October 25, 2010

GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG's women's soccer team continued its march up the Soccer America Top 25 Poll, jumping three spots to a season-best No. 16 this week.

This week marks the fifth straight and sixth 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, No. 20 on Oct. 11 and then No. 19 on Oct. 18.

UNCG is off to a school-record 15-1-1 start and is 10-0-0 in the Southern Conference. The Spartans wrapped up their fifth straight regular-season SoCon title last week with wins over Western Carolina on Thursday and Appalachian State on Sunday.

The Spartans have won 12 straight contests, matching the school record set in 2007. The winning streak is tied for the third-longest active streak in the nation, behind only streaks by No. 19 Hofstra (16) and No. 1 Stanford (14).

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.

UNCG is one of just nine teams nationwide with at least 15 wins on the year, and its .912 winning percentage is fourth in the nation behind only No. 2 Portland (.944), Stanford (.941) and Hofstra (.941).

UNCG is also ranked in the NSCAA/Hendrickcars.com poll, checking in at No. 21 this week. The Spartans have been in that poll for the last three weeks, moving in at No. 24 on Oct. 5 before moving up a couple of spots to No. 22 the following week. This week's poll will be released Tuesday afternoon.

The Spartans will return to action Wednesday at Elon to wrap up the regular season for both squads. UNCG enters the contest trying to secure its fourth unbeaten league record in the last five seasons. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Elon, N.C.

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

(Records through games played Oct. 24.)

- UNCG -