Six-Spot Jump for Statesmen to Program-Best #8
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s soccer team has parlayed its best start ever to its best ranking of all-time as the NAIA released its second top-25 poll Wednesday.
WPU (6-0-1) jumped six rungs to now be #8 with 362 points. It marks the 13th poll in a row in which the navy and gold are ranked in the top 25. The previous program-best rating was #9 back on October 30, 2019.
The Statesmen are the top program in the Heart of America Athletic Conference with five schools representing the league. MidAmerica Nazarene is now #10, while Missouri Valley is #11 and Benedictine is #24. Central Methodist is in the receiving votes section, being unofficially tied for 37th.
St. Thomas (Fla.) takes over the top spot in the NAIA with 472 points and 10 first-place votes. Dalton State (Ga.), with eight first-place ballots, is second overall, while Bethel (Ind.) is third. Milligan (Tenn.) is now fourth with the final two first-place ballots, while Bellevue (Neb.) rounds out the top five.
WPU returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Baker in its Heart opener at 11 a.m.
NAIA Men’s Soccer Rating #2 — September 11, 2024
Number in parentheses is first-place votes)
1. St. Thomas (Fla.) (10)
2. Dalton State (Ga.) (8)
3. Bethel (Ind.)
4. Milligan (Tenn.) (2)
5. Bellevue (Neb.)
6. Oklahoma Wesleyan
7. Indiana Wesleyan
8. William Penn
9. Mobile (Ala.)
10. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (3)
11. Missouri Valley
12. Cumberlands (Ky.)
13. Cumberland (Tenn.)
14. Mid-America Christian (Okla.)
15. Columbia (Mo.)
16. William Carey (Miss.)
17. Indiana Tech
18. Keiser (Fla.)
19. Bethel (Tenn.)
20. Grace (Ind.)
21. Georgia Gwinnett
22. Southern Oregon
23. Westcliff (Calif.)
24. Benedictine (Kan.)
25. LSU Shreveport
Receiving votes: Tennessee Southern 53, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 47, Missouri Baptist 43, Warner Pacific (Ore.) 42, Louisiana Christian 41, Rio Grande (Ohio) 35, William Woods (Mo.) 32, Spring Arbor (Mich.) 30, UC Merced (Calif.) 21, Life (Ga.) 17, Concordia (Neb.) 17, Northwestern Ohio 16, Central Methodist (Mo.) 16, Aquinas (Mich.) 9, Madonna (Mich.) 8, Union Commonwealth (Ky.) 7, Williams Baptist (Ark.) 5, WVU Tech (W.Va.) 5, Thomas (Ga.) 4, Trinity Christian (Ill.) 4, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 3, John Brown (Ark.) 3, Midland (Neb.) 2, OUAZ (Ariz.) 2.
