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The Akron Zips will make their 32nd appearance in the NCAA soccer tournament as a 5 seed. This will mark the 11th consecutive time that the Zips have made the tournament, where they have seen much success. They won the national title in 2010 for Akron’s first team sport NCAA championship. They have made the final 16 teams in 7 of the last 9 seasons. The Zips earned their spot by winning the MAC tournament championship game over the Western Michigan Broncos. It was the Zips 14th tournament championship to go along with 19 regular season championships.
The championship game loss to the Zips marked the 4th time in the last 5 seasons that the Zips knocked the Broncos out of the MAC tournament. This is only the second NCAA tournament appearance for the Broncos. However, the Broncos were able to beat the Zips in the regular season, which propelled them to their first ever MAC championship.
The post season awards followed for the Broncos, including 8 players named All-MAC, and 5 to the first team. Brandon Bye was named player of the year and Chad Wiseman was named coach of the year.
The Zips earned a first round bye and will host the Washington vs. Seattle winner on Sunday, the 19th. The Broncos earned a 10th seed and first round bye, and will host the Maryland vs. Albany winner.