 While the tournament resulted in few upsets, most national soccer headlines were made behind Charlotte's run to the final.The 49ers entered the tournament through an at-large bid, and were not seeded.Despite that, they were able to defeat defending champions, the Akron Zips, 1–0, in the third round, and then the Connecticut Huskies, 4–2, in a penalty shootout to advance to the College Cup.