1981 NCAA Division I soccer tournament

The 1981 NCAA Division I soccer tournament was the 23rd annual tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the national men's college soccer champion among its Division I members in the United States.

1981 NCAA Division I soccer tournament

1981 College Cup
Tournament details
Country	United States
Venue(s)	Stanford Stadium Stanford, California
Teams	20
Final positions
Champions	Connecticut (1st title)
Runner-up	Alabama A&M
Third place	Eastern Illinois (vacated)
Fourth place	Philadelphia Textile
Tournament statistics
Matches played	20
Goals scored	63 (3.15 per match)
Attendance	31,200 (1,560 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Elvis Comrie, Connecticut (5) Pedro DeBrito, Connecticut (5) Solomon Shiferow, Alabama A&M (5)

The final match was played at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California on December 6.

Connecticut won their first Division I national title, defeating Alabama A&M in the final, 2–1 after one overtime.

This was the final NCAA Division I championship before the introduction of gendered tournaments in the fall of 1982.

Qualifying

See also: 1981 NCAA Division I soccer season

Two teams made their debut appearance in the NCAA Division I soccer tournament: NC State and Wisconsin.

Bracket

	First round				Second round				Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Championship
	Clemson	3
	NC State	1			Clemson	1
	Alabama A&M (OT)	1			Alabama A&M (2OT)	2
	Duke	0							Alabama A&M (OT)	2
									West Virginia	1
					Virginia	1
					West Virginia	2
													Alabama A&M (OT,PK)	3
													Philadelphia Textile	2
					Indiana	5
					Wisconsin	1
									Indiana	0
									Philadelphia Textile	1
					Philadelphia Textile	2
					Penn State	0
																	Alabama A&M	1
																	Connecticut (OT)	2
					Long Island (4OT)	1
					Columbia	0
									Long Island	0
									Connecticut	3
					Connecticut	6
					Vermont	2
													Connecticut	2
													Eastern Illinois	1
					San Francisco	1											Third place
	San Diego State	4#			San Diego State (OT,PK)	2#
	California	0							San Diego State	0							Philadelphia Textile	2
									Eastern Illinois	w/o#							Eastern Illinois	4
					Saint Louis	0
	Eastern Illinois (OT)	2#			Eastern Illinois	1#
	SIU Edwardsville	1

Note

• San Diego State and Eastern Illinois had their results vacated by the NCAA.

Championship Rounds

Final

December 6, 1981

Alabama A&M	1–2 (OT)	Connecticut

Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, California

Attendance: 3,500

See also

• 1981 NCAA Division II Soccer Championship
• 1981 NCAA Division III Soccer Championship
• 1981 NAIA Soccer Championship