Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist men's soccer team lands at No. 3 in the preseason edition of the NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 poll, announced by the national office Wednesday.
Other Heart programs featured in the Top 25 include; No. 6 Missouri Valley, No. 9 MidAmerica Nazarene, and No. 24 Grand View. William Penn is receiving votes.
Central is coming off another successful campaign, including a 22-1 overall record and a 12-0 mark in conference play. The Eagles claimed their fourth-consecutive Heart regular-season championship and third-straight Heart tournament title. In addition, CMU boasted several notable Top 25 wins, highlighted by a 2-1 double-overtime victory against No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan.
CMU also reached the NAIA National semifinals for the fourth consecutive season. Central will return three NAIA All-Americans from the 2021 squad including Alessandro Salvadego (1st Team), Basil Erne (Honorable Mention), and Jesse Bank (Honorable Mention).
Salvadego will lead the offensive push for Central, as the reigning Heart Player and Offensive Player of the Year tied the single-season program record in goals scored (23), and tied for the team lead with eight assists.
He finished the year with 51 total points, the best in all of the NAIA.
Central will preview the 2022 campaign as part of Heart Media Day on Monday, August 15. Fans may tune into the media day on the Heart Youtube page
The Eagles' will open the 2022 regular season against No. 11 Tulsa Friday, August 19 at 7:00 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 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.
| RANK | LAST | SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] | CONFERENCE | 2021 RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Keiser (Fla.) [17] | The Sun | 16-3-1 | 498 |
| 2 | 2 | Mobile (Ala.) | Southern States | 18-3-1 | 479 |
| 3 | 3 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | Heart of America | 22-1 | 469 |
| 4 | 4 | Columbia (Mo.) | American Midwest | 15-3-3 | 449 |
| 5 | 5 | Oklahoma Wesleyan [1] | Kansas Collegiate | 21-3 | 434 |
| 6 | 6 | Missouri Valley | Heart of America | 17-6 | 414 |
| 7 | 7 | Indiana Tech | Wolverine-Hoosier | 18-1-4 | 402 |
| 8 | 9 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | Sooner | 19-1-1 | 384 |
| 9 | 8 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | Heart of America | 14-7-1 | 372 |
| 10 | 10 | Ottawa (Ariz.) | Golden States | 13-5-1 | 346 |
| 11 | 11 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | The Sun | 14-1-2 | 344 |
| 12 | 12 | Bellevue (Neb.) | Continental | 16-3-2 | 320 |
| 13 | 13 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | River States | 17-3-1 | 312 |
| 14 | 14 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | Mid-South | 14-3-2 | 286 |
| 15 | 15 | Dalton State (Ga.) | Southern States | 13-6-1 | 276 |
| 16 | 16 | William Carey (Miss.) | Southern States | 15-4 | 256 |
| 17 | 17 | Columbia International (S.C.) | Appalachian | 17-3 | 243 |
| 18 | 18 | Vanguard (Calif.) | Golden States | 15-4-1 | 217 |
| 19 | 20 | Florida National | Continental | 9-5-2 | 188 |
| 20 | 21 | Milligan (Tenn.) | Appalachian | 15-3-1 | 166 |
| 21 | 22 | Bethel (Ind.) | Crossroads | 16-5-2 | 160 |
| 22 | 19 | Lyon (Ark.) | American Midwest | 15-5-1 | 154 |
| 23 | 22 | Georgia Gwinnett | Continental | 9-6-1 | 149 |
| 24 | 25 | Grand View (Iowa) | Heart of America | 11-6-2 | 116 |
| 25 | RV | Northwestern (Iowa) | Great Plains | 16-4-1 | 91 |
Receiving Votes: Warner Pacific (Ore.) 66; Houston-Victoria (Texas) 53; Cumberlands (Ky.) 51; Tennessee Wesleyan 34; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 30; University of Northwestern Ohio 24; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 23; Cumberland (Tenn.) 14; William Penn (Iowa) 10; UC Merced (Calif.) 10; Southern Oregon 10; McPherson (Kan.) 8; Hastings (Neb.) 8; LSU Shreveport (La.) 6; Oregon Tech 5; Menlo (Calif.) 3; Southeastern (Fla.) 3; Grace (Ind.) 3
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