The 1972 NAIA Soccer Championship was the 14th annual tournament held by the NAIA to determine the national champion of men's college soccer among its members in the United States.
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country |  United States |
| Venue(s) | Dunn, North Carolina |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Westmont (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Davis & Elkins |
| Third place | Quincy (IL) |
| Fourth place | Keene State |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 47 (3.92 per match) |
| Best player | Gary Allison, Westmont |
Westmont defeated Davis & Elkins in the final, 2–1, to claim the Warriors' first NAIA national title. Davis & Elkins would later forfeit their second-place finish after it was determined they fielded an ineligible player.
For the third consecutive year, the final was played in Dunn, North Carolina.[1]
Qualification
editFor the fourth year, the tournament field remained fixed at eight teams. Unlike the previous three years, however, additional fifth- and seventh-place finals were not contested.
| Qualified Teams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | Appearance | Last Bid | ||
| Davis & Elkins | 5th | 1971 | ||
| Earlham | 5th | 1970 | ||
| Erskine | 2nd | 1971 | ||
| Fredonia State | 1st | Never | ||
| Harris Teachers | 1st | Never | ||
| Keene State | 2nd | 1971 | ||
| Quincy (IL) | 6th | 1971 | ||
| Westmont | 5th | 1971 | ||
Bracket
edit| Fifth place | Consolation semifinals | First round | Championship semifinals | Championship | ||||||||||||||
| Keene State | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Harris Teachers | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Harris Teachers | 4 | Keene State | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Earlham | 1 | Davis & Elkins | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Davis & Elkins | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| Earlham | 0 | Dunn, NC | ||||||||||||||||
| Harris Teachers | 4 | Davis & Elkins | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Fredonia State | 1 | Westmont | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Westmont | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Fredonia State | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Seventh place | Fredonia State | 5 | Westmont | 2 | Third place | |||||||||||||
| Erskine | 3 | Quincy (IL) | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Earlham | 2 | Quincy (IL) | 2 | Keene State | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Erskine | 0 | Erskine | 0 | Quincy (IL) | 4 | |||||||||||||
- Davis & Elkins forfeited their second place finish due to an ineligible player.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "NAIA Men's Soccer Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved December 28, 2021.