Riding a five-game winning streak, the Butler women's soccer team moved up one spot to fifth in the NJCAA Top 20 national poll, which was released Wednesday.
Butler (6-1-0 overall, 1-0-0 conference) is tied for fifth with Darton State, Ga., as both teams received 77 votes in the poll. Against current ranked opponents, Butler is 1-1, with the lone win coming over #2 Laramie County (WY). The Grizzlies' lone loss on the season came against No. 3 Iowa Western back on Aug. 23.
The Grizzlies played just one contest this past week, defeating Hesston College 4-0 on Friday. Butler was scheduled to host Dodge City on Sunday evening, but weather conditions forced the game to be rescheduled for Monday, Oct. 21.
For the second straight week, Paradise Valley (AZ) was the unanimous No. 1 pick, receiving 100 votes and all four first-place votes. Laramie County, Iowa Western and Tyler (TX) were 2-3-4 for a second week as well. Tyler will host Butler this Friday at 2 p.m. in a non-conference matchup.
Other KJCCC schools featured in the national poll are Hutchinson (5-0-0) and Johnson County (5-1-0), ranked 12th and 19th, respectively.
Butler travels to Pratt (1-5-0 overall, 1-2-0 conference) on Wednesday for a 4:30 p.m. contest, then to Tyler on Friday. Butler returns home next weekend for a pair of conference games. The Grizzlies will play Garden City (1-4-0) at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, then take on 19th-ranked Johnson County on Sunday at 7 p.m.
| NJCAA Top 20 National Poll | September 18, 2013 | |||||
| Rank | College | Record | Points | 1st place votes |
Previous Rank |
| 1. | Paradise Valley, Ariz. | 7-0-0 | 100 | 4 | 1 |
| 2. | Laramie County, Wyo. | 6-1-0 | 94 | 0 | 2 |
| 3. | Iowa Western | 4-1-0 | 91 | 0 | 3 |
| 4. | Tyler, Texas | 6-1-0 | 85 | 0 | 4 |
| 5. | Butler | 6-1-1 | 77 | 0 | 6 |
| 5. | Darton State, Ga. | 7-0-0 | 77 | 0 | NR |
| 7. | Monroe Community, N.Y. | 5-1-0 | 68 | 0 | 7 |
| 7. | Iowa Central | 7-0-0 | 68 | 0 | 8 |
| 9. | Lewis & Clark, Ill. | 6-0-0 | 54 | 0 | 10 |
| 10. | Navarro, Texas | 3-0-0 | 53 | 0 | 9 |
| 10. | Monroe College, N.Y. | 3-0-0 | 53 | 0 | NR |
| 12. | Hutchinson | 5-0-0 | 45 | 0 | 11 |
| 13. | Georgia Perimeter | 4-0-0 | 37 | 0 | 15 |
| 14. | Eastern Florida State | 4-2-1 | 32 | 0 | 5 |
| 15. | St. Louis, Mo. | 5-2-1 | 28 | 0 | NR |
| 16. | Jones County, Miss. | 5-0-1 | 19 | 0 | NR |
| 17. | Schoolcraft, Mich. | 5-0-0 | 16 | 0 | 14 |
| 18. | Cisco, Texas | 5-2-0 | 13 | 0 | 17 |
| 19. | Cape Fear, N.C. | 6-0-0 | 6 | 0 | NR |
| 19. | Johnson County | 5-1-0 | 6 | 0 | 16 |
Other schools receiving votes: Harford, Md. (5-0-0); Western Texas (2-0-0).
