the open division and were selected via a lottery draw that aired on YouTube on October 4, 2016 at 1pm PST. Any team with membership in a NIRSA-affiliated league or with a minimum of four games played prior to the tournament were able to enter their name into the lottery. If a selected team qualified for the championship division, an alternate would take their spot. 50 men's teams and 40 women's teams were selected.[11][12]

All championship divisional finals were streamed on Periscope:

• Men's finals: https://www.periscope.tv/w/1MYxNOPRQebKw
• Women's finals: https://www.periscope.tv/w/1mnxejzDoMPKX