Mixed results for League in men's soccer rankings

Oct. 3, 2006

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Chicago, Ill. -- Despite a 1-0 loss to the University of Wisconsin last Thursday (Sept. 28), the University of Illinois at Chicago men's soccer team remains firmly entrenched among the nation's top 25 teams according to Soccer America and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

SA has the Flames 13th on this week's rankings, with the coaches' association voting UIC 18th on its national charts. UIC slipped to 12th according to both Soccer Times and College Soccer News.That setback also relegated the Flames to third place on the NSCAA's Great Lakes Region poll, as the University of Notre Dame (7-3-2) took over the top spot followed by Indiana University (6-3-2). Wisconsin (6-3-2) and Northern Illinois University (8-3-1) round out the top five.

The regional poll has another Horizon League representative, however, as the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay entered the Great Lakes top ten for the first time in six years. The Phoenix has won three matches in a row and seven of its last eight, improving to 8-3-0 overall following a 2-0 victory over Western Michigan University on Sunday (Oct. 1). That mark also includes a 2-0-0 League ledger after UW-Green Bay's 3-0 triumph at the University of Detroit Mercy last Friday (Sept. 29).

Senior forward Joshua Okoampa earned League Player of the Week honors last week with three goals and an assist in the two victories. He leads the League with 11 goals and 26 points this season, ranking sixth in the nation with an average of 2.36 points per contest.

The rest of the regional top ten includes the University of Cincinnati (8-3-1) sixth, ahead of Northwestern University (8-3-0), Michigan State University (7-3-0), and the University of Akron (7-3-0).

UW-Green Bay's last appearance in the regional top ten came in October, 2000, when the Phoenix stood ninth in the Great Lakes poll. UWGB was 7-4-0 at the time on the way to an 11-9-1 finish.

On the national scene, Southern Methodist University remains the unanimous pick as the top team in the nation, boasting an 11-0-1 overall record. The University of Maryland (10-1-0) is second on both the NSCAA and Soccer America charts, but the coaches put the University of Virginia (10-1-0) third, Clemson University (8-1-1) fourth and the University of West Virginia (9-1-2) fifth. The University of North Carolina (10-2-0) is sixth on the NSCAA canvass, but the Tar Heels rank third according to SA---ahead of Virginia and Clemson.

UIC is in action Tuesday night (Oct. 3), hosting the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a key League showdown, while UW-Green Bay returns to action Friday (Oct. 6) at home versus Butler University.

Note: The major national polls---and the NSCAA Great Lakes Region poll---can be found in the PDF version of this release.