Another season, another climb for the University of Charleston men's soccer team to the nation's No. 1 ranking.
The Golden Eagles (4-0-0) earned a berth in the top spot for the third straight year when they moved from No. 2 to No. 1 in the NSCAA Division II top 25 coaches poll Tuesday. UC replaces defending national champion Pfeiffer, which lost to Lynn 2-1 on Sunday. Pfeiffer fell to No. 7 in the poll, while Lynn moved from No. 4 to No. 2.
Charleston has outscored its first four regular-season opponents by a combined 18-2 after Sunday's 9-0 drubbing of West Virginia Wesleyan. Two of those wins have come against teams found at least somewhere in the latest NSCAA poll. UC defeated now-No. 16 Urbana 4-1 and defeated Gannon, which sits among others receiving votes, 1-0.
The key to maintaining that level of proficiency over an extended period, UC coach Chris Grassie said, is to have high expectations in all aspects of the program, which Grassie calls a "culture of excellence."
"You want everything you do - from the academic side of it, to how you treat the training staff, to how you are in the cafeteria, to everything - you are role models and you have to live up to that title," Grassie said earlier this season. "It's part of a culture of excellence. We talk about it off the field in that we want to give you guys, when you're 30, 40, 50 years old, you could look back and say that's how a team should function."
Charleston is tied with Southern New Hampshire and Wilmington (Delaware) for first in Division II in scoring 4.5 goals per game. UC is tied with LIU Post and Lake Erie for 20th nationally in allowing .50 goals per game. UC's Will Roberts and Lynn's Jack Watson are tied for the national Division II lead with seven goals scored.
The Golden Eagles would really like to finish the season at No. 1, a feat they've come close to accomplishing the last two seasons. UC was national runner-up in 2014 and was a national semifinalist in 2015. Charleston travels to Seton Hill University for a 4 p.m. Wednesday matchup.
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.