OUAZ Receives First Invite to NAIA National Championship

The wait is over, and the OUAZ men's soccer team has officially earned a spot in the 2021 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship. OUAZ is headed to Miami Gardens Bracket as the No. 3 seed, where they will face No. 2-seed Georgia Gwinnett in the Opening Round.

The teams will play the second game on Thursday at the STU Soccer Field, with the first touch scheduled for 3 p.m. (Arizona).

OUAZ received an at-large berth into the 40-team field after recording an 11-4-1 record to this point of the season. The Spirit finished fourth in the GSAC with a 4-2-1 record during the conference season. They will be making their first appearance at the National Championship.

Georgia Gwinnett qualified for its eighth appearance in the National Championship by receiving an at-large invite. The Grizzlies have recorded a 9-5-1 record this season, and they are coming off a 1-0 loss n the semifinals of the Continental Athletic Conference Tournament.

The meeting on Thursday will be the first all-time between the two programs.

St. Thomas (Fla.) is the host of the Miami Garden Bracket, and as the No. 1 seed, they will host the No. 4-seed UC Merced. That matchup will begin at 1 p.m. (Arizona) on Thursday. The winners of the two games will play for a trip to Decatur, Alabama, on Saturday at 11 a.m. (Arizona).

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