It's the last week of men's soccer conference tournament play and there are two new faces in the Power 5 rankings. The former No.1 UCF and No. 2 Notre Dame are nowhere to be seen after both top-tier teams were taken down on Sunday night in the Sun Belt quarterfinals and the ACC semifinals, respectively. With less than a week until DI men's soccer selections show, Andrew McDevitt gives a fresh Power 5 ranking for Week 11 of the season.
Here's the breakdown of the newly scrambled mix:
AUTO-BIDS: Track the teams who will earn an automatic berth to the 2023 NCAA Tournament
5. UNC | 9-3-5 (Prev. NR)
Welcome Tar Heels! UNC has excelled in the first two rounds of the ACC tournament with a massive come-from-behind 4-1 win over Virginia Tech and a solid 1-0 win over No. 7 Wake Forest. The comeback over Virginia Tech featured a brace from senior Ernest Bawa doubling his total season goals and a career-first goal for sophomore Charlie Harper. In the quarterfinal contest against No. 7 Wake Forest, UNC goalkeeper Andrew Cordes recorded six saves to maintain the shutout. Next up, UNC will take on the reigning national champs Syracuse in the ACC semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 8.
For the third-straight season, the Tar Heels and Orange will meet in the ACC Tournament ⬇️https://t.co/KlP1F160vR
— UNC Men's Soccer (@UNCmenssoccer) November 7, 2023
4. Georgetown | 12-2-2 (NR)
Another new team enters the mix— hello Georgetown! The top seed in the Big East tournament, the Hoyas took on Seton Hall in a thrilling quarterfinal that saw an 85th-minute game-winner and career-first goal from freshman Matthew Van Horn. The Hoyas outshot Seton Hall 9-2 to advance to the conference semi-finals on Thursday, Nov 9 against Connecticut.
WHAT A FINISH! 🤯 MATTHEW VAN HORN breaks the stalemate with his first career goal!!!!
— Georgetown Men’s Soccer (@GUHoyasMSoccer) November 4, 2023
Hoyas lead 2-1!#HoyaSaxa pic.twitter.com/9Jp7KHJuU2
3. Marshall | 15-2 (4)
The Herd is back to doing what they do best, winning. Marshall closed out the regular season with a 2-0 win over South Carolina and opened the Sun Belt tournament with a 2-0 win over Old Dominion. Expert distributor Matthew Bell broke the program's single-season assist record (11) when he slotted a through ball to Pablo Simon who snuck in his sixth goal of the season. Star goalkeeper Gabriel Perrotta made a season-high six saves to secure the clean sheet. The Herd will take on Kentucky in the conference semifinals on Wednesday.
2. SMU | 12-1-2 (5)
With the absence of UCF and Notre Dame, the Mustangs jump up to No. 2 after closing the regular season with a 2-1 win over Temple to secure the American Athletic regular season title. The Mustangs will play Memphis in the semifinals of the American tournament on Thursday.
1. West Virginia | 13-1-4 (3)
The Mountaineers claim the top spot with back-to-back wins to close the season against Old Dominion (2-1) and advance into the Sunbelt semifinals with a 3-1 win over Georgia State. The quarterfinal victory came from a trio of second-half goals kicked into gear after going down a goal in the 50th minute. Senior Yutaro Tsukada buried the two go-ahead goals extending his season total to eight. West Virginia will look to advance to the Sun Belt championship game on Wednesday as they take on South Carolina in the semis.
Getting ready for the semis, but first a look back at Sunday’s quarterfinal victory over Georgia State!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/CGohgCAFrj
— WVU Men's Soccer (@WVUMensSoccer) November 7, 2023
