This tournament saw the first ever team to be disqualified after the tournament when it was discovered that tournament winners in the men's championship division, Illinois, used ineligible players. All awards, including all-tournament selections and the title, would be relinquished. Utah Valley State, despite self-proclaiming themselves as such, would not be named champions, officially leaving the tournament without a champion.[2]
In the men's championship division, the tournament wouldn't see its most successful club in 5 time champion BYU, who were beginning their first season in the Premier Development League.[3] In their absence, the finals would feature 2001 tournament finalists Illinois and finals debutants, Utah Valley State, in only their second tournament appearance. Prior to the finals, Illinois would win their 2 group stage games against Minnesota and Oklahoma State, respectively, both by a score of 3-1 and claim the top rank in their group on the goals for tiebreaker. Meanwhile, Utah Valley State would narrowly advance to knockout round on goal difference following a 2-1 win over Virginia and a 2-3 loss to Texas A&M. In the knockout round, both teams would require extra time in their round of 16 matchups with Illinois scoring a golden goal in overtime following a 0-0 draw in regulation over Clemson and Utah Valley State winning in penalties over Mississippi State following a 1-1 draw in regulation and overtime. Following this, Illinois would win their quarterfinal match 4-2 over Texas A&M and their semifinal match 4-0 over Colorado State while Utah Valley State would win their quarterfinal match 4-1 over Auburn and their semifinal match 1-0 over Minnesota. In the finals, Illinois would defeat Utah Valley State 2-0 and senior, Tyson Masar would be named tournament MVP. While full details are unavailable, it would later be announced that Illinois used ineligible players during the tournament and would be relinquished of all awards including their 6 wins, 4 all tournament team selections, and the title. While Utah Valley State would self-proclaim themselves champions, NIRSA would declare them "finalists" and leave the tournament without a champion. To date, this is the only time a team has been disqualified in any of the four divisions for any reason.[4][5][6]
In the women's championship division finals, 2 two-time champions would face off in reigning finalists Colorado and inaugural champions Miami (OH) in a rematch of the 1995 national championship where Colorado was victorious. Coming into the finals, both teams would win all three of their group stage games without conceding a goal. Miami (OH) won all three games 1-0 against San Diego State, JMU, and Texas A&M, respectively, and Colorado won 5-0, 1-0, and 2-0 against Ohio State, 2001 champions Penn State, and Baylor, respectively. In the quarterfinals, both teams would win 2-1 with Miami (OH) beating Purdue and Colorado beating San Diego State. In the semifinals, Miami (OH) would defeat UC-Santa Barbara 1-0 while Colorado would require penalties against rival Colorado State following a 0-0 draw in regulation and overtime to advance to their second straight finals. Colorado would go on to win 1-0 and become the first women's championship team to win 3 national titles. Colorado's Kim Lipman would be named tournament MVP and best goalkeeper.[7]
In the men's open division finals, finals debutants UC-Santa Barbara would face two-time open champions JMU. In the group stage, both teams would be undefeated with UC-Santa Barbara winning their opener 2-1 against Iowa State followed by a 10-0 win over Southern Miss and a 7-0 win over Ohio University while JMU would win their opener 2-1 over North Dakota State followed by a 1-0 win over Florida State and a 1-1 draw against Cornell. In the quarterfinals, UC-Santa Barbara would beat Florida State 3-0 while JMU would require penalties to beat Alabama following a 0-0 draw in regulation and overtime. In the semifinals, UC-Santa Barbara would beat 2000 championship division winners and reigning open finalists Penn State in penalties following a scoreless game to reach their first finals while JMU would defeat Vanderbilt 2-1. In the finals, UC-Santa Barbara would score the lone goal of the match and claim their first title. UC-Santa Barbara's Chris Hughes would be named the division's MVP.
In the women's open division finals, reigning open tournament finalists, Arizona, would face finals debutants Kansas in a rematch of their group stage finale. Coming into the finals, Arizona would beat Alabama 4-0 in their opener while Kansas beat Vermont 2-0 in theirs. Following this, Arizona would defeat Vermont 3-0 while Kansas would beat Alabama 8-0, ensuring both teams would advance to the knockout stage with the finale determining seeding. In the group stage finale, the teams would draw 1-1, giving Kansas the top seed in the group with a superior goal difference. In the quarterfinals, Kansas would defeat Ohio University 3-2 while Arizona would require penalties to defeat UC-Berkeley following a scoreless match in regulation and overtime. In the semifinals, Kansas would defeat UCLA 1-0 while Arizona beat 2001 open champions Colorado "Black" 3-1. In the finals, the game would once again end tied, this time 2-2 following regulation and overtime. However, this game required a winner, so the game would go to penalties to determine a champion, which Arizona would win claiming their first open title. Junior Kamaya Damwijk of Arizona would go on to be named the division's MVP. Following this tournament, Damwijk would walk-on to Arizona's women's varsity team where she would score 6 goals in 20 games, 10 of which being starts, in route to the team's first Pac-12 championship and their first NCAA Tournament appearance.[8][9][10][11]
The competition consisted of 72 teams: 40 men's teams and 32 women's teams. Each of these divisions were further divided into a 24-team divisions for the men's championship and a 16-team division for the women's championship, men's open, and women's open. The men's championship division divided teams into four "master" groups of six while the remaining divisions divided teams into six groups of four. The men's championship further divided "master" groups into two "sub groups" of three. Each division engaged in a round-robin tournament that determined teams able to advance to a knockout stage. The men's championship division had teams play two pool play games within their "master" group. The remaining divisions played each of the other three teams in their group. In the men's championship division, the four highest ranked teams from each group advanced to their knockout stage, with the 5th and 6th placed team advancing to a consolation bracket. In the remaining divisions, the top team from each group as well as the two best second placed teams advanced to their 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.
Tie-breaking criteria for group play
The ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria in order:
In a tie breaking scenario involving more than 2 teams, the tiebreaker procedure would begin. If one team is identified as different and both remaining teams are still tied, the tie breaker procedure is restarted.
If a tie still remained after the first 5 criteria, the following was used to break a tie:
If there was a three-way tie, a coin-flip would be conducted. The two teams that chose the same outcome would compete in kicks from the mark between each other. The winner would compete with the last remaining team in kicks from the mark
If there's a four-way tie, a drawing of lots would be conducted
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 in the round of 16 and quarterfinals consisted of two, 5-minute, golden-goal periods while overtime in the semifinals and finals consisted of two, 10-minute, golden-goal periods. If still tied after overtime, kicks from the mark would determine the winner.[12]
Each of the six regions received three automatic bids for the men's championship division and two automatic bids for the women's championship that they awarded to its members. The final bids for each division were considered "at-large", and were given out by NIRSA to teams, typically based on their regional tournament results and RPI.
The remaining teams participated in the open division, chosen on a first-come first-serve basis via online registration beginning on September 2, 2003.[13]
