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Men's soccer finishes No. 7 in final USC poll

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 9:30 pm
by PonyPride
From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Finish Season Near The Top In All Major Polls

DALLAS (SMU) -- With the NCAA championship wrapping up play over the weekend, it became time for national publications to reveal their final rankings of the 2019 campaign. For the 30th time in 44 years the Mustangs finish the season ranked in the Top 25 of the Coaches Poll, and finished in the Top 10 for the sixth time since 2000.

The initial final poll came in the form of the NCAA RPI that was formulated based on results throughout the season. The final RPI came out before the NCAA Championship selection show. The Mustangs claimed the No. 3 spot in the RPI, trailing just Virginia and Georgetown, who faced each other in the national championship.

The first poll to be released after the tournament was the Top Drawer Soccer ranking, revealed on Monday morning, ranking the Mustangs (18-2-1) No. 5 in its final poll of the season. The Mustangs climbed all the way to No. 2 in the TDS poll after starting their season 10-0-1. Also released on Monday was the College Soccer News poll which joined TDS, ranking SMU 5th in the country after its run to the Elite Eight.

On Tuesday, United Soccer Coaches finalized its 2019 poll as voted on by the country's Division I coaches. The Mustangs finished ranked No. 7 in the final ranking, their third time in the Top 15 since Kevin Hudson took over the program in 2015. SMU tallied a record of 3-0-1 vs. teams ranked or receiving votes in the final Coaches Poll, knocking off No. 10 UCF twice and Coastal Carolina once.

SMU ends the season with 18 wins, tied for the third most in the country and tied for the fourth most in school history. The Mustangs' 63 goals were the most since 2000 when SMU scored a school-record 81 goals en route to its first College Cup. But the Mustangs were dominant on both sides of the ball, allowing just 17 goals in 21 games, allowing the team to lead the nation in goal differential at +46.