College Soccer News: NSCAA Polls See Movement in Men’s and Women’s Soccer Ranks

One-goal losses over the week were enough to drop both the Florida State women and North Carolina men in the latest NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I polls. After topping the ranks since September, the Seminoles (15-1-0) came out on the short end of a 3-2 match against Boston College (No. 21 tie/10-5-3) and slipped to No. 3, behind Stanford (No. 1/14-1-1) and UCLA (No. 2/14-0-2). For the former No. 2 Tar Heels (No. 4/11-2-1), their Achilles heel came in overtime against No. 1 Maryland (13-0-1) in a 1-0 loss.

While Florida State managed to come back with a 1-0 win over Maryland (No. 9/11-5-2) on Sunday, it was not enough to make up for the Thursday night defeat by Boston College, who moved up from No. 24 after their performance. In spite of hanging on to six first-place votes, they were unable to overtake UCLA in the overall point total, coming in 17 points behind the Bruins. The Seminoles will look to move back to the top as they take on Miami on Thursday, October 25, in their final match before heading to the ACC Tournament beginning on Sunday, October 28.

The Cardinal took the lead in the women’s soccer rankings with 26 first-place votes after home wins over two Northwest schools. On Thursday Stanford posted a 3-2 victory against Washington State, followed by a 3-0 drubbing of Washington on Sunday. Stanford will face USC on Friday night, October 26, before taking on No. 2 UCLA on the Bruins’ pitch on Sunday. Their final match will be Sunday, November 4, at California (No. 21 tie/14-3-0).

UCLA, who earned one first-place vote, will try to improve on their ranking after defeating Colorado 2-1 and Utah 2-0 over the week. The Bruins will host California on Friday night as they prepare for Stanford on Sunday. Their final match will be against USC at the Trojans’ McAllister Field on Friday, November 2.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, Penn State (15-2-1), BYU (14-1-1) and San Diego State (16-1-1) held steady at Nos. 4, 5, and 6, respectively. Former No. 7 Maryland lost ground after their loss, allowing former No. 13 Wake Forest (No. 7/12-3-3) and former No. 10 North Carolina (No. 8/9-4-2) to move past them. Former No. 14 Virginia (No. 10/12-4-1) jumped into the Top 10, while former No. 8 Duke (12-4-2) dropped out of the group.

On the men’s side, North Carolina’s light week, with only the single match against the Terrapins, did not help their cause. With a 3-0 win over Campbell on Tuesday and a match against state rival North Carolina State on Friday, the Tar Heels will look for vindication in next week’s polls.

Maryland continued to garner all of the first-place votes as they defeated Colgate on Tuesday, October 16, and North Carolina on Friday. With a 2-1 early week victory over Lehigh and a match with Clemson on Saturday, October 27, the Terrapins feel confident in continuing in the top spot. They will close out their regular season on the road against Wake Forest (No. 13/9-2-4) on November 1.

Akron (11-1-2) celebrated their two wins over the week by moving up to the No. 2 spot in the ranks. With a 1-0 victory over Michigan on Tuesday and a 2-1 nod over West Virginia, the Zips made a strong case for moving past North Carolina in the polls. A 1-0 win over Ohio State (No. /) on Tuesday, October 23, will only help as they move into their final matches against Hartwick on Saturday and Michigan State on Halloween.

Connecticut (13-2-10 used two wins to keep pace with the leaders, moving up from the No. 4 to the No. 3 spot. The Huskies took a 4-0 win over Seton Hall on October 17 and a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on October 20. However, a 1-0 loss on October 24 to Providence may hurt them in the rankings. They will attempt to nullify that when they host Providence in a rematch on October 27. The BIG EAST Tournament will kick off on Halloween.

Marquette (14-1-0), Georgetown (13-2-1) and UCLA (9-2-2) kept steady at Nos. 5, 6, and 7 for the week, but former No. 8 Old Dominion (9-2-2) suffered a severe blow after a 2-1 loss to William & Mary on October 17 and dropped to No. 15 in the ranks. Even a 2-1 win over Towson could not make up for the defeat. Their collapse allowed Notre Dame (12-3-0) to move up to No. 8. Former No. 12 Coastal Carolina (No. 9/13-1-2) and former No. 14 New Mexico (No. 10/12-3-0) finish up the Top 10 list.

NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Top-25 for October 23, 2012

Rank	School	1st Votes	Total Points	Prev.	W-L-T
1	Stanford	26	817	2	14-1-1
2	UCLA	1	783	3	14-0-2
3	Florida State	6	766	1	15-1-0
4	Penn State	0	713	4	15-2-1
5	BYU	0	707	5	14-1-1
6	San Diego State	0	660	6	16-1-1
7	Wake Forest	0	620	13	12-3-3
8	North Carolina	0	523	10	9-4-2
9	Maryland	0	502	7	11-5-2
10	Virginia	0	477	14	12-4-1
11	Florida	0	453	11	13-4-1
12	Duke	0	435	8	12-4-2
13	Texas A&M	0	395	9	15-3-1
14	Georgetown	0	379	12	14-2-2
15	Baylor	0	357	20	13-1-4
16	Marquette	0	355	18	13-2-2
17	Santa Clara	0	335	19	9-3-4
18	Pepperdine	0	207	15	12-4-0
19	West Virginia	0	205	23	10-3-4
20	UCF	0	189	21	13-4-1
21	Boston College	0	157	24	10-5-3
21	California	0	157	25	14-3-0
23	Tennessee	0	143	RV	13-4-2
24	Michigan	0	129	17	13-3-2
25	Ohio State	0	120	RV	12-4-1

NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Top-25 for October 23, 2012

Rank	School	1st Votes	Total Points	Prev.	W-L-T
1	Maryland	23	575	1	13-0-1
2	Akron	0	543	3	11-1-2
3	Connecticut	0	523	4	13-1-1
4	North Carolina	0	501	2	11-2-1
5	Marquette	0	486	5	14-1-0
6	Georgetown	0	460	6	13-2-1
7	UCLA	0	439	7	9-2-2
8	Notre Dame	0	418	9	12-3-0
9	Coastal Carolina	0	370	12	13-1-2
10	New Mexico	0	339	14	12-3-0
11	Brown	0	307	18	11-1-2
12	Xavier	0	294	13	10-0-4
13	Wake Forest	0	275	17	9-2-4
14	Louisville	0	256	21	10-4-1
15	Old Dominion	0	252	8	9-2-2
16	Indiana	0	229	11	10-3-2
17	Cornell	0	179	10	12-1-0
18	St. John's	0	174	15	9-3-4
19	SMU	0	162	19	9-3-3
20	Saint Louis	0	154	23	11-3-0
21	Creighton	0	144	22	11-3-2
22	Charlotte	0	114	25	10-2-3
23	Tulsa	0	74	RV	10-4-1
24	Washington	0	66	RV	10-3-3
25	UC Santa Barbara	0	60	16	9-3-3

Related Article: NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Rankings for October 16