Page 176 - 2019-20 NJCAA Handbook - May, 2020

J. District Champions and/or Representatives must send all card accumulations, signed by the Regional Director, to the National
Soccer Chair, by the Sunday prior to the National Tournament. They must be sent on the official NJCAA Game Roster form.
1. Each district shall determine its own method for qualification of team(s).
K. Seeding – The soccer committee will seed the 12 teams that qualify for the tournament, using the following procedure:
1. The committee will use the most recent poll, as well as game-by-game results, utilizing the NJCAA school site, which will
be a requirement for a team to be seeded.
2. A ranking form will be sent to all committee members who will rank the team’s 1-12 utilizing a 14, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 3, 2
ranking system. A district champion must be ranked higher than the third team from that district.
3. The Soccer Chair will use composite point totals to rank the 12 teams.
4. In case of a tie, the team with the highest number of higher ranked points will be given the higher seed.
NOTE: The National Tournament Seeding should be done strictly on teams resume and seeding criteria. Committee will not
consider District or Region teams playing one another as reason to change seed. The only seeding issue will be in regards to the
four at-large teams.
Section 5. Rules and Procedures
A. All regular season, regional, district and national tournament games will be played under the current NCAA Soccer rules with the
following exceptions:
1. Unlimited substitutions apply with a stoppage of game clock during substitutions from the leading team “at any time” in the last
five minutes of the game.
2. Any player receiving a yellow card (caution) must leave the game for a substitute, including the goalkeeper. Game includes
regulation play, overtime period and penalty-kicks. They may return to the game at the next legal substitution point.
NOTE: The next legal substitution point is defined as follows; for kickers - after 10 penalty kicks have been taken by the
offending team, for a goalkeeper - after one penalty kick has been taken against the offending team.
3. National Tournament Pool Play Games only
a. All National Tournament games will follow NCAA overtime rules for postseason (90 minutes regulation time followed by
two sudden victory overtime periods of 10 minutes, followed by penalty kicks).
4. National Tournament Semifinals and Finals are single elimination.
B. Teams participating in the NJCAA Soccer Championship are limited to 25 players. These players must be identified in the score book
before the start of the first game. These players must be identified on an approved roster, which will contain the name, numbers and
accumulated cautions of all squad members. This roster must be submitted to the NJCAA Soccer Chair or his/her designee prior to the
first game of the tournament. No deletions or additions may be made after this time. A player who is part of her team’s roster of 25,
whose name is not listed in the score book, will be removed from the game at the point the omission is discovered.
C. Roster numbers and jerseys must be checked and verified prior to the start of the tournament. Players found wearing incorrect
numbers will be removed from the game until the problem is corrected. Players not listed on the roster, found to be participating in
the game, will be removed at that point and will not be allowed to participate in any subsequent games.
D. In the event of darkness, inclement weather or other circumstances beyond the control of the Tournament Director that prevent
games from being completed on a given day, the suspended games will be resumed from the point of suspension on the following
day and the game and time schedule will adjust accordingly. If for any reason, a team must play more than 90 minutes after a
suspended game is resumed, they will not be required to play again that day.
E. For each game of the tournament, the team with higher seed (lower number) in each game will be the HOME TEAM and wear light
colored uniforms and have choice of bench. The lower seed (higher number) will be the VISITOR TEAM and wear dark colored
uniforms.
F. NJCAA rules govern all Regional, District and National competition.
G. Each participating institution must bring a memento to exchange prior to the first game of the tournament.
H. Tights and undergarments that extend below game pants must be the same color as game pants.