Spartans enter NSCAA poll for first time since 1997
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG's women's soccer team entered the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/HendrickCars.com National Rankings this week, coming in at No. 24.
UNCG, which is also ranked No. 21 in this week's Soccer America poll, is making its first appearance in the NSCAA poll since Dec. 11, 1997, the final poll of the 1997 season. UNCG went 19-6-0 that season, setting the school record for wins and advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Spartans are off to a school-record 9-1-1 start on the season, with their .864 winning percentage the 10th-best in the nation.
UNCG enters as a solid No. 24, picking up 88 points. No. 25 Arizona State has 47 points.
After just missing a spot in last week's NSCAA poll – falling four points shy – UNCG won both of its games on the weekend in convincing fashion to make its NSCAA season debut. The Spartans topped Georgia Southern 5-1 on Friday and downed Davidson 4-0 on Sunday.
Sophomore Tabitha Padgett had four goals and three assists in the two games, including a hat trick against Davidson, and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday.
UNCG is 4-0-0 in the SoCon so far this year, improving to 42-2-2 in regular-season league games since the start of the 2006 season.
The Spartans have been even more impressive in nonconference games. UNCG knocked off then-No. 10 Wake Forest on Aug. 23 before playing to a scoreless draw on Sept. 3 with Southern Cal, which was unranked at the time but is 20th in this week's NSCAA poll. On Sept. 10, the Spartans downed Charlotte, which is now 9-3-0 on the season and has beaten the likes of NC State and Pittsburgh.
In addition to its spots in the Soccer America and NSCAA polls, UNCG is a season-high 24th in this week's TopDrawerSoccer.com Women's Tournament 64 Ranking, a projection of the NCAA tournament bracket.
Winners of six straight games for the first time since the 2008 season, the Spartans will host The Citadel and College of Charleston this weekend. Those teams are both 3-1 in the league and tied for second in the SoCon standings.
UNCG hosts The Citadel on Friday at 7 p.m. and College of Charleston on Sunday at 1 p.m. at UNCG Soccer Stadium. Admission is free.
NSCAA/HendrickCars.com National Rankings
Team
Pt. Last
W-L-T
1 Stanford (33)
850
1 9-0-2
2
Portland
784
4 12-1-0
3 North Carolina
776
3
10-1-1
4 Boston College
765
2
9-1-1
5 Notre
Dame
728
5
11-1-0
6
Florida
684
6
10-1-1
7 Oklahoma State
632
8
11-1-1
8
Maryland
582
7
9-1-1
9
Virginia
564
9
8-1-1
10 Texas
A&M
531 10
9-3-0
11
BYU
508 12
10-1-1
12 Florida State
477 14
9-2-0
13 Santa
Clara
416 13
7-3-2
14
UCLA
403 11
7-3-1
15 South Carolina
348 20
9-2-2
16
Minnesota
264 15
9-2-2
17
Illinois
258 21
9-2-0
18
Georgia
223 17
7-2-3
19 UC
Irvine
218 24
10-1-2
20 Southern Cal
176 16
7-2-2
21
California
173 18
5-1-4
22
Duke
134 19
6-3-3
23
Marquette
116 RV
8-3-2
24
UNCG
88
RV
9-1-1
25 Arizona State
47
RV 6-2-2
Number in parentheses indicates number of first place votes
Also receiving votes: Wake Forest 43, Hofstra 42, UCF 33, San Diego 33, Denver 29, Georgetown 26, Ohio State 22, Virginia Tech 18, Memphis 14, West Virginia 12, Texas 10, Siena 6, Dayton 5, Pepperdine 5, Baylor 4, Oregon State 3
- UNCG -