United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll - Week 4
INDIANAPOLIS - After another impressive week on the field, the Lake Erie men’s soccer team has moved up four spots into the top 10 of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Coming in at No. 9 this week, the Storm (8-0-0, 4-0-0) continue to be dominant and rise up the rankings. The Storm faced Findlay this past Wednesday and defeated them 4-1 at home and then would follow that up with the best conference matchup of the season when they hosted 21st-ranked Tiffin.
The matchup against the Dragons was bound to be a defensive battle as both teams checked in at third and fourth nationally in team goals against this season at about 0.4 per game.
The Storm would defeat the Dragons 2-0 as they scored a goal in each half. In the first half, forward Javier Borreguero scored to put LEC up 1-0, and it did not take until late into the second half to put the game out of reach when Ayden Von Essen scored in the 86th minute.
With these two wins, the Storm have outscored opponents 16-3 this year with a +13 goal differential. They have been dominant both offensively and defensively. The defense continues to be praised equally as goalkeeper Tom John has earned two conference defensive player of the week awards and has helped Lake Erie rise up to third in save percentage in all of Division II.
Also, the Storm stuff the Division II stat sheet as they are top 20 in assists per game and top ten in total assists this season.
The Storm currently are tied for the best record in all of Division II soccer at 8-0-0 and will look to keep it that way as they welcome conference opponent Malone to town tonight.
It is an interesting matchup for the Storm as they have already faced the Pioneers once this year in a game that couldn’t find a winner until overtime. The Storm outshot the Pioneers 18-7 that night to win the game, 1-0; Malone will be on the hunt for redemption.
Lake Erie will also travel to Walsh later this upcoming weekend and face off against one of the best players in the conference in Dwight Van Dyke, who is tied for sixth in goals scored across all of Division II.
Previously ranked 21st, Tiffin is now in the receiving votes category, ranked 27th based on the order of votes received.