2025 NCAA Division I men's soccer championship game

Last updated

2025 NCAA Division I men's soccer championship game
WakeMed Soccer Park 2013.jpg
WakeMed Soccer Park hosted the final
Event 2025 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament
Washington NC State
Big Ten ACC
32
After extra time
DateDecember 15, 2025
Venue WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, North Carolina, U.S.
Referee Calin Radosav
Attendance10,316
← 2024
2026 →

The 2025 NCAA Division I men's soccer championship game (also known as the 2025 NCAA Division I Men's College Cup) was played on December 15, 2025, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. The match determined the winner of the 2025 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, the national collegiate soccer championship in the United States. This was the 67th edition of the oldest active competition in United States college soccer.

Contents

The match featured the Washington Huskies of the Big Ten Conference and the NC State Wolfpack of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Both teams entered seeking their first national championship. It was Washington's second appearance in the national final after a loss to Clemson in 2021. NC State made their first appearance in the final following their second College Cup (semifinal) appearance (previously made the semifinals in 1990).

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 (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champion. The tournament has been formally held since 1959, [1] when it was an eight-team tournament. [2] Since then, the tournament has expanded to 48 teams, where every Division I conference tournament champion is allocated a berth.

Washington (Big Ten)Round NC State (ACC)
OpponentResultNCAA TournamentOpponentResult
Oregon State (WCC)3–2 ( a.e.t. ) (A)First roundBye—
(5) SMU (ACC)1–0 (A)Second round Marshall (SBC)2–0 (H)
(12) Stanford (ACC)1–0 (A)Third round (Sweet 16) UNCG (SoCon)2–0 (H)
(4) Maryland (Big Ten)3–1 (A)Quarterfinals (Elite 8)(7) Georgetown (Big East)3–2 (A)
(16) Furman (SoCon)3–1 (N)College Cup (Final 4) Saint Louis (A-10)2–1 (N)

Washington

The Huskies entered the championship game with a 15–6–2 overall record and a 7–3–0 in Big Ten Conference play. [3] Forward Charlie Kosakoff led the Huskies in scoring with 11 goals in 23 matches, while Richie Aman led the Huskies with 13 assists across 23 matches. [4] Washington began the 2025 season unranked, but as the season progressed, Washington ascended to as high as 14th in the United Soccer Coaches, TopDrawer Soccer, and the College Soccer News rankings. The Huskies were one of four Big Ten teams to qualify for the 2025 Big Ten Conference men's soccer tournament. There, the Huskies lost in the semifinal to Michigan, 0–2. [5]

Despite the setback in the Big Ten tournament, the Huskies earned an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, albeit, they were not one of the 16 teams to be seeded and earn a first-round bye.

NC State

The Wolfpack entered the championship game with a 16–2–4 overall record and a 4–1–3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. [6] Forward and Saint Lucian international, Donovan Phillip, led the Wolfpack in scoring with 18 goals in 21 matches, while Riley Maloney led the Huskies with nine assists across 23 matches. [7]


Match details

College Cup
Final
Washington 3–2 (a.e.t.) NC State
  • Zach Ramsey Soccerball shade.svg44'
  • Joe Dale Soccerball shade.svg62'
  • Harrison Bertos Soccerball shade gold.svg92'
 NCAA
WS
  • Donavan Phillip Soccerball shade.svg66'
  • Taig Healy Soccerball shade.svg87'
WakeMed Soccer Park , Cary
Attendance: 10,316
Referee: Calin Radosav

References

  1. ↑ "Men's Soccer Championship History". ncaa.com. NCAA. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  2. ↑ Litterer, David (June 15, 2008). "The Year in American Soccer - 1959 | The College Game". ussoccerhistory.org. The American Soccer History Archives. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Big Ten | Men's Soccer | 2025 Standings". bigten.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  4. ↑ "2025 Men's Soccer Cumulative Statistics". gohuskies.com. University of Washington Athletics. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  5. ↑ Kodali, Suraj (November 14, 2025). "Resilient Michigan holds off Washington to reach Big Ten Championship game, 2-0". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  6. ↑ "2025 Men's Soccer Standings". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  7. ↑ "2025-26 NC State Men's Soccer | Team Game-by-Game | All Games" (PDF). gopack.com. North Carolina State University Athletics. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.