United Soccer Coaches Poll (Week 1)



INDIANAPOLIS - It didn’t take long for Ohio Valley University to return to the top 10 in the country as the first United Soccer Coaches Poll for Division II men’s soccer was released on Tuesday. 
 
The Fighting Scots made a statement in the season opener for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference as they defeated No. 8 Charleston (WV), 1-0. 
 
As a result, OVU climbed to No. 7 in the poll after being ranked 15th in the preseason by the media outlet. Behind freshman forward David Bercedo’s goal in the 75th minute, the Fighting Scots were victorious on the road against the 2017 national champs. 
 
Around the league, OVU was not the only team to have a great opening weekend. Lake Erie pitched a pair of shutouts, one against defending GLIAC champion Ashland and a convincing 3-0 blanking vs. Slippery Rock.
 
Also entering the season nationally ranked was Tiffin as the preseason coaches poll favorite Dragons received a billing of No. 18 in the country. The Dragons had a draw to open the season and league schedule against Alderson Broaddus while the first conference offensive player of the week Leo Hasenstab netted a hat trick vs. Illinois Springfield. 
 
Malone, Kentucky Wesleyan and Walsh all started out with victories on opening night while Cedarville battled to a draw. On Saturday, Cedarville opened up the offense and came out with a 4-0 win over California (PA) to move to 1-0-1 and Findlay started out their 2019 campaign with a 1-0 win at Shepherd. 
 
Walsh went on the road and emerged as the winner in two overtime clashes in upstate New York. 
 
Ohio Valley was ranked inside the top 10 for eight consecutive weeks during the 2018 season, going as high as No. 6 towards the end of the regular season. 
 
This is the last week of non-conference games. Some programs have already started playing conference opponents and every team will officially start playing conference games starting on September 18th.