October 18, 2010

GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG's women's soccer team rose to No. 19 in this week's Soccer America Top 25 Poll, up one spot from last week.

This week marks the fourth straight and fifth overall this season that UNCG has been ranked by Soccer America. The Spartans entered the rankings on Aug. 30 at No. 18 but fell out after suffering its only loss of the season at Cal State Fullerton. UNCG re-entered the poll on Sept. 27, tying for 25^th, before moving up to No. 21 on Oct. 4 and No. 20 a week later.

Riding a 10-game winning streak, UNCG is off to a school-record 13-1-1 start overall and is 8-0-0 in Southern Conference play. The Spartans' 10-game streak is their longest since a 10-gamer in 2008 and is tied for the fourth-longest active streak in NCAA Division I play behind only streaks by Hofstra (14 games), Stanford (12) and Dayton (11).

The winning streak is also just the third of 10 games or longer in school history, all of which have come in the last four seasons. The school record is 12 consecutive wins, set in 2007.

UNCG is one of just nine teams nationwide with at least 13 wins on the year, and its .900 winning percentage is tied for sixth in NCAA Division I with two-time defending national champion North Carolina.

UNCG is also ranked in the NSCAA/Hendrickcars.com poll, checking in at No. 22. The Spartans have been in that poll for the last two weeks, moving in at No. 24 on Oct. 5 for the first time since the 1997 season. This week's poll will be released Tuesday afternoon.

The Spartans topped Wofford, 3-0, and Furman, 4-1, on the road over the weekend to clinch hosting duties in the first round of the SoCon Championship on Oct. 31. UNCG needs just one more win in league play to clinch at least a share of the regular-season league crown and the top seed in the SoCon tournament. UNCG has won the regular-season title in each of the last four years and could become first team in league history to win the title outright in five straight years.

UNCG returns to action on Thursday, Oct. 21, when it will host Senior Day against Western Carolina. Seniors Katie Evans, Jenn Partenheimer and Jen Rincon will be honored before the game. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at UNCG Soccer Stadium.

Soccer America Top 25 Poll
TEAM (W-L-T) LAST WEEK
1. Stanford (13-0-2) 1
2. North Carolina (13-1-1) 2
3. Portland (15-1-0) 3
4. Maryland (12-1-1) 4
5. Notre Dame (14-1-1) 5
6. Boston College (10-3-1) 6
7. Virginia (10-3-1) 8
8. Oklahoma State (14-1-1) 9
9. Florida State (11-3-0) 7
10. Texas A&M (13-3-0) 10
11. Florida (12-2-2) 12
12. Oregon State (11-1-1) NR
13. Santa Clara (10-3-2) 15
14. Ohio State (12-2-1) 16
15. Illinois (10-2-1) 17
16. Marquette (12-3-2) 22
17. New Mexico (10-1-3) 25
18. UC Irvine (13-1-2) 19
19. UNCG (13-1-1) 20
20. UCLA (9-5-1) 14
21. Denver (14-2-0) 21
22. BYU (12-2-1) 11
23. West Virginia (11-4-1) NR
24. Hofstra (14-1-0) NR
25. South Carolina (12-3-2) 13
25. Dayton (14-2-0) NR
25. Georgia (9-3-4) NR

(Records through games played Oct. 17.)

- UNCG -