INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. | The NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Committee announced Monday (Nov. 15) the field of 40 teams for the 2021 Division II Men's Soccer Championship.
 
Young Harris College, which enters the tournament at 17-0-1, earned its sixth trip to the national tournament in the last eight years as they earned the No. 1 seed in Super Region 2. The Mountain Lions, who are ranked No. 1 in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, won their sixth Peach Belt Conference title in program history in 2021 and earned the automatic berth from the Peach Belt by capturing their fifth PBC Tournament title.

The NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship, which will begin Thursday (Nov. 18) on campus sites, provides for a 40-team, single elimination tournament. Ten teams were chosen from each of the four super regions. In the Super 2 region, the winners from the Peach Belt, Sunshine State (Nova Southeastern University), Gulf South (University of West Florida), South Atlantic (Coker University) and Conference Carolinas (Chowan University) tournaments earned automatic berths while the other five teams were at-large selections. The 2021 national champion will be crowned Dec. 11 at Switchbacks FC Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

It is the third time the Mountain Lions have garnered the No., 1 regional seed in the tournament - 2014 and 2018 were the others - and will host the first two rounds of the tournament this weekend at the YHC Soccer and Lacrosse Field. 

Young Harris will face the winner of Friday's (Nov. 19)  3 p.m. first-round match between No. 9 seed Lenoir-Rhyne University (10-5-1) and No. 8 seed Limestone University (10-4-1) in Sunday's (Nov. 21) 3 p.m. second-round match. The Mountain Lions have played both teams at home earlier this season. YHC defeated Limestone 3-1 on Sept. 11 and then defeated Lenoir-Rhyne 2-0 Sept. 15.  The Mountain Lions hold a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series with L-R and an 8-1 margin over Limestone.

Tickets for each round are $8 for adults, $3  for students, and $1 for children (ages 5-12). Tickets can be purchased at yhcathletics.com/tickets beginning Tuesday (Nov.  16) afternoon.

Palm Beach Atlantic University (13-2-0) was named the No. 2 seed. The Sailfish will face the winner of Friday's (Nov. 19) 3 p.m. first-round game between No. 7 seed Nova Southeastern University (12-3-1) and No. 10 seed Coker (11-6-2) in a 3 p.m. second-round match Sunday (Nov. 21) in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The other two second-round matches will also be played Sunday (Nov. 21). No. 6 seed Chowan (13-3-1) will travel to Pensacola, Florida, for a 1 p.m. match against No. 3 seed West Florida (11-3-3), while No. 5 seed University of Alabama at Montgomery (10-3-3) will visit the No. 4 seed University of Tampa (13-3-0) in a 2 p.m. match in Tampa, Florida.

Third-round games resume December 2 or 3 before the quarterfinals on December 4 or 5. The highest remaining seed after the second round will host the third-round and quarterfinal matches.

The 2021 semifinals will be played at Swiitchbacks FC Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, December 9. The winners will move on to the championship game set for December 11 in Colorado Springs. 

The University of Charleston (W.Va.) took the 2019 national title over West Chester University 2-0.