Carolina men’s college soccer power rankings: Oct. 19
It didn’t take long for Wake Forest to reclaim the top spot in the country.
Wake Forest continues to show why it is the best team in the country and UNC-Wilmington is slowly creeping up the power rankings after massive wins over the weekend. N.C. State got a historic win but it was quickly washed away.
All that and more in this week’s SNST Carolina men’s college soccer power rankings.
#1 — Wake Forest Demon Deacons
One week. That’s all it took for Wake Forest to reclaim the top spot in the college soccer world. After a gripping 2–1 win against Boston College and shut out against the Gamecocks in Columbia on Tuesday, the Deacs are 14–1–0 on the year with no sign of slowing down.
The Deacs have a rocky road ahead in their final two games as they travel to Charlottesville on Saturday to take on Virginia, a team that — like Wake — only has one loss. Will the Deacs fall on the road again? Or will they continue their stretch of dominance in their quest to claim a national title?
#2 — North Carolina Tar Heels
After leaving Raleigh with a loss for the first time since 1997, the Tar Heels picked up a much-needed thrashing to give themselves a confidence boost. North Carolina shut down Winthrop 4–0 on Tuesday as Jack Shackan tallied his first career multi-goal game, recording a hat trick.
The Tar Heels travel to Boston College Friday and, while a win is certainly what the team is hoping for on Friday night, there is a much bigger game on the horizon. More like eight miles down the road. Tobacco Road, that is. It will be No. 5 Duke and the No. 7 Tar Heels Tuesday, Oct. 23, in Durham.
#3 — UNC-Wilmington Seahawks
UNCW finally played a home game this past weekend after Hurricane Florence forced them to play several games at neutral locations. The Seahawks gave their fans a warm welcome back as they blanked both their opponents, starting with a 5–0 thumping of Belmont.
Wilmington decided to follow that performance up with a 3–0 win over No. 20 N.C. State. Emil Elveroth contributed to all three goals on the night, scoring two of them and assisting the third and final goal.
The Seahawks will have three more home games this year, including a decisive match-up against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers next Wednesday, Oct. 24. Before CCU comes to Wilmington, it will be the Blue Hens of Delaware that take on UNCW Saturday, Oct. 20.
#4 — Duke Blue Devils
The weekend looked as if it was going to a great one for the Blue Devils after picking up a massive 3–2 win against No. 9 Notre Dame. Daniele Proch’s 11th goal of the season at the hour mark was the decider as the Blue Devils extended their win streak to four games.
Duke looked to continue that win streak against a decent High Point team, but High Point had other plans as a penalty kick goal in the first half was the difference-maker and the team from the Big South nabbed a pretty big win in Durham.
The Blue Devils play their final two regular season home games in the next week. First, Pittsburgh comes to town Friday. Then it’s the big one. Senior night. North Carolina. Does it really get any better than this?
#5 — N.C. State Wolfpack
Several players on North Carolina State’s team weren’t even born when the Wolfpack last got a win at home against rival North Carolina back in 1997. The win against the Tar Heels was definitely something that N.C. State needed to boost its already impressive resume. And boy, did their fans know that.
Following up that win with another win against a ranked UNCW squad would certainly have solidified their spot in the NCAA tournament, regardless of how they fare in the ACC Tournament.
Well, UNCW had something else in mind on Tuesday as the Seahawks rolled over N.C. State 3–0.
The Wolfpack will host senior night this Saturday against Syracuse before traveling to Historic Riggs Field to take on Clemson Oct. 26.
Honorable mentions
Charlotte 49ers — The 49ers are still receiving votes to be in the TopDrawerSoccer rankings and they have one of the best chances to win out the rest of the regular season. Two of Charlotte’s three losses came to top teams and the lone draw happened on the road to Louisville. The 49ers travel to Marshall Saturday before coming back home and starting four-game home stand with USC Upstate Oct. 23.
Appalachian State Mountaineers— The Mountaineers handed Coastal Carolina its first regular season home loss since 2010. The win in Conway certainly lifted App State’s chances of getting into the power rankings here but it most likely will take a Sun Belt tournament crown to make it the NCAA tournament. The Mountaineers host Presbyterian next Tuesday.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers — The Chanticleers recovered quickly from the home loss to App State and nabbed a 1–0 win against Clemson at Historic Riggs Field. Minus the loss to the Mountaineers, the other three losses for Coastal were against top opponents (UCLA, Portland and Maryland). Coastal certainly will be a favorite to come out of the Sun Belt tournament as champions but the road won’t be easy. The Chants travel across three states in eight days starting with a road trip to Howard Saturday before going to UNC-Wilmington next Wednesday.
Davidson Wildcats — The unbeaten streak continues for Davidson as it picked up a draw against La Salle Saturday and win against UMass Wednesday, Oct. 17. The Wildcats do not — I repeat, do not — have an easy schedule ahead of them. Davidson has a home match against a great Fordham squad Saturday night and then will host No. 15 Virginia Tech Tuesday, Oct. 23.
While it appears that Wake Forest will once again runaway with the top spot this year going into the NCAA tournament, the last two weeks have had some incredible storylines that have definitely turned some heads here at SNST. What will be the storyline that turns my head this weekend? I think I’ll be able to answer that next week.
