October 26, 2021 | by Taylor Pill

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Sabercats have been given the #4 seed for the 2021 North Region Men's Soccer Tournament and will open play in the North Region Quarterfinal against the #5-seeded Crown College Storm. The winner will advance to the North Region Semifinal at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, November 5, with a ticket to Saturday's North Region Championship on the line.

Besides the North Region title, the winner of the North Region Championship will earn a berth at the 2021 NCCAA DII National Tournament. 

Regionals will be held at the MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex in Des Moines, Iowa. Nationals will be held November 16-20 at Austin-Tindall Regional Park in Kissimmee, Florida.

SCHEDULE

LINKS

TOURNAMENT HOMEPAGE :: SCHEDULE :: LIVE VIDEO :: LIVE STATS :: NCCAA POWER RATING SYSTEM

FORMAT

The format is single-elimination with seedings based on the modified NCCAA Power Rating System. Maranatha and Crown will square off on Thursday, November 4 in the only quarterfinal, with the winner advancing to play top-seeded Faith in the semifinal.

PARTICIPANTS

Below is a brief overview of the five-team field. Most notably, Providence University College (10-1-2), the second-ranked team in the NCCAA DII and ranked at the top of the power ratings, will not be competing at this year's tournament:

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Faith (9-4-0, Midwest Christian College Conference) earns the top spot after playing NCCAA DII schools almost exclusively during the 2021 season. The Eagles hold a North Region record of 4-2, and after losing twice in a row to Maranatha in September, the Eagles have strung together a 5-1 record over their last six games.

Faith will compete this weekend at the MCCC Tournament, and those results will have no bearing on the North Region tournament or its seedings.

No. 8 Moody (5-4-0) enters the tournament after holding a perfect 5-0 record against NCCAA opponents this season, outscoring them 29-5 through the five-game stretch.

Moody is currently ranked eighth in the NCCAA DII Top 10.

No. 10 North Central (5-10-0, Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, NCAA DIII) has been a mainstay in the NCCAA Top 10 Rankings all season long, and they have out-scored their regional opponents 15-3 in just three games. The Rams beat #4-seeded Crown College twice in UMAC play and topped the Sabercats 6-2 in early September for a 3-0 North Region record.

The last time the Rams competed in NCCAA DII postseason competition was in 2016 when they beat Maranatha 1-0 in the North Region Semifinal. The Rams eventually finished 2nd at the 2016 NCCAA DII National Tournament.

North Central is currently ranked tenth in the NCCAA DII Top 10.

Maranatha (5-9-0) held a regular-season record of 4-3-0 against North Region Opponents in the regular season. Maranatha completed season sweeps of Faith (2-1, and 1-0 in overtime) and Emmaus (4-2 and 4-0) but took a couple of losses to Moody (1-3, 1-2) and one to North Central (2-6).

At the time of the seeding announcement, the Sabercats have earned a 2-5 record in the month of October.

Crown's (1-15-0, Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, NCAA DIII) lone win in the 2021 season came against Martin Luther College on October 6. Despite holding a 1-15-0 record, the Storm has been tightly competitive with reputable NCAA DIII programs all season. Don't write Crown off.

Crown competed in the NCCAA at the Division I level from 2008-2017 and just rejoined the NCCAA this year at the Division II level.

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To follow the matches live, follow @MBUSabercats on Twitter and visit mbusabercats.com/schedule for live video and live stats links.