UNCG makes big jump to No. 15 in NSCAA poll
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG's women's soccer team had the week's second-biggest jump in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Hendrickcars.com National Rankings, moving up five spots to No. 15. The Spartans also climbed three spots to No. 19 in the SoccerTimes.com Top 25.
This week is the fifth straight for the Spartans in the NSCAA poll. UNCG entered the poll for the first time since 1997 on Oct. 5, checking in at No. 24. The following week, the Spartans jumped two spots to No. 22, then advanced one more spot to No. 21 on Oct. 19 before reaching No. 20 on Oct. 26.
UNCG's five-spot jump was second only to Southern Cal's six-spot climb from 23rd to 17th. Coincidentally, the Spartans and Trojans faced each other early in the season, playing to a scoreless draw on Sept. 3 in Fullerton, Calif.
The Spartans broke into the SoccerTimes.com poll for the first time in the poll's 14-year history last week, entering at No. 22. UNCG had been receiving votes in the previous eight SoccerTimes polls this year before making its debut.
At 17-1-1 on the year, UNCG is putting together the best season in school history. The Spartans finished Southern Conference regular-season play 11-0-0, winning their league-record fifth straight outright regular-season title. The 11 wins were also a league record, as UNCG became the first team to run the table since the SoCon expanded to 12 teams in 2008. The unbeaten SoCon slate was UNCG's fourth in the last five seasons.
The Spartans have won a school-record 14 straight matches, the third-longest active streak in the nation behind only streaks by consensus No. 1 Stanford (15) and Hofstra (17). UNCG's winning streak is just the third of 10 games or longer in school history, all of which have come in the last four seasons.
UNCG is one of just four teams nationwide with at least 17 wins on the year. Only Portland at 18-1-0 has more wins, while Denver (17-2-0) and Hofstra (17-1-0) have 17 along with the Spartans. UNCG's .921 winning percentage is fourth in the nation behind only Portland (.947), Stanford (.944) and Hofstra (.944).
The Spartans are also ranked a season-best No. 14 in this week's Soccer America poll. UNCG is 27th in the latest RPI rankings, released by the NCAA on Tuesday.
Top-seeded UNCG downed No. 8 seed Wofford 1-0 in the quarterfinal round of the SoCon Championship on Sunday, earning a date with No. 5 seed Elon on Friday in Cullowhee, N.C. The Spartans downed the Phoenix 2-1 on Thursday in the regular-season finale for both squads, rallying from their first halftime deficit of the year. The rematch in the SoCon semifinals is slated for a 5 p.m. kick at the Catamount Athletic Complex.
NSCAA/Hendrickcars.com National Rankings
Rank Team Pts Last W-L-T
1 Stanford (34) 850 1 16-0-2
2 Portland 816 2 18-1-0
3 North Carolina 771 4 16-2-1
4 Maryland 757 5 15-2-1
5 Virginia 675 7 13-2-2
6 Texas A&M 640 6 15-3-1
7 Florida 635 8 15-2-2
8 Notre Dame 631 3 15-2-2
9 Florida State 582 9 14-3-1
10 Oklahoma State 536 11 15-3-1
11 UC Irvine 500 12 16-1-2
12 Marquette 492 13 15-3-2
13 Oregon State 464 15 15-1-1
14 Santa Clara 393 10 12-5-2
15 UNCG 331 20 17-1-1
16 Illinois 245 16 12-4-1
17 USC 238 23 11-4-3
18 Hofstra 231 21 17-7-0
19 Boston College 229 14 11-6-1
20 South Carolina 228 17 14-4-2
21 Denver 182 22 17-2-0
22 West Virginia 154 24 14-4-1
23 Ohio State 144 18 13-4-1
24 Texas 118 25 11-4-4
25 BYU 113 19 14-3-2
SoccerTimes.com Top 25
Rank School W-L-T Pts Last
1 Stanford (16) 16-0-2 400 1
2 Portland 18-1-0 384 2
3 North Carolina 16-2-1 365 3
4 Maryland 15-2-1 355 4
5 Virginia 13-3-2 312 7
6 Florida 15-2-2 298 9
t7 Notre Dame 15-2-2 297 5
t7 Texas A&M 15-3-1 297 6
9 Florida State 13-4-1 276 8
10 Oregon State 15-1-1 273 10
11 Marquette 15-3-2 219 14
12 Oklahoma State 15-3-1 188 15
13 UC Irvine 16-1-2 179 t16
14 Boston College 12-5-1 172 12
15 Santa Clara 12-5-2 171 11
16 South Carolina 14-4-2 167 13
17 Southern Cal 11-4-3 156 18
18 BYU 14-3-2 113 t16
19 UNCG 17-1-1 108 t22
20 Ohio State 13-4-1 79 19
21 West Virginia 14-4-1 78 25
22 Illinois 12-4-1 72 20
23 Wake Forest 11-7-1 51 21
24 Texas 11-4-4 50 nr
25 Hofstra 17-1-0 49 nr
Number in parentheses indicates number of first place votes
- UNCG -