2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game
The 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game was played on December 15, 2019, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina and determined the winner of the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, the national collegiate soccer championship in the United States. This was the 61st edition of the oldest active competition in United States college soccer.
The match featured Georgetown University of the Big East Conference, and the University of Virginia of the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was the first time in NCAA Tournament history that the final featured two programs from the Washington, D.C. metro area. This was also the highest scoring national final since 1980.
Road to the final
The NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and determines the Division I men's national champion. The tournament has been formally held since 1959, when it was an eight-team tournament. Since then, the tournament has expanded to 48 teams, in which every Division I conference tournament champion is allocated a berth. It was Georgetowns's first appearance since 2012, which they lost their sole NCAA final appearance against Indiana, and Virginia's first appearance since 2014, where they defeated UCLA. Virginia has won the NCAA Tournament on seven previous occasions: 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2009, and 2014.Georgetown
was making their second appearance in the College Cup final, having previously reached the final in 2012, where they lost to Indiana. On November 17, the program qualified for the NCAA Tournament by winning the 2019 Big East Conference Men's Soccer Tournament, 3–1 over Providence, claiming the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. It was the Hoyas' third consecutive Big East Tournament title, and their fourth overall. Georgetown had also won the Big East regular season championship, giving the Hoyas their second consecutive Big East regular season title, and their seventh overall. Entering the national championship game, Georgetown accumulated a record of 19–1–3 across all competitions, and a 7–0–2 record in Big East play. Jacob Montes lead the Hoyas will 11 goals during the season, and Derek Dodson lead the Hoyas with eight 8 assists and 26 points during the season.Entering the NCAA Tournament, Georgetown was ranked second overall in the United Soccer Coaches poll, and were given the third overall seed, allowing them to earn a bye into the second round of the tournament. On November 24, in the second round, Georgetown hosted ACC outfit, Pitt, who were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1965. Two goals from Dylan Nealis, strikes from Foster McCune and Dodson, along with an own goal from Pitt, gave the Hoyas a 5–0 victory over Pitt, their largest margin of victory all season. Louisville upset the 14th seeded UC Davis in the second round, giving Georgetown a third round matchup with another ACC outfit: Louisville Cardinals. On December 1, Georgetown defeated Louisville. Georgetown once again scored five goals in the match, giving the Hoyas a 5–1 victory over Louisville. Paul Rothrock and Montes each scored twice, and Jack Beer added an additional goal for the Hoyas. Louisville's Pedro Fonseca scored the team's only goal against Georgetown.
On December 7, in the Quarterfinals, Georgetown hosted the Pac-12 champions, and the 6th-seeded, Washington Huskies. The Huskies raced out to a quick lead, thanks to a Jaret Townsend strike in the fourth minute, causing Georgetown to be trailing for the first time throughout the tournament. Midway through the second half, Montes and Dodson each scored quick succession goals to give the Hoyas a 2–1 lead, which proved to be the final score, and allowed Georgetown to book their trip to the College Cup for the first time since 2012.
On December 13, the College Cup semifinal round was held. The Semifinals were played at the neutral site WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, where Georgetown played against the seventh-seeded Stanford. Stanford had won the NCAA College Cup thrice between 2015 and 2017 before exiting in the quarterfinals in 2018, and were making their seventh College Cup appearance, their fourth in the last five years. In cold and wet conditions, Georgetown prevailed 2-0 over Stanford. Sean Zawadzki opened the scoring for the Hoyas in the fourth minute of play, and McCune scored the insurance goal for Georgetown in the 67th minute.
Virginia
The University of Virginia was making their ninth appearance in the national championship. Of the previous eight finals, Virginia had won seven of the finals, with their last loss in a national championship coming in 1997. Virginia booked their record 39th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament on November 17, with a 3–1 against Clemson in the ACC Men's Soccer Championship Game. It was Virginia's first ACC Men's Soccer Tournament title since 2009, and their 11th overall ACC Tournament championship. Additionally, Virginia had won their first regular season championship since 2010, accumulating a conference record of 6–1–1. The regular season title was Virginia's 19th overall ACC Regular Season championship. Entering the national championship game, Virginia had a record of 21–1–1. Daryl Dike led Virginia during the 2019 in both goals and assists, notching nine goals and eight total assists.Entering the NCAA Tournament, Virginia was ranked atop all major collegiate soccer polls. Virginia also earned the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, allowing them to earn a bye to the second round proper of the tournament. The Cavaliers first NCAA Tournament game came on November 24, where they hosted the Big South Conference champions, Campbell. Virginia won the game 2–0 thanks to a 38th minute goal by Spencer Patton and a 85th minute goal by Nathaniel Crofts. The Cavaliers hosted the sixteenth-seeded, and Big East semifinalists, St. John's in the third round on November 30. Three first half goals by the Cavaliers proved to be the difference in the match. Andreas Ueland netted two early goals in the 4th and 15th minutes of play, before Joe Bell notched the final goal of the match in the 37th minute.
The following week, on December 6, Virginia hosted the American Athletic Conference champions, and 8th-seeded, SMU. In a five-goal match, Virginia prevailed on a golden goal to win 3–2. Virginia's Axel Gunnarson opened the scoring in the 18th minute, before SMU's Gabriel Costa tied the match in the 71st minute. Bell would score the goal-ahead goal for the Cavaliers in the 78th minute before the Mustangs tied the game again in the 84th minute, thanks to a header by Henrik Bredeli. In the 95th minute, Bell scored the match-winning goal, sending Virginia to the College Cup for the 13th time in program history, and for the first time since 2014.
On December 13, Virginia played fellow ACC outfit, Wake Forest in the College Cup Semifinals, which was the second match of a doubleheader at WakeMed Soccer Park. In front of a crowd of 9,862, Virginia's Daryl Dike scored two first half goals, in the 19th and 23rd minutes, to give Virginia an early 2–0 lead over the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest captain, Bruno Lapa, scored a late goal for the Demon Deacons in the 79th minute, but the Cavaliers defense would prevail, to send Virginia to the national championship.