Photo courtesy of UNM Athletics Communications
New Mexico can see the finish line of an undefeated regular season.
MLSsoccer.com's Top 20
Rank |
School |
Record |
Last Week |
1 |
New Mexico |
15-0-2 |
1 |
2 |
North Carolina |
13-2-2 |
7 |
3 |
Creighton |
15-2-0 |
4 |
4 |
South Florida |
12-2-2 |
5 |
5 |
Maryland |
13-2-2 |
2 |
6 |
Connecticut |
14-2-2 |
3 |
7 |
Akron |
12-2-3 |
6 |
8 |
UCLA |
12-4-1 |
11 |
9 |
Boston College |
12-4-0 |
12 |
10 |
Georgetown |
10-4-4 |
8 |
11 |
Indiana |
10-3-4 |
13 |
12 |
James Madison |
12-2-1 |
19 |
13 |
Furman |
13-2-4 |
14 |
14 |
Charlotte |
12-3-2 |
16 |
15 |
UC Santa Barbara |
11-5-1 |
NR |
16 |
Louisville |
10-5-2 |
NR |
17 |
Notre Dame |
8-4-4 |
15 |
18 |
Central Florida |
9-3-3 |
10 |
19 |
Old Dominion |
11-4-0 |
9 |
20 |
Coastal Carolina |
14-2-0 |
NR |
Another successful weekend saw the Lobos add two more wins to their season total of 15, defeating Sacramento State 2-0 on Friday and squeaking past San Jose State 1-0.
New Mexico hosts its last regular-season game on Saturday against UNLV before the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament begins next week, and a win or a draw would clinch an undefeated campaign.
Here’s how the rest of last weekend’s action played out across MLSsoccer.com’s Top 20:
It was a difficult weekend for some of the nation’s top teams. Despite playing with a man advantage for nearly 70 minutes, Maryland lost for just the second time this season at Clemson as the Tigers scored twice to erase a 1-0 halftime deficit. The Terps wrap up their regular season on Thursday against Wake Forest.
Maryland’s loss has opened the door for North Carolina, which beat NC State 2-1 in overtime on Friday thanks to a 92nd-minute goal from junior forward Billy Schuler. The Tar Heels finish their schedule with a visit to Boston College, and a win there would seal the ACC regular-season title.
After opening the season unbeaten in their first 14 games, Connecticut suffered its second loss on Sunday, a disappointing 1-0 defeat on the road to Seton Hall. The Huskies open Big East Tournament play on Thursday against DePaul at home.
Creighton’s dominance of the Missouri Valley Conference continued on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Central Arkansas. Bruno Castro, Tyler Polak and Jace Peters scored for the Bluejays, who play a final regular season game this coming Saturday against Evansville.
While Akron continues to enjoy success in conference play, the Zips couldn’t find a way to hold on against Wake Forest at home. The Demon Deacons equalized with four minutes to go in regulation, and neither side could break the deadlock in overtime.
South Florida clinched first place in the Big East’s Red Division on Monday with a 0-0 draw against Rutgers. The Bulls will host a Big East tournament quarterfinal on Sunday, with the opponent to be determined later in the week.
Bouncing back from a tough home loss was UCLA, who won twice at home in a Friday-Sunday swing. The Bruins defeated Washington 1-0, before dropping Oregon State by the same score in the second overtime. The wins kept UCLA unbeaten in the Pac-12, and on the inside track to an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament.
Travis Clark covers D.C. United, college and youth soccer for MLSsoccer.com.
