NORTHERN SUN INTERCOLLEGIATE CONFERENCE WOMEN S SOCCER HANDBOOK 2018-19 EDITION (August 2018) I. Rotation chart for chair and secretary: 2018-19 Minot/USF 2019-20 USF/SMSU 2020-21 SMSU/NSU 2021-22 Follow the NSIC Leadership as outlined in the NSIC Bylaws II. III. IV. Conference games will attempt to alternate sites annually based on conference scheduling. The conference season will run consecutive weeks with the final regular season weekend concluding the weekend prior to the conference tournament. Standings will be done by a point system. 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie and 0 for a loss. This will be the first criteria used for seeding teams for the conference tournament. Conference champion shall be determined by winning the regular season. The NSIC Tournament Champion will win the NSIC tournament trophy and the NCAA Automatic Qualifier. Conference Tournament Format: A. Tournament structure shall consist of the eight (8) teams. The top four seeds shall host the first-round games on Wednesday of the tournament week, with the winners advancing to the semifinal and championship round on Friday and Sunday in a bracketed format. There will be no reseeding following the first-round games. The highest remaining seed following the quarterfinals shall host the semifinals and final. The final day of the tournament will consist of the championship game. The tournament winner shall be awarded the NSIC tournament trophy and NCAA AQ. Placement in the tournament shall be determined by the regular season standings. The regular season conference champion shall be determined by the final standings. B. If a tie occurs in the standings, the tie breaker will be determined by the following; Option 1 head-to-head competition, Option 2 goal differential, Option 3 most goals scored, Option 4 goals against and Option 5 coin flip. The second step of determining multiple ties goes back to the beginning of the tiebreaker formula once the first tie is broken. C. The 2018 tournament shall be held on campus sites for the first round, followed by the semifinal and championship rounds at the campus of the highest remaining seed. First round tournament games played at the four highest seeds cannot start any later than 5 p.m. D. Semifinals games will start no earlier than 11:00 a.m. and no later than 6:00 p.m. to provide the soccer championship host institution some flexibility in scheduling for Friday semifinals. Additionally, the Championship game on Sunday will remain at 2:00 p.m. E. A 30-minute walk-through, on game day, will be provided for all teams participating in the semifinals and final of the NSIC Soccer Championship. Walk-through times will be set by the conference office.
V. Rules of Conference play shall be governed by the NCAA. The schedule of conference matches shall be guided by the following principles starting in 2016-17: A. General Principals: i. The NSIC Women s Soccer schedule is a Friday/Sunday schedule with teams either hosting or traveling for the duration of the weekend. The final weekend will be against teams from within their own division and will be a split weekend to give each institution a minimum of 7 home conference games. The reference to divisions is strictly in regard to scheduling structure and is no way a reference to standings. The conference will not recognize divisional champions. For scheduling purposes, the divisions are as follows: (Revised: 3/5/18) NORTH Bemidji State Mary Minnesota-Crookston Minnesota-Duluth MSU-Moorhead Minot Northern State St Cloud SOUTH Augustana Concordia Minnesota State Sioux Falls Southwest Minnesota State Upper Iowa Wayne State Winona State B. Change of schedule: i. If a need for changing the schedule arises, the host institution s administrator must initiate the conversation with the administrators of the other three teams of the weekend. The administrators of the four involved teams will determine if the schedule change can occur. The changes must be agreed upon by all four institutions involved. Any schedule changes must maintain at least one travel day in between matches. (Revised: 3/5/18) C. Game Time: i. Friday matches may be started between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., with match times set by home team. Sunday matches will start at 1 p.m. unless mutually agreed upon by participating institutions. 1. Beginning with the 2019-20 Season, the final Sunday match of the season is to begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. at all locations unless prohibited due to weather related issues. (Adopted: 7/12/18) D. Training sites/times: i. A visiting institution may request a pre-game training time within reason. Time must be requested within 7 days of competition. The home team will provide adequate training location, which may or may not be on the actual game surface. ii. Practice opportunities must be granted for Saturday should a traveling institution choose to use it. Should the Friday opponent choose to stay in town following the match, the host team must provide a training location dependent on facility availability on Saturday morning between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. for 60 minutes upon request. If the Friday opponent chooses to travel to their Sunday location
Friday evening, the Sunday host institution must provide 60 minutes of training time on Saturday at an agreed upon time and location which may or may not be on the actual game surface. (Revised: 3/5/18) E. Uniforms: i. For Friday matches, the home team shall wear light jersey/light socks and the road team will wear dark jersey/dark socks. For Sunday matches, the home team shall wear dark jersey/dark socks and the road team will wear light jersey/light socks. Any desired changes to this rule, including the use of any special jersey, must be communicated with all four coaches no later than the Wednesday preceding the weekend contests. (Adopted: 3/5/18) VI. VII. VIII. The home team shall provide: A. Officials. B. Athletic Training services to include water and ice. C. Two ball people. D. Three conference-approved Select game balls. E. The game field shall be available to the opposing team one-hour before the start of the match. Officials three-person system is mandatory, which is to be assigned by the NSIC Coordinator of Soccer Officials. Player of the Week. Player of the week nominations will include the entire season. Each coach or sports information director shall nominate a defensive, offensive and goal keeper player from their team and forward that nomination to the Conference Office SID. The NSIC Office will select the player of the week based on the following criteria: A. Offensive Player of the Week i. Goals (game-winners taken into account, as well). ii. Assists. iii. Quality of opponent. iv. Results of games. B. Defensive Player of the Week i. Shutouts. ii. Shots on goal. Both shutouts and saves will consider the opponents and results against those opponents. iii. Goals. iv. Assists Offensive stats will be taken into consideration after the defensive performance of the player, as this is a defensive award. C. Goalkeeper of the Week i. Saves. ii. Shutouts.
Both shutouts and saves will consider the opponents and results against those opponents. iii. Save percentage/goals against. iv. Number of corner kicks faced. IX. All-Conference Selections. The NSIC All-Conference team will include a total of 53 members selected from up to 77 nominations. The selection process is as follows: A. First Team (14): one goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders, four forwards and one at-large. Second Team (14): one goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders, four forwards and one at-large. Third Team (14): one goalkeeper, two defenders, two midfielders, two forwards and seven at-large. The Honorable Mention Team is the next 11 highest vote getters at any position. B. Coaches may nominate up to the maximum number of players based on the place finish in conference standings, as follows: First and second place may nominate seven (7) field players and one (1) goal keeper. Third and fourth place may nominate six (6) field players and one (1) goal keeper. Fifth and sixth place may nominate five (5) field players and one (1) goal keeper. Seventh and eighth place may nominate four (4) field players and one (1) goal keeper. Ninth through 11 th place may nominate three (3) field players and one (1) goal keeper. 12 th through 14 th place may nominate two (2) field players and one (1) goal keeper. 15 th and 16 th place may nominate one (1) field player and one (1) goal keeper. Coaches shall list their nominations in the order in which they would rank them. For example, the first-place team would have seven total nominations. The top studentathlete would be ranked number one. (Revised 8/16/18) Nominations shall be sent using the following format: Institution Name: Rank Jersey Number Name Position Height Year Hometown/High School 1 11 Sally Mustang MF 5 4 SR Marshall, MN 2 23 Joan Mankato FW 5 11 SR Winona, MN 3 3 Mary Viking DEF 5 7 SO Sioux Falls, SD 4 14 Kara Minot FW 5 6 FR Fargo, ND 5 7 Jane Doe DEF 5 10 JR St. Paul, MN
C. Voting process. The head coach from each institution shall vote for 14 players according to position breakdown outlined above for each of the all-conference teams (i.e., 14-First team votes, 14-Second team votes and 14-Third team votes). The nominating coaches vote will not be visible to the other coaches. The vote is cast by placing a 1 next two 14 names, a 2 next to 14 names and a 3 next 14 names. The point value for each is, as follows: 1 = 10 Pts 2 = 5 Pts 3 = 2.5 Pts Players will then be placed on the appropriate team based on total number of points received and positions available. If a tie occurs the tie will be broken by counting the number of 1 votes each player received. D. Coaches may nominate one player for Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Coaches will vote for one player in each category. The player receiving the most votes in each category shall be the Offensive Player of the Year, the Defensive Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively. The Freshman of the Year is defined as a player who is competing in her freshman (redshirt or true) season at an NSIC institution. E. Coaches cannot vote for their own players at any time. F. Coach of the Year shall be voted on prior to the conference tournament. The Coach of the Year vote will be done no later than 5 p.m. the Monday of the NSIC Tournament week. The conference office will provide a ballot for the Coach of the Year vote. X. Video Exchange Policy. A. Exchange program for Conference Matches Only will be conducted on VidSwap. B. The home team must record conference matches and upload them immediately following the conclusion of the contest. C. Only conference contests are required to be uploaded to VidSwap. Non-conference contests may be uploaded and not shared with other institutions, but this is not a requirement of the exchange policy. D. However, if a conference institution is playing a non-conference contest at another conference institution, the host institution is required to film and upload the contest. E. No providing scouting reports, verbal or video, to teams outside the conference. F. Sharing of verbal information regarding conference opponents to other conference opponents is permissible. G. Video Specifications: i. HD Camera with tri-pod required. ii. High angle video is a requirement. The recommended height for shooting video is 25 feet above ground surface.
iii. Filming position should be at the mid-field line or as close to mid-field as possible. iv. Zoom in on starting lineups so player numbers are clearly visible. v. After each goal scored and upon the completion of each half and overtime, the camera should go to the scoreboard. vi. The ball should always be in the middle of the view; further, the width of the field should be in view. vii. Film must be done in a location that avoids any obstructions. (No filming behind a window; sun/glare must not be present; spectators must not be present; etc.) viii. Filming must show every play of the match, from kickoff through the completion of post-match handshakes. ix. If there are technical difficulties or weather-related issues and a game cannot be filmed, it is the home institution s responsibility to immediately send notification out to all the head coaches and copy the conference office regarding the matter. H. Violations of Policy: i. Teams that do not upload film that meets the specifications above will be subject to a one-week (7 days) lockout from VidSwap. XI. Webcasting. Webcasting of all soccer matches with the following minimum standards will begin during the 2017-18 academic year. Women s Soccer Minimums One camera that is manned and follows action (including zooming in and out if needed) Score bar (Includes score and period) Natural sound (crowd mic) for audio Stretch live stats included in portal
Pre-match Protocol If there are special events (e.g., Senior Day) taking place prior to the match, please notify the visiting team head coach by Wednesday of game week. CLOCK ACTIVITY 60:00 (begin clock 60 minutes prior to start time) Teams may begin warm-ups on field in front of assigned bench. 30:00 Game rosters submitted and exchanged. 10:00 Teams clear field. Captains and officials meet. Public address welcome. Introduction of officials, coaches and players. 1. Officials (In center circle) Introduction of the nonstarters can be done at the home team s discretion. 2. Visiting team starters. (All at midfield, in front of bench) 3. Home team starters. (All at midfield, in front of bench) 4. National Anthem. 0:00 Game Starts. 45:00 Kick-off First half HALFTIME 15:00 minutes Clock starts immediately as teams leave field. 45:00 Kick-off Second half. OVERTIME PROCEDURES 5:00 Intermission following regulation time. 10:00 First overtime period (sudden victory). 2:00 Intermission. 10:00 Second overtime period (sudden victory). ** Matches during the conference tournament will not end in a tie. Penalty Kick Procedure will be followed.