Cal State Los Angeles is fourth No. 1 in four weeks

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … For the fourth straight week, there is a new No. 1 in the NSCAA/adidas NCAA Division II men’s rankings.  Playing a man down for most of the game and without its top two players, No. 1 Lynn fell to Tampa, 2-1, in double overtime. Cal State Los Angeles took over as the new No. 1. The Golden Eagles improved to 11-0-1 with a 2-1 win over Cal Poly Pomona thanks to a goal from Jason Swope with less than 12 minutes remaining.

Cal State Dominguez was the Men’s Division II No. 1 in the preseason rankings. It was followed in the top spot by Tampa and Northern Kentucky before Lynn claimed the No. 1 berth. There has been no change at the top of the Women’s Division II (Seattle Pacific) and Men’s and Women’s Division III rankings (Messiah is first in both).

MEN’S RANKINGS:
NCAA Division II 1. Cal State Los Angeles, 2. Lees-McRae, 3. Tampa
NCAA Division III 1. Messiah, 2. Ohio Wesleyan, 3. Christopher Newport

WOMEN’S RANKINGS:
NCAA Division II 1. Seattle Pacific, 2. West Florida, 3. Saint Rose
NCAA Division III 1. Messiah, 2. Puget Sound, 3. Williams

NAIA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
MEN:
Offense: Mustafa Celik, Holy Names (tallied hat tricks in wins over Bethany, Calif., 7-1 and Cal State-Maritime, 4-0).
Defense: Hide Ozawa, Simon Fraser (notched shutout wins over Trinity Western, 2-0, and Seattle, 1-0).

WOMEN:
Offense: Mia Persson, Lindsey Wilson (scored five goals and added one assist in 12-0 victory over Campbellsville and scored one goal in 3-1 victory over No. 5 William Carey).
Defense: Bailey Lynn, Rogers State (posted back-to-back shutouts against Wayland Baptist, 4-0, and Oklahoma City, 1-0).