College Soccer News: Maryland and Florida State Hold Firm at Top of College Polls

Men’s Soccer Sees Major Shake Up in Positions as Connecticut Drops Four Spots

The University of Maryland men (9-0-1) and Florida State women (12-0-0) continued to dominate college soccer in the October 9 NSCAA/Continental Tire Poll. Both teams added another win to their records, with the Terrapins defeating Virginia 1-0 and the Seminoles knocking off Clemson with a stunning 7-0 score.

The big news this week is the major shuffling that went on in the men’s ranks. Former No. 2 Connecticut (10-1-1) fell to the No. 6 position after losing to then-No. 9 Marquette (11-0-0) 3-2 over the weekend. Former No. 3 Georgetown (10-2-1) had an even bigger drop, slipping to No. 10 after a 3-0 loss to former No. 10 Notre Dame (10-2-0), the Hoyas’ second straight defeat. The wins moved Marquette up to No. 4 and Notre Dame to No. 7.

Elsewhere in the men’s ranks, North Carolina (9-1-1) jumped from No. 6 to No. 2 after matching 2-0 wins over Georgia Southern and Clemson. Akron (7-1-2) also improved, moving to No. 3 from No. 7 after a convincing 5-0 win over Florida Atlantic. UCLA (No. 5, 8-1-1), UC Santa Barbara (No. 8, 8-1-3) and New Mexico (No. 9, 9-2-0) round out the men’s top 10.

On the women’s side, the top for spots remain the same with Stanford (11-1-1), UCLA (11-0-2) and Penn State (12-2-0) following the Seminoles. The rest of the top 10 did see some movement, as three schools moved up one or more spots and two more cracked the list. Meanwhile, former No. 5 Texas A&M (12-2-1) dropped to No. 9 after their 2-1 loss to then-No. 18 Florida (No. 12, 10-3-1).

BYU (11-1-1) moved up one spot to the No. 5 position after they played No. 21 Santa Clara to a 0-0 draw. Duke (10-3-1) improved from No. 9 to No. 6 following their wins over No. 15 Virginia Tech (3-2 OT) and No. 13 Boston College (4-2), both of whom dropped for the week. Surprising San Diego State moved up from No. 10 to No. 7 after edging out Mountain West Conference rival Boise State 1-0 and defeating Portland 3-2 over the weekend.

Making the move into the top 10 were Maryland (10-3-2) and North Carolina after strong performances over the week. The Terrapins used convincing wins to move up from No. 12 to No. 8 in the polls, going 5-1 against Francis Marion and 3-0 over North Carolina State. The Tar Heels went from the No. 15 spot to No. 10 after their 1-0 win over Boston College.

NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Top-25 for October 9, 2012

Rank	School	1st Votes	Total Points	Prev.	W-L-T
1	Maryland	23	575	1	9-0-1
2	North Carolina	0	538	6	9-1-1
3	Akron	0	503	7	7-1-2
4	Marquette	0	493	9	11-0-0
5	UCLA	0	490	8	8-1-2
6	Connecticut	0	479	2	10-1-1
7	Notre Dame	0	419	10	10-2-0
8	UC Santa Barbara	0	413	4	8-1-3
9	New Mexico	0	355	5	9-2-0
10	Georgetown	0	350	3	10-2-1
10	St. John's	0	350	12	8-1-4
12	Indiana	0	330	14	9-2-1
13	Xavier	0	302	17	9-0-2
14	Old Dominion	0	283	11	7-1-2
15	Coastal Carolina	0	244	16	9-1-2
16	Cornell	0	242	18	10-0-0
17	SMU	0	177	25	8-2-2
18	Wake Forest	0	132	15	7-2-3
19	Brown	0	115	19	8-1-2
20	Elon	0	112	RV	8-2-1
21	Virginia Commonwealth	0	106	RV	6-1-3
22	Charlotte	0	103	13	7-2-2
23	High Point	0	70	23	10-0-1
24	Creighton	0	67	24	7-3-2
25	UAB	0	65	RV	6-3-2

NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Top-25 for October 9, 2012

Rank	School	1st Votes	Total Points	Prev.	W-L-T
1	Florida State	33	825	1	12-0-0
2	Stanford	0	793	2	11-1-1
3	UCLA	0	760	3	11-0-2
4	Penn State	0	727	4	12-2-0
5	BYU	0	649	6	11-1-1
6	Duke	0	619	9	10-3-1
7	San Diego State	0	602	10	12-1-1
8	Maryland	0	585	12	10-3-2
9	Texas A&M	0	536	5	12-2-1
10	North Carolina	0	467	14	7-3-2
11	Georgetown	0	462	11	12-1-2
12	Florida	0	449	18	10-3-1
13	Virginia	0	400	7	10-3-1
14	Missouri	0	381	16	12-2-0
15	Wake Forest	0	354	17	10-3-2
16	UCF	0	297	8	10-3-1
17	Pepperdine	0	296	19	10-3-0
18	Santa Clara	0	254	21	7-2-4
19	Virginia Tech	0	223	15	11-3-0
20	Baylor	0	205	25	11-1-2
21	Michigan	0	200	23	11-2-1
22	Marquette	0	139	20	10-2-2
23	Boston College	0	138	13	8-4-2
24	Notre Dame	0	134	24	10-3-2
25	West Virginia	0	74	RV	9-3-3

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