College soccer
College soccer is a term used to describe soccer that is played by teams operated by colleges and universities as opposed to a professional league operated for exclusively financial purposes. College soccer is probably most widespread in the United States, but is also important in South Korea and Canada.
In the United States, college soccer is divided into three NCAA Divisions, as well as the NAIA.
Many top American college soccer players play for separate teams in the Premier Development League (PDL) during the summer. One college club, the BYU Cougars, have foregone playing in the NCAA or NAIA and instead play their games in the PDL.
College soccer has slightly different rules than many other soccer leagues. College soccer allows for unlimited substitutions, although players are not allowed to reenter the game after being removed in the first half, and are limited to one reentry in the second half and overtimes. If a match is tied after regulation, two 10-minute golden goal overtimes follow. If neither team scores, the match ends in a draw. College soccer also do not have stoppage or injury time. The referee signals to a timekeeper for the clocked to be stopped on injuries, substitutions, and when he feels a team is wasting time. The clock counts down as opposed to up, and the game is over immediately when the clock reads 00:00, even if a shot is in flight.
NCAA Men's Soccer divisions and conferences
NCAA Division I
- America East Conference
- Atlantic Coast Conference
- Atlantic Ten Conference
- Atlantic Soccer Conference
- Atlantic Sun Conference
- Big East Conference
- Big South Conference
- Big Ten Conference
- Big West Conference
- Colonial Athletic Association
- Conference USA
- Horizon League
- Ivy League
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
- Mid-American Conference
- Mid-Continent Conference
- Missouri Valley Conference
- Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
- Northeast Conference
- Pacific Ten Conference
- Patriot League
- Southern Conference
- West Coast Conference
- NCAA Division I independent schools
NCAA Division II
- California Collegiate Athletic Association
- Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference
- Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
- Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Great Lakes Valley Conference
- Great Northwest Athletic Conference
- Gulf South Conference
- Heartland Conference
- Lone Star Conference
- New York Collegiate Athletic Conference
- Northeast Ten Conference
- Peach Belt Conference
- Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
- Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
- South Atlantic Conference
- Sunshine State Conference
- West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- NCAA Division II independent schools
NCAA Division III
- Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
- American Southwest Conference
- Capital Athletic Conference
- Centennial Conference
- City University of New York Athletic Conference
- College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
- Commonwealth Coast Conference
- Empire Eight
- Great Northeast Athletic Conference
- Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
- Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Lake Michigan Conference
- Little East Conference
- Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference
- Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- Middle Atlantic Conference
- Midwest Conference
- Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- New England Small College Athletic Conference
- New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
- New Jersey Athletic Conference
- North Atlantic Conference
- North Coast Athletic Conference
- Northern Illinois/Iowa Conference
- Northwest Conference
- Ohio Athletic Conference
- Old Dominion Athletic Conference
- Pennsylvania Athletic Conference
- Presidents' Athletic Conference
- Skyline Conference
- St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
- State University of New York Athletic Conference
- USA South Athletic Conference
- Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association
- University Athletic Association
- NCAA Division III independent schools
National college soccer awards
- Hermann Trophy
- Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year
- Soccer America Player of the Year
- ISAA Player of the Year
- NSCAA Player of the Year
- ISAA Goalkeeper of the Year
- NSCAA Coach of the Year
Notable American men's college soccer graduates
- Marcelo Balboa, San Diego State
- Carlos Bocanegra, UCLA
- Conor Casey, Portland
- Steve Cherundolo, Portland
- Brad Friedel, UCLA
- Cory Gibbs, Brown
- Cobi Jones, UCLA
- Kasey Keller, Portland
- Alexi Lalas, Rutgers
- Clint Mathis, South Carolina
- Pat Noonan, Indiana
- Brian McBride, Saint Louis
- Eddie Pope, North Carolina
- Claudio Reyna, Virginia
- Jon Stewart, William & Mary
- Taylor Twellman, Maryland
- Josh Wolff, South Carolina
- Eric Wynalda, San Diego State
Notable non-American men's college soccer graduates
- Joe Addo, George Mason (Ghana)
- Cha Du-Ri, Korea University (South Korea)
- Shaka Hislop, Howard (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Vedad Ibisevic, Saint Louis (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Stern John, Mercer Community College (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Shalrie Joseph, St. John's (NY) (Grenada)
- Kevin McKenna, Calgary (Canada)
- Alejandro Moreno, UNC Greensboro (Venezuela)
- Ryan Nelsen, Stanford (New Zealand)
- Joseph Ngwenya, Coastal Carolina (Zimbabwe)
- Olivier Occean, Southern Connecticut State (Canada)
- Damani Ralph, UConn (Jamaica)
- Santiago Solari, Richard Stockton (Argentina)
- Paul Stalteri, Clemson (Canada)
- David Weir, Evansville (Scotland)
- Andy Williams, Rhode Island (Jamaica)
Notable men's college soccer coaches
Notable American women's college soccer graduates
- Michelle Akers, UCF
- Shannon Boxx, Notre Dame
- Brandi Chastain, Santa Clara
- Lorrie Fair, North Carolina
- Joy Fawcett, Cal
- Julie Foudy, Stanford
- Mia Hamm, North Carolina
- Kristine Lilly, North Carolina
- Shannon MacMillan, Portland
- Kate Markgraf, Notre Dame
- Tiffeny Milbrett, Portland
- Heather Mitts, Florida
- Cindy Parlow, North Carolina
- Cat Reddick, North Carolina
- Briana Scurry, UMass
- Aly Wagner, Santa Clara
- Abby Wambach, Florida
Notable non-American women's college soccer graduates
- Charmaine Hooper, NC State (Canada)
- Christine Sinclair, Portland (Canada)
- Kelly Smith, Seton Hall (England)