Duke's first goal in more than four years against rival North Carolina has the Blue Devils nearing the top spot.
Though Florida State is again No. 1 in the new United Soccer Coaches poll — even taking 33 of 34 first-place votes — Duke jumped two spots to second thanks to a 1-0 upset win over now No. 4 North Carolina last week. That stunner marked Duke’s first win in its rivalry with North Carolina since 2015. The Blue Devils were only 3-42-3 all-time against UNC going into the match.
The Blue Devils upset the Tar Heels on the Heels home turf, in front of over 5,000 fans. The Duke win was only the program’s fifth ever against a team ranked in the top 2, while Tess Boade’s goal was the first for the Blue Devils against UNC since Aug. 18, 2017.
Here's a look at the full top 25:
United Soccer Coaches Top 25
| Rank | School | Points | Record | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida State (33) | 848 | 8-0-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Duke | 804 | 7-0-0 | 4 |
| 3 | UCLA (1) | 768 | 8-0-0 | 3 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 743 | 7-1-0 | 2 |
| 5 | LSU | 680 | 8-0-0 | 6 |
| 6 | Pepperdine | 672 | 9-1-0 | 9 |
| 7 | Virginia | 616 | 8-1-0 | 7 |
| 8 | TCU | 597 | 7-1-0 | 5 |
| 9 | Rutgers | 544 | 6-2-0 | 16 |
| 10 | Stanford | 535 | 6-2-0 | 10 |
| 11 | Auburn | 496 | 7-1-0 | 12 |
| 12 | Penn State | 481 | 6-2-0 | 8 |
| 13 | West Virginia | 372 | 6-2-1 | 15 |
| 14 | Hofstra | 352 | 8-1-0 | 23 |
| 15 | Arizona State | 299 | 8-1-0 | 20 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 293 | 6-2-0 | NR |
| 17 | SMU | 268 | 6-1-0 | 24 |
| 18 | Michigan | 237 | 7-1-1 | 21 |
| 19 | Santa Clara | 224 | 3-3-2 | 11 |
| 20 | Gonzaga | 195 | 9-1-0 | NR |
| 21 | Xavier | 158 | 7-0-1 | 17 |
| 22 | Clemson | 142 | 6-2-0 | NR |
| 23 | Harvard | 108 | 6-0-1 | NR |
| 24 | Rice | 88 | 7-2-1 | NR |
| 25 | Georgetown | 72 | 4-0-4 | 25 |
*Through games as of September 19, 2021
Also receiving votes: Memphis (60), Mississippi (57), Oregon State (48), Texas Tech (44), South Carolina (39), Tennessee (35), Texas A&M (31), Virginia Tech (29), BYU (25), UCF (16), Princeton (13), Notre Dame (13), Pittsburgh (13), Southern California (9), South Florida (9), Wisconsin (8), Ohio State (7), North Texas (2).
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After the movement due to Duke-North Carolina, UCLA stays put in spot No. 3 while LSU moves up to No. 5. The Tigers' work continues their historic season with 8 straight wins, the best ranking in school history, a record-breaking crowd at home and a SportsCenter top-10 goal from the foot of Tinaya Alexander last week.
.@tinayaalexande3's seventh goal of the season made it on @SportsCenter Top 10 last evening in the No. 6 slot!#GeauxTigers #NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/WxUL8HTKzd
— LSU Soccer (@LSUSoccer) September 18, 2021
Pepperdine moved up to No. 6 after a huge win over then-No. 5 TCU, upsetting the Frogs for their first loss of the season and moving them back to No. 8. The Waves’ victory marks their third top-5 win in program history.
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Later in the top 10, Virginia took spot No. 7 while Rutgers and Stanford earned the No. 9 and No. 10 rankings, respectively.
Looking at the newly ranked teams, Arkansas went from being unranked to climbing to the No. 16 spot, while Harvard, Rice, Clemson and Gonzaga also received a spot in the rankings after previously being outside of the top 25.
