Cowley and Barton both qualify for the NJCAA D1 Men's Soccer National Tournament

The Tigers earned an automatic berth following their win last Saturday over Barton and have secured the number three seed in the 12-team tournament. Meanwhile, Barton was named one of four teams to earn an at-large berth into the field and received the number five overall seed in the tournament. Other teams to receive at-large bids to the tournament include the number six seed, Eastern Florida State; the number eight seed, Indian Hills Community College; and the number nine seed, Blinn College (TX).

Set to play in their fifth consecutive NJCAA D1 Men's Soccer National Tournament, Cowley advanced all the way to the national championship match last year, where they fell in penalty kicks to Iowa Western after playing to a 1-1 draw through 110 minutes of play. The Cougars, meanwhile, return to the NJCAA D1 Men's Soccer National Tournament for the second time in three years and third time since 2020-21 after their national runner-up finish in 2018.  

As the number three seed, Cowley will play in the third game of the opening day of the National Tournament on Sunday, November 16th, when they take on number 10 seed Murray State College at 2:30 p.m. (EST) to open Pool C play. Number five-seed Barton, which was placed into Pool D, will be the final of the 12 teams in the tournament to take the field when they play at 6:00 p.m. (EST) on Monday, November 17th, against number nine-seed Blinn College. Both the Tigers and Cougars will then be in action on Tuesday, November 18th, to close out pool play, Cowley facing off against number six seed Eastern Florida State at 2:30 p.m. (EST) while Barton will play number four seed and National Tournament host Daytona State College at 6:00 p.m. (EST) to close out day three of the tournament.

The winner of each of the four pools will advance to the NJCAA Division 1 Men's Soccer semifinals, with the top remaining seed taking on the lowest remaining seed while the middle two remaining seeds play each other in the other semifinal match. Semifinal round matchups will take place on Thursday, November 20th, with the winners of each semifinal match facing off in the 2025 NJCAA Division 1 Men's Soccer National Championship match on Saturday, November 22nd.

All pool play matches will be streamed live on the NJCAA Network, with the semifinals and finals being aired exclusively on ESPN+. Fans wanting to keep up with both Cowley and Barton at the NJCAA D1 Men's Soccer National Tournament can do so at the following link: NJCAA D1 Men's Soccer National Tournament