NAIA Men's Soccer Top 25 Coaches Poll Announced - #8; Azusa Pacific No. 1 for First Time in 6 Weeks

Oct 24, 2007

Oct. 24, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the first time in six weeks, there is a new No. 1 as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Men's Soccer Top 25 Coaches' Poll was announced today (Oct. 24). The 4-0 win that Azusa Pacific (Calif.) put on Concordia (Calif.) last Wednesday in a battle of No. 1-vs.-No. 2 vaulted the Cougars up one spot to No. 1. Coupled with its second loss of the week against Fresno Pacific (Calif.), Concordia fell nine spots to No. 9 - Concordia had held the No. 1 post for five straight weeks. This No. 1 for Azusa is the program's first since Sept. 13, 2006 in the second regular season poll.

Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and Southern Nazarene (Okla.) both moved up to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. No. 4 Mobile (Ala.) and No. 5 Ohio Dominican made big leaps this week. Mobile is riding a 13-game winning streak including most recently, a 3-2 win over then-No. 7 Berry (Ga.). Ohio Dominican won its sixth straight match last Saturday and notched a 2-1 win over then-No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan on Oct. 15. With its win over top-ranked Concordia, No. 6 Fresno Pacific slid up five spots.

No. 19 Rio Grande (Ohio) made perhaps one of the biggest jumps this week, after "receiving votes" last week. The Redmen have not lost in six straight matches and started the streak with a 1-0 overtime win over Ohio Dominican.

In other interesting news, Azusa and Concordia have earned a Top 10 placing in all nine (including preseason) polls this year. Azusa, Southern Nazarene and Maine-Fort Kent (No. 18) are the remaining NAIA schools with an undefeated record.

Four teams consistently in the Top 25 hail from Region II, which is comprised of the California Pacific Conference (CPC) and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) - No. 1 Azusa Pacific, No. 6 Fresno Pacific, No. 9 Concordia and No. 11 (tie) Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.). Holy Names (Calif.) is in the "others receiving" category this time with 13 votes.

The ninth and final regular season Top 25 poll (10th overall) will be released on Wednesday, Oct. 31.

2007 NAIA Men's Soccer Top 25 Poll - Oct. 24 (Rating #8)

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL (Region)	1^st PLACE VOTES	2007 RECORD*	TOTAL POINTS
1	2	Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (II)	14	14-0-1	350
2	T4	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (XI)		15-1-0	329
3	T4	Southern Nazarene (Okla.) (VI)		13-0-1	328
4	8	Mobile (Ala.) (XIII)		13-2-1	298
5	10	Ohio Dominican (IX)		14-1-0	280
6	11	Fresno Pacific (Calif.) (II)		13-2-1	277
7	9	Simon Fraser (B.C.) (I)		12-1-1	258
8	3	Graceland (Iowa) (V)		14-1-1	248
9	1	Concordia (Calif.) (II)		13-2-0	236
10	7	Berry (Ga.) (XIII)		13-2-0	232
T11	12	Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) (XIII)		12-3-0	194
T11	14	Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) (II)		12-1-1	194
13	6	Indiana Wesleyan (VIII)		14-3-1	172
14	18	Park (Mo.) (IV)		10-4-0	168
15	T19	Oklahoma City (VI)		10-3-1	164
16	22	McKendree (Ill.) (V)		15-1-0	132
17	16	Lee (Tenn.) (XIII)		12-3-3	126
18	23	Maine - Fort Kent (X)		16-0-0	83
19	RV	Rio Grande (Ohio) (IX)		9-4-1	72
20	25	Lambuth (Tenn.) (XI)		11-4-0	60
21	RV	St. Ambrose (Iowa) (VII)		11-4-2	59
22	13	Warner Southern (Fla.) (XIV)		11-2-1	56
T23	RV	Benedictine (Kan.) (V)		10-3-1	55
T23	RV	Concordia (Ore.) (I)		13-3-0	55
25	24	Notre Dame (Ohio) (IX)		12-2-2	37

Others Receiving Votes:

Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (XIV) 13; Holy Names (Calif.) (II) 13; Rogers State (Okla.) (VI) 11; Westminster (Utah) (I) 10; Baker (Kan.) (V) 9; Grand View (Iowa) (VII) 6

* Records through Sunday, Oct. 21

Men's Soccer

NAIA Men's Soccer Top 25 Coaches Poll Announced - #8; Azusa Pacific No. 1 for First Time in 6 Weeks

Championship Information