Official Men's Soccer Championship Page
INDIANAPOLIS – The six playoff teams have been announced for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship bracket as the regular season for the 2021 season concluded on Tuesday.
First-round quarterfinal contests will be conducted this Saturday, Nov. 6, from host school sites at the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. With the top two seeds receiving a bye in the opening round, the final four teams will then advance on to the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 11, while the championship game will be played on Saturday.
As the No. 1 seed in this year’s bracket, Lake Erie was already cemented as the conference regular season by virtue of their point total going into the final day of regular season competition.
The Storm finished 12-2-0 in the Great Midwest standings and will look to improve on their ranking in Super Region 3 as a possible NCAA Championship qualifier. LEC will await the winner of No. 5 Findlay and No. 4 Walsh at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium, an artificial turf surface at Harvey High School.
The Cavaliers will host one of the quarterfinal matchups in North Canton with a 7 p.m. ET start time. Talented striker Patrick O’Halloran was named the most recent offensive player of the week as he goes into the playoffs as the league’s leader in points (24). The Oilers separated themselves from what could have been a three-way tie in the standings by taking down Malone on a chilly night with six goals.
Traditionally one of the stronger teams in the championship format with back-to-back tournament titles in 2018 and 2019, Tiffin earned the No. 6 seed in a must-win scenario over regionally ranked and third-seeded Ohio Dominican.
The three points in the standings were valuable and separated the program from Ashland, who had a tough road matchup at Lake Erie to conclude the regular season. Tiffin is set for a rematch with ODU on Saturday from Columbus with a 6 p.m. ET start.
The winner would face No. 2 seed Cedarville in the semifinals. The Yellow Jackets are also ranked in Super Region 3 and earned a first-round bye while finishing with 31 points and a 10-3-1 conference record.
The winner of the Great Midwest Championship tournament will receive an automatic qualifying bid into Super Region 3 of the NCAA Championship. Each super region will take 10 teams as finalized by the national committee once each conference tournament concludes. The NCAA Championship Selection Show will then be streamed on Monday, Nov. 15, at 6:30 P.m. ET.
The Great Midwest All-Conference Team, including individual award winners and the Elite 25 Award recipient will be announced next Thursday afternoon. All awards are voted on by the league’s head coaches. Thirty-three individuals on the first, second and third teams, will be revealed in the afternoon.