MERCED, Calif. – The longest NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship appearance streak west of Missouri continues as the unbeaten University of California, Merced men's soccer team earned their eighth consecutive automatic bid and learned their opponent and location on Saturday afternoon. The Bobcats (12-0-3) will play Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., in the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship Second Round on Saturday, November 23.
Overall, UC Merced is one of just five teams with an active streak of eight or more NAIA Championship appearances (Lindsey Wilson, Missouri Valley, Rio Grande, William Carey).
Also of note, the Bobcats are one of just three unbeaten teams remaining in the country in 2024. The Bobcats enter the tournament as a No. 15 seed nationally, a #4 seed in the upper right quadrant, which is their highest in the eight all-time tournament appearances and the Bobcats advance straight to the second round for the first time ever. Head coach Albert Martins' squad was ranked fourth in the final NAIA Men's Soccer RPI.
A week ago, UC Merced won their third California Pacific Conference Tournament Championship with a 2-0 shutout over La Sierra. The tournament title earned the Bobcats the automatic national tournament bid.
Cal Pac Player of the Year Daniel Borges leads UC Merced and ranks 13th in the nation with 39 points with 16 goals and seven assists. His 39 points are also the sixth most of any player in the championship field. Kevin Capetillo, who will play in his sixth national tournament game, is 28th nationally with eight assists. All-Cal Pac First Team selections Andres Alonso, Xavier Barajas, and Jaycob Walker spearhead a defense ranked 21st with a 0.87 goals against average. Angel Joaquin has started all 15 games between the posts and has three solo shutouts, while also combining for three additional clean sheets.
Saturday's meeting will be the first ever between UC Merced and Baker. It will also mark the Bobcats first ever game in the state of Kansas and just the second all-time against a Heart of America Athletic Conference member.
Baker earned one of the tournament's 16 at-large berths with a 12-7-1 record. This will be Baker's 13th national tournament appearance, but just their first since 2019.
In 2019, both UC Merced and Baker advanced to the NAIA National Championship Final Site.
Last season, UC Merced beat WVU Tech 5-2 in the first round before falling to second-ranked Dalton State.
If the Bobcats beat Baker, they will return to Kansas for the final site to compete for the red banner December 2-9 at the Scheels Strykler Sports Complex in Wichita.
Overall, the Bobcats have played ten matches all-time against teams in the tournament field and hold a 4-5-1 record against the foes. Also of note, UC Merced is 7-8-5 in their last 20 meetings against nationally ranked teams dating back to 2017.
UC Merced is 11-4-5 in their last 20 road/neutral site meetings.
UC Merced just completed its second unbeaten regular season in program history and swept the regular season and tournament championship for the first time. Overall, the Bobcats have six combined regular season and tournament conference titles.
Kickoff from Hartley Field in Baldwin City, Kan., is TBA.
The full field and bracket can be found here.
