Men's Soccer Earns First National Ranking of the Season
9/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Men's Soccer Earns First National Ranking of the Season
9/11/2002
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa.- The Pittsburgh men?s soccer team earned its first national ranking of the season, a No. 20 spot in Tuesday?s National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas NCAA Division I poll Tuesday.
Pittsburgh is off to its best start at 4-0-0 since the 1986 season when the Panthers won their first five games and went 7-0-1 over their first eight contests. This season, Pittsburgh has registered victories over Oneonta State (1-0), Bowling Green (1-0), Niagara (1-0) and Big East foe Villanova (2-1 in overtime). In addition, the Panthers are ranked No. 3 in the Middle Atlantic Region behind Rutgers (1-1-1) and Penn State (2-2-0).
Offensively, head coach Joe Luxbacher?s squad is anchored by sophomore midfielder Marco Carrizales (Missouri City, Texas/Alfonso Crutch H.S.), freshman forward Keeyan Young (North Wales, Pa./Haverford School) and senior midfielder Bryan Hopper (North Versailles, Pa./East Allegheny H.S.). Carrizales leads the Panthers in both goals (3), points (6), shots (11) and game winning goals (2), Young registered a goal and assist and was named the Big East?s Rookie of the Year this past week while Hopper has contributed two key assists.
Goalkeeper Justin Gaul (Huntington Valley, Pa/Wm. Tennant) leads the Big East Conference in shutouts with three in the squad?s four games played this year. He has allowed just one goal and made 20 saves in 369 minutes of action.
Pittsburgh plays at Robert Morris Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Panthers travel to Bucknell Monday for a 4 p.m. match then return home to play No. 7 Connecticut on Saturday, Sept. 21 (1 p.m.) at Founders Field.
The NSCAA/adidas national rankings can be found at www.nscaa.com.
NSCAA/adidas NATIONAL RANKINGS
(as of September 9, 2002)
| Rk | School | W-L-T |
| 1 | Stanford | 3-0-0 |
| 2 | Clemson | 2-0-1 |
| 3 | St. John?s | 2-1-0 |
| 4 | UCLA | 3-0-0 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 2-0-1 |
| 6 | South Carolina | 4-0-0 |
| 7 | Connecticut | 2-1-0 |
| 8 | Loyola, Md. | 3-0-0 |
| 9 | Indiana | 1-1-2 |
| 10 | Maryland | 3-1-0 |
| 11 | San Diego | 4-0-0 |
| 12 | Tulsa | 3-0-0 |
| 13 | North Carolina | 3-1-0 |
| 14 | Rutgers | 1-1-1 |
| 15 | Virginia | 3-1-0 |
| 16 | Furman | 3-0-0 |
| 17 | SMU | 2-1-1 |
| 18 | Penn State | 2-2-0 |
| 19 | Boston College | 2-1-0 |
| 20 | PITTSBURGH | 4-0-0 |
| 21 | Loyola Marymount | 3-0-1 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 4-0-0 |
| 22 | Wake Forest | 2-0-1 |
| 24 | Bradley | 3-0-1 |
| 24 | St. Louis | 0-2-1 |