Concordia Hits No. 1 Spot in NAIA Women's Soccer Top 25
SOU, RV
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Concordia (Ore.), who is the fourth team to claim the No. 1 ranking this season, sits atop the seventh regular-season edition of the NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The Cavaliers received 16 first-place votes and 555 points to earn their 17th all-time No. 1 ranking, which is fourth on the NAIA’s all-time list dating back to 1999.
Concordia, who was last ranked No. 1 on Oct. 16, 2012, enters the week with an 11-1-1 record, including a 5-0-0 mark in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The Cavaliers head coach Grand Landy earned his 300th career win last Saturday when his squad trounced Oregon Tech, 9-0 – Concordia’s highest scoring output in five years. Landy and the Cavaliers return to the pitch on Thursday when they host Evergreen (Wash.) at 7 p.m. PDT.
Northwood (Fla.) compiled one first-place vote and 535 points en route to the No. 2 ranking. The second position is the highest rating for Northwood, dating back to 2000. The Seahawks (12-1-1) are the lone unbeaten team remaining in The Sun Conference (TSC) at 8-0-0.
Checking in at No. 3 for the second-consecutive week is Westmont (Calif.) with two first-place votes and 523 points. The Warriors currently rest in third-place in the Golden State Athletic Conference with 14 points, two points behind conference leader No. 11 Concordia (Calif.). Westmont will return to action Wednesday at No. 15 The Master’s (Calif.).
No. 4 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and No. 5 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), who both held the No. 1 ranking earlier this season, round out the top five with 513 and 483 points, respectively. The Eagles (12-2-1) enter the week tied atop TSC’s North Division with No. 22 Thomas (Ga.), as both teams own a 7-1-0 mark in conference action. Lindsey Wilson fell from the top spot after losing 1-0 at then-No. 11 Cumberland (Tenn.) on Oct. 16. The loss was the first-ever Mid-South Conference regular-season loss for the Blue Raiders, who were 80-0-2 in the conference since 2000.
Within the poll, Cumberland made the largest jump, moving up three spots from the last edition. Conversely, Ashford (Iowa) suffered the farthest fall, dropping from No. 16 to No. 20.
There were two newcomers to the Top 25 this week: Thomas and No. 25 St. Ambrose (Iowa). This is the first Top 25 appearance for St. Ambrose since ranking No. 24 on Sept. 4, 2012. Thomas returns to the poll following a one-week hiatus.
Biola (Calif.) (No. 23) and Graceland (Iowa) (No. 22) dropped from the poll. For Graceland, the fallout snaps a streak of 23-straight Top 25 mentions dating back to Nov. 13, 2011.
Thirteen conferences/independent/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by four programs from the GSAC – Westmont, No. 6 Vanguard (Calif.), Concordia (Calif.) and The Master’s – and TSC – Northwood, Embry-Riddle, No. 14 St. Thomas (Fla.) and Thomas.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independent/unaffiliated groups. For the complete women’s soccer ratings calendar, click here.
Notes (All information dates back to 1999): Concordia (Ore.) joins Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Vanguard (Calif.) and Embry-Riddle (Fla.) as teams that have held the No. 1 ranking this season … For the Cavaliers, the top billing is the 17th all-time, which currently ranks fourth … Lindsey Wilson leads all NAIA schools with 48 all-time No. 1 rankings, followed by former member Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (32) and Westmont (Calif.) (19) … Overall, 13 different programs have claimed the No. 1 spot in the poll … Lindsey Wilson also owns the longest active streak of consecutive appearances in the Top 25 with 157-consecutive mentions, including a string of 127-straight top 10 rankings … Concordia owns the second longest active streak at 137-straight polls … Davenport’s (Mich.) No. 7 ranking is the highest in program history … No. 2 Northwood (Fla.) received its highest mention dating back to 1999 … Westmont’s No. 3 ranking in the fifth regular-season edition was its first top three mention since Sept. 13, 2006 … No. 25 St. Ambrose (Iowa) is making its first appearance since Sept. 4, 2012 … Thirteen of the 21 conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups are represented in the seventh regular-season Top 25 … Thirty-seven teams have been ranked through four polls in 2013.
2013 NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 7 (Oct. 22)
|
RANK |
LAST TIME |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2013 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
2 |
Concordia (Ore.) (16) |
11-1-1 |
555 |
|
2 |
4 |
Northwood (Fla.) (1) |
12-1-1 |
535 |
|
3 |
3 |
Westmont (Calif.) (2) |
10-0-3 |
523 |
|
4 |
5 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (1) |
12-2-1 |
513 |
|
5 |
1 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
12-3-0 |
483 |
|
6 |
6 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
12-1-0 |
471 |
|
7 |
7 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
13-1-0 |
454 |
|
8 |
11 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
12-1-1 |
427 |
|
9 |
8 |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
15-2-1 |
416 |
|
10 |
10 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
11-4-0 |
404 |
|
11 |
12 |
Concordia (Calif.) |
10-0-3 |
379 |
|
12 |
9 |
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) |
10-2-1 |
358 |
|
13 |
13 |
Judson (Ill.) |
10-1-2 |
344 |
|
14 |
14 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
11-1-1 |
328 |
|
15 |
15 |
The Master’s (Calif.) |
12-2-0 |
291 |
|
16 |
17 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
10-3-1 |
287 |
|
17 |
18 |
Brenau (Ga.) |
10-3-1 |
263 |
|
18 |
19 |
Avila (Mo.) |
15-0-1 |
258 |
|
19 |
20 |
Oklahoma City |
9-3-0 |
254 |
|
20 |
16 |
Ashford (Iowa) |
10-3-0 |
217 |
|
21 |
21 |
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
13-2-1 |
168 |
|
22 |
RV |
Thomas (Ga.) |
10-4-0 |
129 |
|
T23 |
25 |
Cal State San Marcos |
7-4-1 |
126 |
|
T23 |
24 |
Texas at Brownsville |
9-3-0 |
126 |
|
25 |
RV |
St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
11-2-1 |
113 |
Others Receiving Votes: Robert Morris (Ill.) 96; Kansas Wesleyan 77; Grace (Ind.) 46; Mobile (Ala.) 44; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 38; Viterbo (Wis.) 29; Georgia Gwinnett 29; Missouri Valley 22; Hastings (Neb.) 19; Biola (Calif.) 13; Southern Oregon 13; Reinhardt (Ga.) 7; Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) 5; John Brown (Ark.) 5; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 4; Oklahoma Wesleyan 3; Columbia (Mo.) 3.