In the 65-year history of the program, the Adelphi University men had never achieved a No. 1 national ranking.

Until Tuesday.

The United Soccer Coaches announced its latest national rankings for Division II men Tuesday, and Adelphi headlined the poll at No. 1.

The Panthers, who are off to one of their fastest starts, took over the top spot from West Chester University, which suffered a 2-1 extratime defeat at the hands of then-No. 22 Wilmington University last Wednesday.

Adelphi opened the season at No. 5 in the coaches preseason rankings, before ascending to second place in last week’s poll. The Panthers are also the first team from the Northeast-10 Conference to be ranked No. 1 since Southern New Hampshire University in 2014.

AU is one of 33 schools to still be undefeated through the first two weeks of the season. Head coach Gary Book’s squad currently boasts the fifth-best scoring offense in the country, averaging an impressive 3.67 goals per game.

The Panthers were in action against Georgian Court University Tuesday at Lakewood, N.J.

 

 

United Soccer Coaches Division II Poll – Sept. 17, 2019
1. Adelphi
2. Lander
3. Young Harris
4. Azusa Pacific
5. West Texas A&M
6. Palm Beach Atlantic
7. California State – Los Angeles
8. Midwestern State
9. Maryville (Mo.)
10. Lynn
11. Gannon
12. Mercy
13. Eastern New Mexico
14. California State – San Bernardino
15. Rogers State
16. Lake Erie
17. Wilmington (Del.)
18. West Florida
19. Clayton State
20. Mercyhurst
21. Bellarmine
22. Simon Fraser
23. Seton Hill
24. Spring Hill
25. Wingate

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.