Kansas City, Mo. – The Central Methodist men's soccer program retained its No. 1 national ranking as the NAIA office released the second NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches Top-25 poll Wednesday morning.
The Eagles have a record of 14-1 overall, with their only loss coming against NCAA Division I member Central Arkansas on March 5.
Other Heart programs mentioned in the poll are No. 5 Missouri Valley and No. 22 MidAmerica Nazarene.
The Eagles have had a busy spring season so far preparing for postseason play in April. CMU took down NCAA DI Creighton by a score of 4-1 in an exhibition, and UMKC 1-0 on March 12. The Eagles also defeated Mid-America Christian, 3-1 at Davis Field.
CMU leads the nation in shutouts (8) and sits in the top-8 in goals scored (49), total assists (40), and shots on goal per game (10.600). Tom Irion is ranked No. 6 in the NAIA in game winning goals (4).
The next matchup for Central will be against No. 4 Oklahoma Wesleyan Saturday, March 20 at 1:00 p.m. in Bartlesville, Okla.
To view the poll methodology and the complete poll, please see below.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."
- For the complete men's soccer ratings calendar, click here.
2020-21 NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Poll No. 2 (March 17, 2021)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1ST PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Central Methodist (Mo.) [16] | 14-1 | 436 |
| 2 | 3 | William Carey (Miss.) | 7-0 | 418 |
| 3 | 4 | Columbia (Mo.) | 10-2 | 402 |
| 4 | 2 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 12-1-1 | 394 |
| 5 | 5 | Missouri Valley | 11-3-1 | 381 |
| 6 | 8 | Keiser (Fla.) | 14-2 | 363 |
| 7 | 6 | Mobile (Ala.) | 6-2 | 351 |
| 8 | 7 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 3-1-1 | 346 |
| 9 | 9 | University of Northwestern Ohio | 4-0 | 317 |
| 10 | 12 | Westmont (Calif.) | 3-1 | 285 |
| 11 | 11 | Spring Arbor (Mich.) | 7-3-2 | 272 |
| 12 | 18 | Indiana Tech | 10-0 | 258 |
| 13 | 15 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 10-4-1 | 255 |
| 14 | 10 | Morningside (Iowa) | 11-3-1 | 247 |
| 15 | 16 | Corban (Ore.) | 5-0 | 239 |
| 16 | 20 | Georgia Gwinnett | 6-0-1 | 209 |
| 17 | 19 | Briar Cliff (Iowa) | 10-1-2 | 192 |
| 18 | 23 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 4-0 | 177 |
| 19 | 24 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 9-0-1 | 175 |
| 20 | 21 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 11-2 | 173 |
| 21 | 14 | WVU Tech | 8-2 | 172 |
| 22 | 17 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 10-5-1 | 161 |
| 23 | NR | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 10-3 | 126 |
| 24 | 22 | UC Merced | 3-0 | 111 |
| 25 | 25 | Hastings (Neb.) | 8-2-1 | 103 |
Dropped Out: Rio Grande (Ohio)
Receiving Votes: Rio Grande (Ohio) 92, Milligan (Tenn.) 68, Grace (Ind.) 57, St. Thomas (Fla.) 52, Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 27, Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) 22, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 18, Ottawa (Ariz.) 16, Reinhardt (Ga.) 6, Campbellsville (Ky.) 4, Bethel (Ind.) 4, Sterling (Kan.) 3
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