Spartans break into top 10 for first time since 1996
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG's women's soccer team added another feather to its cap Tuesday, climbing into the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Hendrickcars.com top 10 for the first time since 1996, landing at No. 10 this week.
The last time the Spartans were a top-10 team was the first week of November 1996, when UNCG was ranked No. 9.
The Spartans are up five spots from last week, marking the second straight week UNCG has made a five-spot jump. This week is the sixth straight for the Spartans in the NSCAA poll, as UNCG entered 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 and No. 15 on Nov. 2.
UNCG, which won its fifth consecutive regular-season Southern Conference title this year, won the SoCon tournament over the weekend to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Spartans will face South Carolina, ranked No. 20 in this week's NSCAA poll, in first-round action in Charlottesville, Va., at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
UNCG is 19-1-1 this year and has won its last 16 contests, good for the second-best active streak in the nation behind only consensus No. 1 Stanford's 17-game streak. UNCG's .929 winning percentage is also second in the nation behind only Stanford's.950 mark (18-0-2).
The 19 wins match the school record set in 1997, when UNCG went 19-6-0 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The 19 wins are also the most in NCAA Division I this season, a distinction UNCG shares with Denver, which finished its season 19-2-1.
UNCG is ranked No. 13 in the final Soccer America Top 25 of the season, which came out Monday.
Despite its big jump in the NSCAA poll and winning both of its contests last week, UNCG fell one spot in the SoccerTimes.com poll. The Spartans are No. 20 in that poll this week.
NSCAA/Hendrickcars.com National Rankings
Rank Team Pts Last W-L-T
1 Stanford (34) 850 1 18-0-2
2 Portland 806 2 18-1-1
3 North Carolina 759 3 17-2-2
4 Maryland 756 4 17-2-2
5 Florida 712 7 18-2-2
6 Oklahoma State 639 10 17-3-2
7 Notre Dame 604 8 15-2-2
8 Virginia 577 5 13-4-2
9 Texas A&M 541 6 15-4-2
10 UNCG 453 15 19-1-1
11 Florida State 445 9 13-5-1
12 Marquette 400 12 15-4-2
13 Illinois 389 16 13-4-1
14 West Virginia 378 22 16-4-1
15 Oregon State 330 13 15-3-1
16 UC Irvine 325 11 17-2-2
17 Ohio State 294 23 14-4-1
18 Boston College 277 19 13-6-1
19 Santa Clara 246 14 12-6-2
20 South Carolina 205 20 14-5-4
21 Wake Forest 204 RV 12-7-3
22 Southern Cal 187 17 12-5-3
23 Hofstra 140 18 18-2-0
24 Denver 127 21 19-2-1
25 BYU 125 25 16-3-2
SoccerTimes.com Top 25 Poll
Rank School Record Pts LW
1 Stanford (16) 18-0-2 400 1
2 Portland 18-1-1 380 2
3 North Carolina 17-2-2 362 3
4 Maryland 17-2-2 357 4
5 Florida 18-2-2 335 6
6 Virginia 13-4-2 307 5
7 Notre Dame 15-2-2 301 7t
8 Oklahoma State 17-3-2 280 12
9 Texas A&M 15-4-2 262 7t
10 Boston College 13-6-1 233 14
11 Florida State 13-5-1 228 9
12 Marquette 15-4-2 193 11
13 South Carolina 14-5-4 179 16
14 Wake Forest 12-7-3 176 23
15 Oregon State 15-3-1 168 10
16 West Virginia 16-4-1 155 21
17 Brigham Young 16-3-2 128 18
t18 UC Irvine 17-2-2 122 13
t18 Ohio State 14-4-1 122 20
20 UNCG 19-1-1 115 19
21 Santa Clara 12-6-2 100 25
22 Southern Cal 12-5-3 91 17
23 Illinois 13-4-1 61 22
24 UCLA 12-7-1 39 nr
25 Hofstra 18-2-0 28 25
- UNCG -