The first-year Dalton State men’s soccer team is receiving national attention. After winning the first two conference games of their inaugural season, the Roadrunners (9-2-1 overall, 2-0 SSAC) are ranked No. 19 in the NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll released Tuesday by the national office.
“I’m excited to see our name nationally ranked,” said Coach Kerem Daser.
“We are very young with nine freshmen start in our two conference wins. We have so much to work onto get better everyday.”
Auburn Montgomery had the most significant drop of all teams in the ranking. After a 2-3-1 stretch in their last six matches, including the loss to DS, the Warhawks fell from No. 10 to No. 22.
Dalton State’s Tomide Adabale was named SSAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday and teammate Diego Gonzalez received Defensive Player honors.
The University of Mobile dropped out of the Top 25, but did receive votes. The Rams (6-4-2, 0-0-2 SSAC) will be at Lakeshore Park Thursday to take on the Roadrunners at 7:00 p.m. “The Southern States is the number one NAIA soccer conference in the country,” said Daser. “My team is hard working. We can enjoy this for the moment, but we need to get ready for that Thursday night game and a tough stretch of games against top conference teams this month.”
2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll (Oct. 6)
|
RANK
|
LAST WEEK
|
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)
|
2015 RECORD
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
|
1
|
1
|
Rio Grande (Ohio) (9)
|
11-1-0
|
487
|
|
2
|
2
|
Davenport (Mich.) (7)
|
8-1-1
|
485
|
|
3
|
3
|
Vanguard (Calif.) (2)
|
9-1-0
|
470
|
|
4
|
4
|
Oklahoma Wesleyan
|
7-1-0
|
436
|
|
5
|
5
|
Baker (Kan.)
|
10-1-1
|
432
|
|
6
|
6
|
Northwestern Ohio
|
7-2-0
|
422
|
|
7
|
11
|
Corban (Ore.)
|
10-0-0
|
400
|
|
8
|
8
|
Thomas (Ga.)
|
9-2-0
|
390
|
|
9
|
9
|
Missouri Valley
|
8-2-0
|
371
|
|
10
|
16
|
Lyon (Ark.)
|
9-0-1
|
312
|
|
11
|
7
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)
|
10-3-0
|
297
|
|
12
|
12
|
Marymount (Calif.)
|
6-2-1
|
296
|
|
13
|
RV
|
Cumberland (Tenn.)
|
10-0-0
|
292
|
|
14
|
14
|
Ashford (Iowa)
|
7-3-1
|
285
|
|
15
|
13
|
Bellevue (Neb.)
|
7-2-2
|
273
|
|
16
|
25
|
Union (Ky.)
|
9-0-2
|
268
|
|
17
|
18
|
The Master's (Calif.)
|
8-2-1
|
261
|
|
18
|
19
|
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)
|
8-3-1
|
246
|
|
19
|
NR
|
Dalton State (Ga.)
|
9-2-1
|
196
|
|
20
|
15
|
Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
|
10-1-0
|
189
|
|
21
|
20
|
Science & Arts (Okla.)
|
9-2-0
|
176
|
|
22
|
10
|
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.)
|
7-3-1
|
147
|
|
23
|
RV
|
Park (Mo.)
|
6-0-2
|
146
|
|
24
|
RV
|
Hastings (Neb.)
|
6-3-1
|
118
|
|
25
|
21
|
Georgia Gwinnett
|
5-3-3
|
115
|
Dropped from rankings: No. 17 Mobile (Ala.); No. 22 Florida Memorial; No. 23 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.); No. 24 Spring Arbor (Mich.).
Others Receiving Votes: WVU Tech (W.Va.) 82; Mobile (Ala.) 64; Southwest (N.M.) 47; Roosevelt (Ill.) 37; Florida Memorial 35; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 29; Columbia (Mo.) 18; Northwestern (Iowa) 17; Biola (Calif.) 14; Campbellsville (Ky.) 13; Madonna (Mich.) 12; Central Methodist (Mo.) 12; Spring Arbor (Mich.) 9; Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 4; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 4.