STANDISH, Maine – The ninth weekly national and regional NCAA DIII Men's Soccer polls have been announced and Saint Joseph's College is ranked fifth and ninth in the D3soccer.com and United Soccer Coaches dockets, respectively, and second in the United Soccer Coaches New England Region poll.
Saint Joseph's, 19-0-0 overall and 11-0-0 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play through October 30th, posted wins over Salem State University (1-0), Emmanuel College (1-0), and Colby-Sawyer College (2-0) over the last seven days and remains as the only NCAA DIII Men's Soccer program in the nation without a loss or tie.
Only three teams in all of NCAA Men's Soccer – out of 828 programs – are undefeated as of October 30th, as the Monks join DII programs Young Harris (15-0-0) and Simon Fraser (16-0-0) on the short list.
In the ninth D3soccer.com weekly poll, Saint Joseph's is one of three teams to receive a first-place vote and, with 818 total points, sits behind Messiah (993), Calvin (963), Tufts (840), and Chicago (838). Connecticut College (17th, 380) and Amherst College (20th, 197) are the only other New England program listed on the poll.
In the eighth United Soccer Coaches national rankings Messiah College remains atop the poll while Tufts University moves up to second, Calvin College is third, University of Chicago is fourth, and Trinity (Texas) is fifth.
Led by fifth-year Head Coach Adrian Dubois, the Monks have jumped Connecticut College (12-2-2) – which is now ranked fourth – up to the #2 spot behind Tufts University (13-0-3) and ahead of Amherst College (12-3-1), Connecticut, Middlebury College (10-3-3), Salve Regina University (16-0-3), Babson College (11-2-4), WPI (12-2-3), Endicott College (10-5-2), and Springfield College (12-4-1).
Through 19 games, Saint Joseph's has outscored opponents by a collective 76-1 score with a 480-80 shots advantage. After posting a 19-0-2 record in 2017, the Monks have extended their undefeated streak to 40 games, the longest active streak in NCAA DIII Men's Soccer and the sixth-longest streak in NCAA DIII Men's Soccer history. The last time a team posted an undefeated streak of 40 or more games was Amherst College, which went 40 matches without a setback or tie during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
The NCAA DIII Men's Soccer record for longest undefeated streak is held by Wheaton (IL), which went 66 games without a loss from September of 1996 to November of 1998.
The Monks continue to rack up shutouts and have not allowed a goal since September 15th in a 3-1 triumph over Johnson & Wales; the shutout minutes streak stands at 1,168:40 minutes – the sixth-longest in NCAA DIII Men's Soccer history (the 2017 SJC team set the record with 1,840:33 minutes).
St. Joe's is now 27-0-3 in their last 30 home games, a stretch that includes a 20-0-1 record at the SJC Athletics Complex.
Saint Joseph's currently leads NCAA DIII Men's Soccer in save percentage (.970), shutout percentage (.947), goals against average (0.050), shots on goal per game (12.95), total goals (76), and won-lost-tied percentage (1.000) and ranks second in total points (209), assists per game (3.00), points per game (11.00), shots per game (25.26), and total assists (57).
As the top seed in the GNAC Tournament, the Monks have defeated #8 Emmanuel College and #4 Colby-Sawyer College in the quarter and semi final rounds, respectively, and will host second-seeded Johnson & Wales University in the GNAC Championship on Saturday, start time TBD.
