Zach Pekale | NCAA.com | August 27, 2019

Women's college soccer rankings: Florida State leads, top 5 unchanged

Women's soccer players to watch for 2019

Florida State remains on top of the United Soccer Coaches poll following the opening weekend of the women’s college soccer season. The Seminoles went to overtime with Wisconsin following a scoreless 90 minutes, edging the Badgers on a blast from defender Malia Berkely in the extra period.

😱UNREAL!

The game winning shot by @millib13!🤩

🎥@accnetwork #OneTribe pic.twitter.com/EDB7yVz75o
— FSU Soccer (@FSUSoccer) August 25, 2019

Here’s how the rest of the poll shapes out.

Rank	School	Points	Previous	Record
1	Florida State (26)	836	1	2-0-0
2	North Carolina	807	2	2-0-0
3	Stanford (5)	789	3	2-0-0
4	UCLA (3)	742	4	2-0-0
5	Southern California	707	5	2-0-0
6	Virginia	670	9	2-0-0
7	Penn State	612	6	1-1-0
8	South Carolina	576	15	2-0-0
9	Vanderbilt	509	17	2-0-0
10	Duke	467	8	1-1-0
11	Tennessee	450	10	2-0-0
12	West Virginia	430	11	1-1-0
13	Georgetown	410	7	1-1-0
14	Brigham Young	381	NR	2-0-0
15	Wisconsin	359	16	1-1-0
16	Texas A&M	333	12	1-0-1
17	North Carolina State	315	21	1-1-0
18	Kansas	286	NR	2-0-0
19	Santa Clara	268	13	1-1-0
20	Memphis	223	20	2-0-0
21	Baylor	167	14	1-1-0
22	Pepperdine	133	NR	1-0-1
23	Washington State	101	NR	1-1-0
24	Texas	80	19	1-1-0
25	Southern Methodist	73	NR	2-0-0

North Carolina stayed put at No. 2 after a 2-0 win over then-No. 8 Duke while Stanford is not far behind the Tar Heels after beating two top-11 teams last week. UCLA and Southern California each won both of its matches to keep pace in the top 5. The Cardinal and Bruins received first-place votes in addition to FSU.

Georgetown and Duke became the first two top-10 teams to fall in 2019. The Hoyas dropped their first home match in over two years, a 3-1 loss to South Carolina while the Blue Devils were blanked in Chapel Hill. Duke and Georgetown are now ranked No. 10 and No. 13, respectively.

LOOKING BACK: Sunday's top scores cap opening weekend

Virginia jumped three spots to No. 6 after scoring 13 total goals in its first two matches, pushing Penn State down one spot. South Carolina surged into the top 10, settling in at No. 8 following wins over North Carolina State and William and Mary.

Biggest risers

In addition to the Gamecocks' seven-spot improvement, Vanderbilt rose from No. 17 to No. 9 after an 11-goal outburst over the course of the weekend.

Commodores move ⬆️ and into the top ten in both major polls this week. 😎#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/TEkU8Oqwld
— Vanderbilt Soccer (@VandySoccer) August 27, 2019

Five new teams entered the rankings this week: Brigham Young (No. 14), Kansas (No. 18), Pepperdine (No. 22), Washington State (No. 23) and Southern Methodist (No. 25). The Waves enter the top 25 after not receiving votes in the preseason poll.

Dropped out

South Florida (18), Texas Tech (22), Wake Forest (23), LSU (24) and Virginia Tech (25).

Looking ahead

No. 1 Florida State heads to the West Coast for a two-game road trip with UCLA and Southern California on Aug. 29 and Sept. 1. FSU handled the Bruins 4-1 in Tallahassee a year ago and outlasted the Trojans in penalty kicks during the third round of the 2018 NCAA tournament.

Duke and Georgetown will be looking for redemption after dropping in the poll, going head-to-head to do so. The Hoyas come to Durham on Aug. 28 in another postseason rematch.

Capping the upcoming weekend is West Virginia at Virginia. The Mountaineers are coming off a 3-1 loss to Stanford and will try to slow down one of the top scoring offenses in Division I. The Cavaliers, who scored 13 goals over the opening weekend, host WVU in Charlottesville on Sept. 1.