In the finals, winner of the 2003 men's championship game, Illinois, (title later stripped due to ineligible players) would face region III opponent and finals debutants Michigan. Coming into the finals, Illinois would tie their opener to eventual consolation champion Brown but would beat Arizona 1–0 to win their group. Meanwhile, Michigan would lose their opener to North Carolina 3–0 but would win their finale against Colorado State 1–0 and finish second in their group.
In the knockout round, Illinois would win their round of 16 match against Salt Lake Community College 1–0, then would beat regional opponent Ohio 5–4 on penalties in the quarterfinals following a 1–1 score in regulation and overtime, and finally would defeat UC-San Diego 3–1 in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Michigan would win their round of 16 match against Missouri 3–0, then would beat regional opponent Indiana 2–0 in the quarterfinals, and finally would beat Arizona 1–0 in the semifinals after scoring in the 65th minute. In the finals, eventual men's championship MVP, Brent Medema of Michigan, would score in the first half off of a corner in what would be the lone goal of the match, meaning Michigan would claim their first national title.[3][4][5][6][7]
In the finals, four-time champion Colorado would take on finals debutants San Diego State. Coming into the finals, Colorado would win their opener against North Carolina, tie their second against Texas 2–2, then beat Cornell 3–1 in their finale to claim first place in the group while San Diego State would win their first games against Texas A&M and Penn State, respectively, both by a score of 4–1 but would tie their finale to reigning champions Michigan 1–0 and win their group. In the knockout round, Colorado would beat Texas A&M on penalties following a 0–0 game after regulation in the quarterfinals then would beat Virginia 2–0 in the semifinals. Meanwhile, San Diego State would beat Texas 2–0 in the quarterfinals then beat Michigan State 1–0 in the semifinals. In the finals, the game would be tied 1–1 with four minutes remaining in regulation when freshman Mandy Lenham would score what would be the game winner off a header to lead San Diego State to their first national title. San Diego State's Cassidy Runyan would be named women's championship MVP.[8][9]
In the finals, tournament hosts Arizona State would take on Kansas in what would be the first finals appearance for both teams. Coming into the finals, Arizona State would lose their opener to UC-Berkeley 2–0 but would beat Florida 2–0 then Iowa State 5–1 to win their group while Kansas, in their group of only three, would win both group stage games 2–0 to also win their group. In the knockout round, Arizona State would beat reigning men's championship runners-up Vanderbilt 4–0 in the quarterfinals then beat Colorado "Black" 1–0 in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Kansas would beat Minnesota State-Mankato 2–1 in the quarterfinals then beat Virginia 1–0 in the semifinals. In the finals, Arizona State would go on to win 3–1, claiming their first men's open title. Arizona State's goalkeeper Justin Klum would be named men's open MVP and best goalkeeper.
In the finals, 2001 women's open champion Colorado "Black" would face 2004 women's championship co-champion UC-Santa Barbara. Coming into the finals, Colorado "Black" would win all three games while UC-Santa Barbara would lose their finale to JMU after winning their first two matches but would advance as a wildcard. In the knockout round, Colorado "Black" would beat UC-Berkeley in penalties in the quarterfinals following a 3–3 game in regulation, then would beat JMU in penalties following a 0–0 game in regulation. Meanwhile, UC-Santa Barbara would beat Florida 3–0 in the quarterfinals then Illinois 2–0 in the semifinals. In the finals, UC-Santa Barbara would go on to win 3–0 and claim their first women's open title. UC-Santa Barbara's Morgan Tanner would be named women's open MVP.[8]
The competition consisted of 79 teams: 40 championship teams and 39 open teams. The divisions were further divided into a men's and women's division: 24 men's and 16 women's teams in the championship division and 20 women's and 19 men's teams in the open division. The divisions were then further divided into groups: eight groups of three teams in the men's championship, four teams of four teams in the women's championship and five groups of four teams each in the men's and women's open. All four divisions engaged in a round-robin tournament that determined teams able to advance to a knockout stage. Each team played every other team in their group once in pool play which consisted of two 40-minute halves separated by a seven-minute halftime. Pool play utilized the three points for a win system and after pool play, the two highest ranked teams from each group in the championship divisions advanced to their respective knockout stage, with the third placed team in the men's championship advancing to a consolation bracket while the third and fourth placed teams in the women's championship being eliminated. In the open divisions, each pool winner automatically advanced in addition to three additional wild-card teams. Positions 1 and 8 were given to first place teams in groups that didn't have a wild-card team in order of tie-breaking procedures, positions 2, 6, and 7 were given to wild-card teams in order of tie-breaking procedures, and positions 5, 3, and 4 were given to the pool winners from the pools of the 2, 6, and 7 positioned wild-card teams, respectively.
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 (only could occur in open division)
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, therefore if a game was tied at the end of regulation, two five-minute overtime periods would be played to completion. If still tied after overtime, kicks from the mark would determine the winner.[10][11]
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.[12]
The remaining teams participated in the open division, chosen on a first-come first-serve basis via online registration beginning on September 12, 2006 with a max of 16 teams per gender division.[13]
