The season couldn't have started much better for the University of Wisconsin men's and women's soccer teams.
Both Badgers sides are ranked in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 this week, with the men's team 25th and the women's team checking in at No. 24.
The UW men (5-0-1), who thumped Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne 5-1 on Friday night for their fifth consecutive win, haven't been ranked in the NSCAA poll since 2002, when they were 20th.
The Badgers also are 21st in the Soccer America Top 25, 22nd in both the TopDrawerSoccer.com and Soccer By Ives rankings, 29th in the College Soccer News Top 30 and received votes in the Soccer Times coaches' poll, and moved up two spots to No. 4 in the NSCAA Great Lakes Region rankings.
Senior midfielder Tomislav Zadro, back after missing last season with a torn ACL, earned individual honors two weeks ago: He was the Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week and made the College Soccer News and TopDrawerSoccer.com national teams of the week after posting two goals and two assists in wins over Western Michigan on Sept. 6 and DePaul on Sept. 8.
Against DePaul, Zadro scored the equalizer with 1 second left in regulation, then made a great play to set up the overtime game-winner. Video highlights
Meanwhile, the UW women head into Sunday's Big Ten opener at Purdue and ranked 24th in the TopDrawerSoccer.com poll – the Badgers also received votes in the Soccer Times coaches' poll this week.
Freshman midfielder Rose Lavelle was named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week and was considered for the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week for UW, which slipped one spot to fourth in the NSCAA Great Lakes rankings. Lavelle had two goals and three assists as the Badgers beat Loyola (Ill.) 5-1 and UW-Milwaukee 3-0 to close out non-conference play.
Edgewood College coach Tim Alexander became the 18th coach in NCAA history to record 500 victories last Sunday when then Eagles rallied from a halftime deficit and beat host Ripon 3-1 in a non-conference match.
Alexander, the only coach in Edgewood men's and women's history, has an overall record of 501-303-58. He's 226-189-34 in his 24th season with the men's program and 275-114-24 in his 21st year with the women's program.
Junior midfielder Jennifer Dailey (Waunakee) scored the equalizer in the 70th minute against Ripon, senior midfielder Brianna Franken (De Pere) netted the go-ahead goal in the 78th – her first goal since 2011 – and junior defender Jenna Mineau (Green Bay Notre Dame) added an insurance goal in the 87th as Edgewood pulled away to give Alexander the milestone victory.
Dailey was named the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference women's student-athlete of the week. In addition to her goal on Sunday, she scored on both of her shots in a 3-0 victory over host Beloit College last Friday.
The UW-Milwaukee men topped Western Illinois 1-0 in a weather-delayed match Thursday night to improve to 5-0-1, the Panthers' best start to a season since the 1996 team won its first seven games.
Logan Andryk (Milwaukee Marquette) was the NACC men's student-athlete of the week after a huge week for Milwaukee School of Engineering – the sophomore scored or assisted on all five of the Engineers' goals in wins over Beloit and Lake Forest (Ill.).
Andryk posted his first collegiate hat trick and assisted on the other goal in a 4-1 victory over the Buccaneers, then scored his sixth goal in as many games to give MSOE a 1-0 win over the Foresters.
The UW-Milwaukee men are 18th in the latest Soccer By Ives Top 25, up six spots from last week's rankings.
"Few folks would have pegged Wisconsin as a college soccer powerhouse when the season began, but the state boasts two unbeaten teams in the Top 25 as Wisconsin and Milwaukee boast identical 4-0-1 records," the website commented.
Additionally, the Panthers received votes in the NSCAA Top 25, the College Soccer News Top 30 and the Soccer Times Top 25 coaches' poll. City rival Marquette (3-2-1) also received votes in the CSN and Soccer Times polls.
Tag(s): Home College College - Men College - Women