North Carolina unanimous choice atop men’s Division I top-25 poll
By Jimmy LaRoue
North Carolina was the unanimous choice atop the first regular season Division I men’s soccer poll after opening the season at home with a 4-0 win over Gardner-Webb.
The school paid tribute to former Tar Heel captain and the Columbus Crew’s Kirk Urso, who died recently, painting his No. 3 on the Fetzer Field turf and wearing it on their jerseys. Ironically, the Tar Heels scored their first goal in the third minute.
The Tar Heels got goals from Andy Craven, Jordan Gafa, Chipper Root and David Walden on a penalty. Danny Garcia assisted on two of the goals.
Creighton is No. 2 after defeating Northern Illinois 3-1 in a rematch of last season’s second round NCAA tournament match, which the Bluejays also won.
Northern Illinois scored first on a goal from James Stevenson in the 67th minute, but less than two minutes later, Creighton equalized on a goal from junior Sean Kim, who scored his first collegiate goal. Win rain pouring down, junior Carlos McCrary scored in the 80th minute and six minutes later, Kim scored his second goal of the game to ice the match.
New Mexico defeated preseason No. 2 UCLA 3-2 in Los Angeles to move to No. 3 in the rankings. Devon Sandoval scored twice and Blake Smith also tallied a goal in the win broadcast on the new Pac-12 Network. UCLA, however, took a 1-0 lead into the half thanks to a goal from Ryan Hollingshead.
Sandoval tied the match in the 57th minute, heading in a Levi Rossi cross, and Smith put the Lobos ahead three minutes later. Evan Raynr headed home a Leo Stolz free kick to tie the match for UCLA in the 61st minute.
The Lobos got the game-winner from Sandoval in the 75th minute, with Smith assisting on the goal.
South Florida is No. 4 in the rankings after defeating Michigan 2-1 Friday before a regular season record home crowd of 3,076 at Corbett Soccer Stadium in Tampa. The match was also televised on Fox Soccer Channel.
After falling behind 1-0 early in the second half on a goal from the Wolverines’ Dylan Mencia, Brenton Griffiths tied the match for the Bulls in the 64th minute, and then Ben Sweat scored a minute later, alertly following up after Leston Paul had his penalty saved by Michigan goalkeeper Adam Grinwis.
Connecticut rounds out the top 5, getting a 1-0 win over St. Francis to open the season as Mamadou Doudou Diouf converted a 36th minute penalty for the only goal of the match in front of a home sellout crowd of 5,100
Maryland, Akron, Charlotte, UC Santa Barbara and Indiana round out the top 10. Akron coach Caleb Porter is leaving the Zips at the end of the season to take the head coaching position with MLS’s Portland Timbers.
NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Men’s – National – Poll 1 – August 28, 2012
| Rank | School | 1st Votes | Total Points | Prev. | W-L-T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | 23 | 575 | 1 | 1-0-0 |
| 2 | Creighton | 0 | 538 | 3 | 1-0-0 |
| 3 | New Mexico | 0 | 512 | 6 | 1-0-0 |
| 4 | South Florida | 0 | 490 | 5 | 1-0-0 |
| 5 | Connecticut | 0 | 478 | 3 | 1-0-0 |
| 6 | Maryland | 0 | 468 | 9 | 1-0-0 |
| 7 | Akron | 0 | 420 | 10 | 1-0-0 |
| 8 | Charlotte | 0 | 416 | 8 | 1-0-0 |
| 9 | UC Santa Barbara | 0 | 376 | 11 | 1-0-0 |
| 10 | Indiana | 0 | 368 | 12 | 2-0-0 |
| 11 | UCLA | 0 | 343 | 2 | 0-1-0 |
| 12 | UC Irvine | 0 | 310 | 13 | 1-0-0 |
| 13 | Boston College | 0 | 283 | 14 | 1-0-0 |
| 14 | Louisville | 0 | 253 | 7 | 0-1-0 |
| 15 | St. John’s | 0 | 228 | 15 | 1-0-1 |
| 16 | Coastal Carolina | 0 | 202 | 17 | 1-0-0 |
| 17 | UAB | 0 | 201 | 21 | 2-0-0 |
| 18 | Saint Mary’s (Calif.) | 0 | 179 | 18 | 1-0-0 |
| 19 | Old Dominion | 0 | 136 | 23 | 1-0-0 |
| 20 | SMU | 0 | 100 | 16 | 0-0-1 |
| 21 | Georgetown | 0 | 92 | NR | 1-0-0 |
| 22 | Furman | 0 | 87 | 24 | 1-0-0 |
| 23 | Wake Forest | 0 | 62 | RV | 1-0-0 |
| 24 | Brown | 0 | 55 | 22 | 0-0-0 |
| 25 | Northwestern | 0 | 50 | 20 | 0-0-1 |
Records are as submitted by the rankers and reflect the current 2012 record through Aug. 26
Also receiving votes: Notre Dame 41, South Carolina 26, Cal State Northridge 23, Bradley 22, Virginia 21, California 21, Monmouth 17, SIUE 12, Rutgers 10, Marquette 9, Washington 8, James Madison 7, Tulsa 7, Dayton 6, Stanford 4, Evansville 3, Georgia State 3, UC Riverside 3, West Virginia 2, Xavier 2, Wisconsin 2, Central Florida 1, CSU Bakersfield 1, Western Michigan 1
