Sept. 11, 2012
NORFOLK, VA--The ODU Soccer Monarchs moved up to No. 5 in the latest Soccer America top 25 after capturing the Stihl Soccer Classic title over the weekend. The Monarchs (4-0) are 11th in College Soccer News and 14th in the NSCAA's Coaches poll.
ODU hits the road to Omaha, NE. to play in Creighton's Soccer Classic this weekend. The Monarchs openthe event against the host Creighton Blue Jays (4-0-1), last year's NCAA semifinalists on Friday and Drake on Sunday, before returning home to take on Maryland (3-0-1) who is No. 1 in Soccer America and No. 3 in both the NSCAA Coaches and College Soccer News polls on Tuesday night at ODU. Creighton currently ranks No. 2 in the NSCAA Coaches, sixth in Soccer America, 12th in College Soccer News.
ODU is currently tied for No. 1 nationally in goals per game at 3.7 with Maryland and High Point. Individually Tim Hopkinson, the CAA and national player of the week along with senior Chris Harmon rank among the nation's best in scoring. Hopkinson is tied for the national lead with 14 totals points onfive goals and four assists with Dan Haber of Cornell and Chris Thomas of Elon. Harmon is eighth in scoring with four goals and one assist for nine total points.Hopkinson is third nationally in assists with four. Last year, the Monarchs ranked second nationally in scoring at 2.3 goals per game.
Last year, ODU ranked as high as eighth on Oct. 24th in the NSCAA Coaches Poll. Previously ODU had been ranked in the nation's top ten in 1981, 1991, 2003, 04, 05, and 06 with the highest ranking ever on Oct. 6, 2003 at number two.
Soccer America Men's Top 25RANK/TEAM (2012 RECORD) PREV.1. Maryland (3-0-1) 22. North Carolina (4-0-0) 33. Notre Dame (5-0-0) 134. Connecticut (4-0-1) 15. Old Dominion (4-0-0) 66. Creighton (4-0-1) 87. UC Santa Barbara (3-0-1) 98. Charlotte (4-0-1) 109. Akron (3-1-1) 410. New Mexico (3-1-0) 1111. UCLA (3-1-1) 1212. St. John's (4-0-1) 1513. Marquette (5-0-0) 1914. N.C. State (6-0-0) 2015. USF (4-1-0) 516. Indiana (4-1-1) 717. Wake Forest (3-0-1) 1418. Georgetown (5-0-1) 1719. Xavier (4-0-1) 2320. Coastal Carolina (3-1-2) 1821. West Virginia (3-2-1) 2222. Northwestern (3-0-2) NR23. Dayton (4-1-0) NR24. Penn State (3-1-1) NR25. SIU-Edwardsville (5-1-0) NR