In the finals, reigning champions, BYU, would face 1995 champions, Texas, in a rematch of the previous year's group stage opener. Prior to this, in the group stage, Texas would win all three games by a score of 2–0, first beating Wyoming and Ohio State, respectively, on Thursday then JMU on Friday. Meanwhile, BYU would also win all three games beating Texas A&M 3–0, Penn State 2–0, and finally, Clemson tournament winners, Georgia, 1–0.
In the quarterfinals, in what was described as wet and rainy conditions, BYU would beat Salt Lake Community College 2–1 while Texas would defeat in-state rival, Texas A&M, for the fourth time that season following a goal from David Sorenson with 10 minutes remaining in the match. In the semifinals, Texas would face North Carolina and would score the first three goals of the match but would concede their first goal in 12 matches off of a corner that made the game 3–1 at the time. Texas would then score two more goals in route to a 5–1 win and their second finals appearance. Meanwhile, BYU would face JMU and would open the scoring early in the second half but would concede late which sent the game to overtime. After a scoreless overtime, the game would go into penalties where BYU's goalkeeper Bryce Jolley saved two attempts and scored the winning goal to send BYU to their second straight final.
In the finals, the game would remain deadlocked at 0–0 after regulation meaning a 10-minute golden goalovertime would be required. With 30 seconds remaining, BYU's freshman forward, Ryan Hawkins, would score a scissor kick to secure BYU's second consecutive title, the first men's championship team to win two titles and the first team in any division to win back-to-back titles. BYU's senior midfielder, Steven Crook, would be named tournament MVP.[2][3]
In the finals, Colorado State would face Penn State. Prior to this, Colorado State tied their opener 0–0 to Ohio State, then beat Clemson 4–0, and finally beat Maryland 7–0. Meanwhile, Penn State won their opener against Kansas 3–0 on goals from Courtney Davis, Angela Nolfi, and Christa Rimonneau, outshooting Kansas 20–1. They would then face Salt Lake CC who would score early but a goal from Jessica Ashbaugh would tie the game at 1–1, a score the game ended on. Finally, Penn State would defeat Dayton 4–0 on goals from Courtney Davis, Angela Nolfi, and two from Katie Stober.
In the quarterfinals, Penn State would face Ohio State where they'd score the first two goals from Georgia Hartnett and Katie Stober. Ohio State would then score but another goal from Stober would secure a 3–1 win. Meanwhile, Colorado State would face reigning runners-up, Purdue, and would end regulation with a 1–1 draw. Colorado State would score in overtime to win 2–1 and advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Colorado State would defeat North Carolina 3–0 to advance to their first finals while Penn State would face undefeated JMU. Penn State's Courtney Davis would open the scoring and Angela Nolfi would double the advantage. JMU would score late in the first half but that wouldn't be enough as Penn State won 2–1. In the finals, in front of what was reported as 400 spectators, the first half would be scoreless. In the second half, Colorado State would score the lone goal of the match and claim their first national title. Colorado State's freshman, Erin Ortega, would be named tournament MVP.[4][5]
In the finals, in a rematch of the inaugural open championship, Texas Tech would face Texas' "B" team. Prior to this, in the group stage, Texas Tech would defeat Illinois Central College 8–1, then Morehouse 4–0, and finally JMU's "B" team 2–0 to top their group. Meanwhile, Texas would beat South Dakota School of the Mines 8–0, then beat the hosts, Georgia Southern's, "B" team 5–0, and finally beat Colorado State 1–0 to also top their group. In the knockout round, Texas Tech would defeat Colorado State 4–1 in the quarterfinals, then beat San Antonio College 5–0 in the semifinals to advance to their second open finals in three years. Meanwhile, Texas "B" defeated Miami (FL) 5–1 in the quarterfinals then would face Clemson in the semifinals. The game would remain 0–0 after regulation and overtime, but Texas "B" would win in penalties to set up a rematch of the finals from two years ago where Texas "B" would claim the inaugural open title. In the finals, Texas Tech would defeat Texas "B" 4–1 to claim their first open title. Texas Tech's Jeff Dupre would be named tournament champions.[6]
The division was composed of 4 teams, three of which were region II teams. The teams were Virginia Tech, Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado State's "Green" team (also known as their "B" team as their "A", or "Gold", team competed in the championship division). In the group stage opening round, Florida would defeat Colorado State "Green" 1–0 while Virginia Tech beat Tennessee 4–1. In the second round of the group stage, Colorado State "Green" beat Tennessee 2–0 while Virginia Tech beat Florida 2–1. The group stage would end with two ties with Colorado State "Green" tying Virginia Tech 0–0 and Florida tying Tennessee 1–1 meaning Virginia Tech would top the group, Florida would be placed second on the head-to-head tiebreaker over third placed Colorado State "Green" who were tied with Florida on points, and finally Tennessee would be 4th. In the semifinals, Virginia Tech defeated Tennessee 3–0 while Colorado State "Green" would defeat Florida 1–0, advancing to the finals like their "Gold" team in the championship division. In the finals, Virginia Tech would win 3–2 and claim their first open title. Virginia Tech's Amy Mayer would be named division MVP and notably, Virginia Tech's roster also included former Virginia Tech varsity player, Shannon Mullen, who participated in the first two years of the program's varsity history and would be named to the all-tournament team.[7]
The competition consisted of 52 teams partitioned into 32 men's teams and 20 women's teams. Each of these partitions were further divided into a 16-team, invite-only championship division and an open division for the remaining teams. The championship divisions and men's open division were divided into four groups of four teams each while the women's open tournament divided teams into a single group of four.
All 4 divisions began with a round-robin tournament where teams played each of the other teams in their group once. Following this, in the championship divisions and men's open, the two best teams in each group advanced to a single-elimination, knockout round while all four teams in the women's open division advanced to their single-elimination, knockout round. The knockout stage was an 8-team tournament for each division except the women's open which was 4 teams. While not specifically stated, it appears, based on results, that the three points for a win system was used with head-to-head being the first tiebreaker and goal difference being the second.[8]
NIRSA extended invitations to the 16 men's and 16 women's teams to participate in the championship division beginning on October 20, 1997 with those invitations being extend to who NIRSA believed were the best in the nation. Reigning champions BYU in the men and Miami (OH) in the women received an automatic bid as well as the winner of the Clemson tournament for the men's and women's division. The teams that participated in the open division were chosen on a first-come first-serve basis with registration beginning on September 15, 1997 with a maximum of 12 teams per division.[1][9]
