Women's Soccer Top 25 Poll Released
CU up one spot to No. 5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Lee (Tenn.) continued its hold at No. 1 in the 10th regular-season edition of the 2012 NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The 15-1-1 Lady Flames were the unanimous selection, claiming all 21 first-place votes and 591 points. The top billing is the fifth - third-straight - for Lee this season and 14th all-time, dating back to 1999.
The 2012 NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Final Top 25 Poll will be released Sunday at 3 p.m. CST, following the completion of the conference/independent/unaffiliated group tournaments. The release of the final NAIA Women's Soccer Modified Ratings Percentage Index (MRPI) and 32-team national championship field will be announced Sunday at 5 p.m. CST with the official bracket released Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. CST.
Mobile (Ala.) and Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) retained their spots at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. The Rams, who return to the pitch in the semifinals of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Tournament Thursday against Faulkner (Ala.), tallied 568 points, while the Blue Raiders boast 556 points. Similarly to Mobile, Lindsey Wilson hosts Georgetown (Ky.) on Wednesday in semifinal action of the Mid-South Conference Tournament.
No. 4 Vanguard (Calif.) (524 points) and No. 5 Concordia (Ore.) (505 points) utilized an unexpected SSAC tournament early exit by previous No. 4 William Carey (Miss.) to jump one position and round out the top five. The Crusaders loss to Faulkner dropped William Carey from No. 4 to No. 9.
Northwood (Fla.) defeated previously top-ten Embry-Riddle (Fla.), 2-1, in overtime to claim The Sun Conference regular-season title and receive the first of the league's two automatic bids into the national championship field. Additionally, the Seahawks enjoyed the largest improvement this week, vaulting eight places from No. 21 to No. 13. Conversely, Embry-Riddle slid a poll-high seven places from No. 8 to No. 15.
No new teams joined the Top 25 this week.
Thirteen conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by five squads from the SSAC - Lee, Mobile, William Carey, No. 18 Brenau (Ga.), and No. 24 (tied) Auburn Montgomery (Ala.). The Heart of America Athletic Conference and the Unaffiliated Group consisting of the Frontier Conference and TranSouth Athletic Conference are tied for second with three teams each.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conference/independent/unaffiliated groups.
For a complete women's soccer ratings calendar, click here.
Notes: (All information dates back to 1999) Lee (Tenn.) earns the No. 1 ranking for the 14th time in program history and fifth time this season ... Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) owns the most No. 1 rankings all-time with 41, followed by former NAIA member Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (33), Westmont (Calif.) (19), Concordia (Ore.) (16), Lee (14) and Martin Methodist (Tenn.) (10) ... Lindsey Wilson owns the longest current active streak of consecutive appearances in the Top 25 with 147 ... Concordia (126) and Lee (108) are the only other programs to occupy a spot in the poll 100-or-more consecutive weeks ... The Blue Raiders also lead the way with consecutive weeks at No. 1 with 13, spanning the 2004 - 2005 seasons ... The 2011 Lee squad was the first team to start and end the season at No. 1 ... William Carey's (Miss.) No. 10 rating on Sept. 18 marked the first time the Crusaders have been in the top-10 since Sept. 6, 2011 (No. 7) ... Lee, No. 2 Mobile (Ala.), Lindsey Wilson, Concordia and No. 7 Spring Arbor (Mich.) have been ranked in the top-10 in every poll this season ... Lee and Lindsey Wilson have been rated in the top three in every poll since the 2011 Postseason Poll (Dec. 6) ... No. 2 is the highest-ever ranking for Mobile ... The final regular season poll is the first Top 25 this season that no new teams have joined the ranks.
2012 NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 10 (Nov. 6)
|
RANK |
LAST TIME |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2012 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Lee (Tenn.) (21) |
15-1-1 |
591 |
|
2 |
2 |
Mobile (Ala.) |
15-3-1 |
568 |
|
3 |
3 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
14-3-1 |
556 |
|
4 |
5 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
15-2-0 |
524 |
|
5 |
6 |
Concordia (Ore.) |
14-2-2 |
505 |
|
6 |
7 |
Oklahoma City |
17-1-0 |
499 |
|
7 |
9 |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
17-2-1 |
457 |
|
8 |
10 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
16-2-0 |
448 |
|
9 |
4 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
14-4-1 |
447 |
|
10 |
11 |
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) |
14-3-0 |
436 |
|
11 |
12 |
Kansas Wesleyan |
17-1-0 |
414 |
|
12 |
13 |
Graceland (Iowa) |
15-2-1 |
364 |
|
13 |
21 |
Northwood (Fla.) |
13-4-1 |
350 |
|
14 |
15 |
Cal State San Marcos |
10-4-3 |
335 |
|
15 |
8 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
14-5-0 |
315 |
|
16 |
16 |
Judson (Ill.) |
16-3-0 |
303 |
|
17 |
17 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
14-1-3 |
293 |
|
18 |
19 |
Brenau (Ga.) |
13-4-0 |
269 |
|
19 |
14 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
12-5-1 |
261 |
|
20 |
18 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
14-1-2 |
243 |
|
21 |
20 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
12-2-3 |
199 |
|
22 |
24 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
17-2-0 |
170 |
|
23 |
25 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
16-2-0 |
157 |
|
T24 |
22 |
Baker (Kan.) |
12-5-1 |
128 |
|
T24 |
23 |
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) |
11-6-2 |
128 |
Others receiving votes: Robert Morris (Ill.) 122; Biola (Calif.) 107; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 89; Ashford (Iowa) 41; Viterbo (Wis.) 33; Grace (Ind.) 19; Bellevue (Neb.) 18; The Master’s (Calif.) 18; Texas at Brownsville 15; Northwest (Wash.) 13.