BYU men’s soccer wins NIRSA Club National Championship

The BYU men’s soccer team competed in the NIRSA club National Championships in Round Rock, Texas this week and regained their status as National Champions.

The Cougars opened Thursday morning and played to a 1-1 draw with Texas A&M. Later that evening, the Cougars played Iowa State, who they breezed by with a score of 5-0.

On Friday, they played Drexel, and beat them by a score of 2-0. Later Friday, they beat Michigan 3-0 in the quarterfinal, putting them through to the semi-final Saturday against North Carolina’s club team.

Saturday morning the Cougars ran past North Carolina, winning 3-0 to set up a date with Ohio State in the title game.

BYU would fall behind early, conceding a goal seven minutes in. However, BYU would win a penalty in the 14th minute, which was converted by Christian Bain.

Jacob Ence would give BYU a 2-1 advantage, followed by an Ohio State red card in the 30th minute, giving the Cougars a man advantage with the lead.

Ohio State pressed the Cougars in the second half, but around the 70th minute BYU regained control. In the second to last minute, BYU would seal their 9th national title with a Michael Anderson goal. The goal gave BYU the 3-1 win.

BYU has won two of three NIRSA Club National Championships since returning to club soccer in 2017. The Cougars have lost just one match since turning to club, which came in the tournament in 2018. BYU has won all but one conference match, which was a draw at Utah State in 2018 as well.