By R.L. Bynum
UCLA leapfrogged Carolina and Duke to take the No. 1 spot in the latest United Soccer Coaches women’s soccer Top 25 after winning on the road 2–1 last week against the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils, who meet Thursday.
The Bruins (5–0–0), No. 3 last week, got all eight first-place votes, with UNC (5–1–0) and Duke (5–1–0) each slipping one spot, the Tar Heels to No. 2 and the Blue Devils to No. 3.
So, it will be No. 2 vs. No. 3 at 8 p.m. Thursday at Koskinen Stadium in Durham for a game that won’t count in the ACC standings. The game doesn’t start until 8 because it’s on ACC Network.
Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 5 Virginia (unchanged after a 2–0 win over James Madison and a 5–0 victory over Memphis), No. 8 Florida State (up two spots after tying Auburn 1–1 and beating Florida 5–0) and No. 12 Notre Dame (up four spots after a 4–1 win over Wisconsin).
In the men’s ranking, UNC (2–1–0) went from No. 13 last week to unranked with the 35th-most poll points after losing at home 2–1 Saturday to Florida International.
In the field hockey poll, Carolina (4–0) remained No. 2 after beating now No. 17 Princeton 4–3 and Penn 4–0.
Women’s soccer Top 25
| Rank | School | Previous | 1st-place vote | Poll points | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 3 | 8 | 200 | 5–0–0 |
| 2 | North Carolina | 1 | 0 | 191 | 5–1–0 |
| 3 | Duke | 2 | 0 | 183 | 5–1–0 |
| 4 | South Carolina | 4 | 0 | 171 | 4–0–2 |
| 5 | Virginia | 5 | 0 | 161 | 6–0–0 |
| 6 | Rutgers | 9 | 0 | 152 | 6–0–0 |
| 6 | Stanford | 12 | 0 | 152 | 5–0–0 |
| 8 | Florida State | 10 | 0 | 133 | 2–0–2 |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 13 | 0 | 132 | 5–0–1 |
| 10 | Pepperdine | 14 | 0 | 117 | 4–0–2 |
| 11 | Penn State | 8 | 0 | 109 | 4–1–1 |
| 12 | Notre Dame | 16 | 0 | 103 | 5–0–0 |
| 13 | BYU | 6 | 0 | 102 | 3–1–1 |
| 14 | Auburn | 11 | 0 | 97 | 3–0–3 |
| 15 | Saint Louis | RV | 0 | 76 | 5–1–0 |
| 16 | SMU | 15 | 0 | 70 | 3–0–2 |
| 17 | West Virginia | 21 | 0 | 66 | 3–1–2 |
| 18 | Alabama | RV | 0 | 65 | 4–1–1 |
| 19 | Colorado | 20 | 0 | 56 | 5–0–1 |
| 20 | Harvard | NR | 0 | 41 | 4–0–0 |
| 21 | Texas A&M | 18 | 0 | 32 | 4–0–2 |
| 22 | Ohio State | RV | 0 | 25 | 3–1–1 |
| 23 | Texas | RV | 0 | 24 | 3–1–1 |
| 24 | Washington | NR | 0 | 18 | 5–0–1 |
| 24 | Georgetown | 17 | 0 | 18 | 2–1–3 |
Also receiving votes: Wake Forest (18), Tennessee (17), TCU (14), Wisconsin (14), Central Florida (11), Brown (11), Arkansas (10), Portland (5), Virginia Tech (4) and Samford (2)
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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