KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Concordia (Ore.) closes out the 2013 regular season ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Sunday. The Cavaliers, who are making their 21st all-time appearance at No. 1, received all 20 first-place votes and 560 points in this week’s edition.
The 2013 NAIA Women’s Soccer Modified Ratings Percentage Index (MRPI) and 31-team national championship field will be announced Sunday at 7 p.m. CST. The official bracket and pairings for the event are scheduled to be released Monday at 2 p.m. CST via a graphical video show on
www.naia.org.
Concordia earned its 13th-straight trip to the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round with a 3-0 win over Northwest (Wash.) in the 2013 Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship finals. The win improved the Cavaliers to 17-1-1 on the year.
No. 2 Northwood (Fla.) holds its position with 542 points, while Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) jumps one spot to No. 3 with 520 points. The Blue Raiders earned the Mid-South Conference’s automatic bid to the national championship when Renee Hurd scored a goal 27 seconds into overtime to give Lindsey Wilson a 2-1 win over then-No. 7 Cumberland (Tenn.).
No. 4 Concordia (Calif.) and No. 5 Westmont (Calif.) – both from the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) – round out the top five teams with 508 points and 482 points, respectively. The Eagles defeated Westmont, 2-1, in the GSAC Tournament title match.
No. 13 Martin Methodist (Tenn.) made the largest jump within the poll, vaulting four places after finishing runner-up to No. 8 William Carey (Miss.) in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) tournament. Since William Carey was also the SSAC regular-season champion, Martin Methodist receives the league’s second automatic berth with that result.
Three newcomers highlight the poll this week – No. 21 Cal State San Marcos, No. 22 John Brown (Ark.) and No. 25 Hastings (Neb.). All three teams earn automatic bids to the national championship with victories in their respective conference or independent group. Cal State San Marcos and Hastings were both ranked earlier this year, while John Brown (Ark.) is receiving its first mention since Sept. 28, 2010
Fourteen conferences/independent/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by four programs from the GSAC – Concordia (Calif.), Westmont, No. 12 Vanguard (Calif.) and No. 16 The Master’s (Calif.).
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.
For complete schedule and score information for various conference tournaments, click
here.
Notes (
All information dates back to 1999): Concordia (Ore.) receives its fifth-straight and 21st overall No. 1 ranking this week – third on the NAIA’s all-time list … Three other teams have held the No.1 ranking this season: Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Vanguard (Calif.) and Embry-Riddle (Fla.) …Lindsey Wilson leads all NAIA schools with 48 all-time No. 1 rankings, followed by former member Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (32) … 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 161-consecutive mentions, including a string of 131-straight top 10 rankings … Concordia owns the second longest active streak at 141-straight polls … Davenport’s (Mich.) No. 7 ranking on Sept. 17 is the highest in program history … Northwood (Fla.) is spending its fifth-straight week at No. 2 – 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 …Fourteen of the 21 conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups are represented in the final regular-season Top 25 … Thirty-nine teams have been ranked through 11 polls in 2013.
2013 NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Final (Nov. 17)
|
RANK |
LAST TIME |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2013 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Concordia (Ore.) (20) |
17-1-1 |
560 |
|
2 |
2 |
Northwood (Fla.) |
14-1-1 |
542 |
|
3 |
4 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
18-3-0 |
520 |
|
4 |
6 |
Concordia (Calif.) |
16-0-3 |
508 |
|
5 |
3 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
15-1-3 |
482 |
|
6 |
5 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
14-4-1 |
451 |
|
7 |
7 |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
18-2-1 |
450 |
|
8 |
9 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
17-4-0 |
448 |
|
9 |
7 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
15-3-1 |
411 |
|
10 |
11 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
15-1-1 |
407 |
|
11 |
10 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
17-2-1 |
392 |
|
12 |
13 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
15-4-0 |
355 |
|
13 |
17 |
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) |
15-5-1 |
337 |
|
14 |
14 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
16-3-2 |
336 |
|
15 |
12 |
Brenau (Ga.) |
15-4-1 |
299 |
|
16 |
16 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
15-5-0 |
294 |
|
17 |
15 |
Ashford (Iowa) |
13-4-0 |
263 |
|
18 |
19 |
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
16-2-1 |
259 |
|
19 |
22 |
St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
14-4-1 |
217 |
|
20 |
20 |
Robert Morris (Ill.) |
13-4-1 |
201 |
|
21 |
RV |
Cal State San Marcos |
11-5-1 |
163 |
|
22 |
RV |
John Brown (Ark.) |
14-3-3 |
151 |
|
23 |
21 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
11-6-2 |
133 |
|
24 |
24 |
Texas at Brownsville |
12-4-0 |
117 |
|
25 |
RV |
Hastings (Neb.) |
16-4-1 |
113 |
Others Receiving Votes: Oklahoma City 102; Trinity International (Ill.) 88; Kansas Wesleyan 84; Graceland (Iowa) 50; Georgia Gwinnett 43; Reinhardt (Ga.) 43; Thomas (Ga.) 31; Westminster (Utah) 16; Columbia (Mo.) 16; Northwestern Ohio 10; Viterbo (Wis.) 8; Grace (Ind.) 3.