Cobbers Break Into The Top 15
MOORHEAD, Minn. (9/23/14)—Concordia crossed over another national ranking barrier by being placed in the top 15 of all Division III teams. The Cobbers moved up two spots from last week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) national poll and are currently ranked 14th.
The continued climb up the national rankings is a reflection of Concordia's 7-1 start to the year. The seven wins in the first eight games is the best opening to a season since 2009 when the Cobbers went 8-0. They finished that campaign with an 18-1-2 mark and were ranked as high as seventh in the country.
Concordia is off to a 2-0 start in MIAC play in 2014. They beat St. Catherine 2-0 in the conference opener and then downed Gustavus 4-1 in St. Peter on Saturday. The Cobbers have won five straight games and during that stretch have outscored their opponents 13-1. CC has also posted 56-18 advantage in total shots in the last five contests.
The Cobbers have six shutouts in their first eight games of the season. CC is tied for second in all of Division III in the total number of shutouts in 2014 and is tied for 12th in shutout percentage.
Concordia has three players who have scored at least three goals on the year. Senior forward Rochelle Hickerson leads Concordia with four goals and two assists for 10 points. Hickerson had three goals inall of her first three seasons combined. Elizabeth Robinson and Emily Wendorff are second on the squad in goals scored with three each.
Concordia will put their five-game winning streak on the line on Saturday, Sept. 27 when they travel to Northfield to take on St. Olaf at 1 p.m. The Oles were picked to finish in third place, one spot ahead of the Cobbers, in the annual preseason coaches' poll.
NSCAA Top 25 - Week of Sept. 23
1. Washington University (Mo.)
2. Messiah College
3. Trinity University (Texas)
4. Carnegie Mellon University
5. Emory University
6. Lynchburg College
7. University Of Chicago
8. Thomas More
9. Misericordia University
10. Wheaton College (Ill.)
11. Bowdoin College
12. The College of New Jersey
13. Johns Hopkins University
14. Concordia College-Moorhead
15. Montclair State University
16. University Of Puget Sound
17. William Smith
18. Amherst College
19. Ithaca College
20. Nazareth College
21. Williams College
22. Luther College
23. Hardin-Simmons University
24. College of Saint Benedict
25. Dickinson College
Also receiving votes: Case Western Reserve University (12), University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (6), Union College (5), Rochester Institute Of Technology (4), Centre College (3), Tufts University (3), Augustana College (2), SUNY Geneseo (2)