Kansas City, Mo. – The No. 1 Central Methodist men's soccer team held on to the top spot in the latest edition of the NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll, as announced by the national office Wednesday morning.
Other Heart programs included in the Top 25 are No. 4 Missouri Valley, and No. 21 MidAmerica Nazarene.
The Eagles have a 16-1 record overall, with their only loss coming against NCAA DI Central Arkansas. So far this spring season, Central has defeated three NCAA DI opponents on the road, and two NAIA Top-25 teams including No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan. CMU currently sits at No. 3 in the NAIA in total shutouts (8), No. 6 in total assists (44) and total goals (54), and No. 9 in shots on goal/game (10).
2021 Heart Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year Tom Irion is currently No. 7 in game winning goals (4) and fellow defender Marcos German is No. 16 in total assists (8).
CMU will now turn their focus to the Heart Conference Tournament that is set to begin against on Saturday, April 10. CMU is the No. 1 seed, and will face No. 8 seed Mount Mercy at 5:30 p.m. on Davis Field.
To view the complete NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll, please see below.
2020-21 NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Poll No. 3 (March 31, 2021)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Central Methodist (Mo.) [18] | 16-1 | 498 |
| 2 | 4 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 14-2-1 | 474 |
| 3 | 3 | Columbia (Mo.) | 10-2 | 473 |
| 4 | 5 | Missouri Valley | 12-3-1 | 436 |
| 5 | 6 | Keiser (Fla.) | 14-2 | 422 |
| 6 | 19 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 11-0-1 | 415 |
| 7 | 2 | William Carey (Miss.) | 8-1-1 | 404 |
| 8 | 9 | University of Northwestern Ohio | 9-0 | 375 |
| 9 | 18 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 10-0 | 374 |
| 10 | 16 | Georgia Gwinnett | 8-0-2 | 363 |
| 11 | 12 | Indiana Tech | 12-0-1 | 320 |
| 12 | 7 | Mobile (Ala.) | 7-4 | 303 |
| 12 | 11 | Spring Arbor (Mich.) | 9-3-2 | 303 |
| 14 | 8 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 6-2-2 | 289 |
| 15 | 13 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 12-4-2 | 283 |
| 16 | 14 | Morningside (Iowa) | 13-3-1 | 255 |
| 17 | 10 | Westmont (Calif.) | 3-1-1 | 250 |
| 18 | NR | Southwestern Christian (Okla.) | 11-1-3 | 205 |
| 19 | 15 | Corban (Ore.) | 7-1-1 | 184 |
| 20 | 17 | Briar Cliff (Iowa) | 10-2-2 | 177 |
| 21 | 22 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 10-5-1 | 173 |
| 22 | 20 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 12-3-1 | 137 |
| 23 | 25 | Hastings (Neb.) | 9-3-1 | 118 |
| 24 | 21 | WVU Tech | 11-3 | 116 |
| 25 | NR | Milligan (Tenn.) | 10-1 | 113 |
Dropped Out: UC Merced and LSU Shreveport (La.)
Receiving Votes: Houston-Victoria (Texas) 94, Rio Grande (Ohio) 86, UC Merced 85, Grace (Ind.) 56, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 24, St. Thomas (Fla.) 29, LSU Shreveport (La.) 24, Reinhardt (Ga.) 21, Bethel (Ind.) 10, Ottawa (Ariz.) 9, Southeastern (Fla.) 3
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