2016 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship
| College Cup | |||
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| Country | United States | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | November 17 – December 11, 2016 | ||
| Teams | 48 | ||
| Champions | Stanford | ||
| Runners-up | Wake Forest | ||
| Semi-finalists | |||
| Matches played | 47 | ||
| Goals scored | 121 (2.57 per match) | ||
| Top goal scorer(s) | Julian Gressel (4) | ||
| Best player | Offensive: Ian Harkes Defensive: Andrew Epstein |
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| All statistics correct as of December 3, 2016. | |||
The 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship (also known as the 2016 College Cup) was the 58th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I men's collegiate soccer. The first, second, third, and quarterfinal rounds were held at college campus sites across the United States during November and December 2016, with host sites determined by seeding and record. The four-team College Cup finals was played at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas on December 9 and 11, 2016.
The Stanford Cardinal successfully defended their 2015 title. Stanford played the North Carolina Tar Heels to a scoreless draw in the semifinals before winning a penalty kick shootout 10–9 to advance to the Championship game. The Cardinal then also tied the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 0–0 in the Final before claiming the back-to-back title with a 5–4 shootout victory.
Stanford tied the NCAA record for the Lowest Goals-Against Average in the Tournament (Minimum 3 Games) of 0.00 by becoming the fourth team to not allow their opponents to score a goal in the tournament. The three previous record-holders are the 1976 San Francisco Dons, the 1995 Wisconsin Badgers, and the 2009 Akron Zips.
All Division I men's soccer programs except for Grand Canyon, Incarnate Word, and UMass Lowell will be eligible to qualify for the tournament. Those three programs are ineligible because they are in transition from Division II to Division I. The tournament field remains fixed at 48 teams.
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