1999 NIRSA National Soccer Championship

The 1999 NIRSA national soccer championship was the 6th NIRSA National Soccer Championships, the annual national championships for United States-based, collegiate club soccer teams organized by NIRSA. It took place at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia from Thursday, November 18 to Saturday, November 20, 1999.

Men's championship
The finals would see a rematch of the previous year's championship game between three time reigning champion, BYU, and 1997 open champions, Texas Tech. Prior to this, in the group stage, both teams would win all 3 games with Texas Tech beating Navy 1–0, undefeated Michigan 2–1, and Colorado 1–0 while BYU would beat Miami (OH) 3–2 after facing a second half deficit, then beat Penn State 2–0, and finally beat SCSL (now SCSA) tournament champions Mississippi State 1–0.

In the knockout round, Texas Tech would defeat Miami (OH) 4–0 in the quarterfinals then would beat Colorado State 3–0 in the semifinals to advance to their second straight finals. Meanwhile, in the quarterfinals, Michigan would score in the 10th minute against BYU to give them a 1–0 lead, but following Michigan receiving two red cards 10 minutes into the second half, BYU would score 3 straight goals in the final 30 minutes to defeat tournament favorites, Michigan, 3–1 in the quarterfinals. Then, in the semifinals, they would face in-state rival Weber State in a rematch of an earlier season matchup in Provo, Utah that Weber State won. In this rematch, BYU would win 3–0 with goals from sophomore Casey Waldron, freshman Brock Blake, and freshman Devin Matsumori to advance to their fourth straight finals in their fourth year participating in the tournament. In the first half of finals, eventual MVP and BYU junior midfielder, Bryce Jolley, would score on an assist from Brandon LeRoy in what would be the lone goal of the match as BYU won 1–0 and claimed their fourth straight national title. BYU also extended their NIRSA championship tournament win streak to 24 games after going four straight tournaments without a tie or loss.

Women's championship
In the finals, 1997 champions, Colorado State, would face finals debutants and Ohio River Soccer Conference (ORSC) runners-up, Michigan, in a rematch of the second group stage match for both teams. In the group stage, Michigan would tie their opener 1–1 to Virginia Tech while Colorado State would beat Illinois 3–0. In the second match of the group stage, Michigan would defeat Colorado State 1–0 and with Virginia Tech beating Illinois 2–0 in the otger match of the group, the standings going into the group stage finale had Virginia Tech and Michigan in first and second, respectively, and Colorado State in the elimination position of third. In the finale, Michigan would defeat Illinois 2–1 and, with Colorado State defeating Virginia Tech 3–1, Michigan would top the group and Colorado State would overtake Virginia Tech for second place.

In the quarterfinals, Colorado State would face reigning, back-to-back runners up and ORSC champions, Penn State, in a rematch of the 1997 finals, which Colorado State won 1-0, and of last year's quarterfinals, which Penn State won 2-1 in overtime. In the match, Colorado State would open the scoring in the 34th minute off of a free kick then would double their advantage in the 58th minute in route to a 2-0 win to advance to the semifinals. Meanwhile, Michigan would face region 6 champions, San Diego State, where Michigan's Debney Prauss scored two goals in a 2-1 win. In the semifinals, Colorado State would defeat ORSC semifinalists, Ohio State, 1–0 to advance to their second finals in three years while Michigan would defeat reigning champions, Colorado, 1–0 to advance to their first finals. In the finals, the game would be deadlocked at 0–0 at the end of regulation, meaning overtime would be required, for the second consecutive year. Overtime would also be scoreless meaning penalties would be required, again for the second consecutive year, to determine a champion. Colorado State would go on to win the shootout 3-1 and secured their second national title. Junior Erin Ortega of Colorado State would win her 2nd tournament MVP with the first being in 1997.

Men's open
In finals, JMU would face Florida State in what was the first finals for both teams. Prior to this, in the group stage, Florida State would win all three games while scoring 17 goals with a 4–1 win over Georgia Tech in their opener, then a 4–0 win over Oregon, and finally a 9–2 win over Toledo. Meanwhile, JMU would beat Colorado State "Gold" 2–1 in their opener, beat a no-show Miami (FL) 1–0 by forfeit, and finally tied MTSU 0–0.

In the quarterfinals, Florida State would defeat Clemson 1–0 while JMU defeated Oregon 2–0. In the semifinals, JMU would defeat reigning runner up, Virginia, 4–0 while Florida State would face in-state rival, Florida. The game would be tied 1–1 after regulation and overtime and Florida State would win in penalties to advance to their first finals. In the finals, JMU would defeat Florida State 2–0 to claim their first open title. JMU's Sean Mannion would be named the division's MVP

Women's open
In the finals, reigning open division runners up, Florida State, would face final debutants Utah Valley State in a rematch of both team's second group stage match. Prior to this, in the group stage, Florida State would beat LSU 3–0 in their opener while Utah Valley State beat Georgia Tech 4–1 in theirs. In the second match for both teams, Florida State would defeat Utah Valley State 1–0. In the group stage finale, Florida State would beat Loyola 5–0 and win their group while Utah Valley State would lose 3–2 to Florida but would still have enough points to top their group.

In the quarterfinals, Utah Valley State would beat LSU 4–1 while Florida State would be tied 1–1 with reigning open champions, Colorado State "Green" in a rematch of the previous year's final. However, this year Florida State would defeat Colorado State "Green" with a golden goal in overtime to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Utah Valley State would defeat hosts Georgia Southern 3–1 while Florida State would defeat in-state rival Florida to advance to their second straight finals. In the finals, Florida State would defeat Utah Valley State 2–0 to win their first open title. Former varsity soccer and softball player for Florida State, Kelley Poole of Florida State, would be named tournament MVP.

Format
The competition consisted of 60 teams partitioned into 34 men's teams and 26 women's teams. Each of these partitions were further divided into a 16-team, invite-only championship division and an open division for the remaining teams. The championship divisions each had 16 teams divided into four groups of four teams each. The men's open division divided teams into three groups of four teams each and two groups of three teams each while the women's open division divided teams into two groups of three teams each and one group of four teams.

All 4 divisions began with a round-robin tournament. In the championship divisions, teams played each of the other teams in their group once. In the men's open, the three groups of four played each other once while the two groups of three teams played all three teams in the other group of three once. In the women's open division, the two groups of three teams played all three teams in the other group of three once while the one group of four played each of the other teams in their group once. Following this, in the championship division, the two best teams in each group advanced to a single-elimination, knockout round. In the men's open division, the best team in each group as well as the three best second placed teams. In the women's open division, the best two teams in each group advanced as well as the two best third placed teams. The first metric for determining the best team was points, calculated first by giving a team 6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. Then, a team could be awarded an addition point for a shutout and an additional point for every goal scored, up to a max of 3 goals per game. If teams were tied on points, the following criteria were used in order:


 * 1) Winner of head-to-head competition
 * 2) Greatest goal difference
 * 3) Most goals scored
 * 4) Coin toss

The knockout stage was an 8-team tournament for each division. Knockout stage games needed to declare a winner, so if one was tied at the end of regulation, overtime would begin. Overtime in the quarterfinals consisted of two, 5-minute, golden-goal periods while in the semifinals and finals, overtime consisted of two, 10-minute, golden-goal periods. If still tied after overtime, kicks from the mark would determine the winner. Pool play and quarterfinal games were two 40-minute halves, separated by a seven-minute halftime with the semifinals and finals also being 40-minute halves, but having a ten minute halftime. If a player received three yellow cards during the course of the tournament they would be suspended the following the game.

Qualification and selections
NIRSA extended invitations to the 16 men's and 16 women's teams to participate in the championship division beginning on October 25, 1999 with those invitations being extend to who NIRSA believed were the best in the nation. The teams that participated in the open division were chosen on a first-come first-serve basis with registration beginning on September 7, 1999.

Women's open
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Women's championship
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Men's open
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