CIS Top Ten Tuesday (#5): York moves up to No. 1 in men's soccer

OTTAWA (CIS) – The game of musical chairs continues in CIS men’s soccer as the York University Lions move up to No. 1 in this week’s national rankings, becoming the third team to claim the pole position in the first five coaches’ polls of the campaign.

In other CIS sports, Ottawa (women’s soccer), St. Francis Xavier (women’s rugby) and Guelph (women’s & men’s cross country) all hold on to their No. 1 status.

In men’s soccer, the Lions (9-0-1), who were ranked second a week ago, beat Western 2-0 and Windsor 3-1 over the weekend to remain the only undefeated team in the OUA conference. Meanwhile, the Alberta Golden Bears, who topped the rankings each of the past two weeks and entered the last weekend with a perfect 5-0-0 record in Canada West play, were blanked 1-0 by Victoria on Friday and settled for a 1-1 draw against Fraser Valley on Saturday.

Those results drop Alberta (5-1-1) to No. 4 in the new Top 10, behind York, UBC (6-0-0) and Saint Mary’s (5-0-2). Trinity Western (6-0-2) rounds out the leading quintet.

The Lions are no strangers to the No. 1 position. Crowned CIS champion in both 2008 and 2010, York led eight of nine coaches’ polls a year ago.

In women’s soccer, top-ranked Ottawa (10-0-1) went a perfect 3-0 this past week, including wins over RMC, 4-0, Toronto, 3-1, and Ryerson, 1-0. The Gee-Gees visit Laurentian (6-3-1) on Saturday and Nipissing (0-8-2) on Sunday.

Also of note this past week in women’s soccer, Laval upset previously undefeated McGill 1-0 on Sunday, dropping the Martlets (6-1-0) from No. 3 to No. 6 in the national poll.

In women’s rugby, StFX (5-0) resumed its domination in AUS play with shutout victories over Saint Mary’s, 81-0, and UPEI, 69-0. The X-Women, who have outscored their conference rivals by 422 to 3 in five contests, should face their stiffest test of the season on Thursday when they host No. 10 Acadia (4-0).

The most surprising women’s rugby result of the past week came on Saturday when Calgary beat Lethbridge 31-18 to hand the reigning six-time Canada West champion Pronghorns their first regular season loss since 2008. With the result, the Dinos move up two spots to No. 5 in the new Top 10, while Lethbridge drops three positions to No. 6.

In cross-country running, Guelph leads both the women’s and men’s rankings for the second straight week. The Gryphons have captured the last seven national team banners in women’s competition and have won six straight men’s championships, both CIS record streaks.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

(points) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph 98.2 points / (1)
2. McMaster 90.6 / (2)
3. Victoria 80.6 / (3)
4. Western 65.9 / (4)
5. McGill 58.8 / (5)
6. Toronto 47.1 / (6)
7. StFX 35.9 / (7)
8. Queen’s 35.3 / (8)
9. Saskatchewan 17.6 / (9)
10. Calgary 9.4 / (10)

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

(points) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph 100.0 points / (1)
2. Windsor 83.3 / (2)
3. Victoria 74.0 / (4)
4. Laval 65.3 / (3)
5. Queen’s 58.7 / (5)
6. Regina 57.3 / (6)
7. McMaster 43.3 / (7)
8. StFX 26.0 / (8)
9. Toronto 22.0 / (10)
10. Western 17.3 / (9)

WOMEN’S RUGBY

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. StFX (5-0) / 155 points (10) / (1)
2. Guelph (5-0) / 140 (5) / (2)
3. Queen’s (5-0) / 106 / (4)
4. Laval (5-0) / 99 / (5)
5. Calgary (3-0) / 83 / (7)
6. Lethbridge (2-1) / 70 / (3)
7. Concordia (5-0) / 65 / (6)
8. Alberta (2-0) / 43 / (9)
9. McGill (4-1) / 38 / (8)
10. Acadia (4-0) / 15 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Western (12), McMaster (7), Waterloo (4), Ottawa (1), York (1).

WOMEN’S SOCCER

(regular season record) / votes / (previous rankings)
1. Ottawa (10-0-1) / 48 points / (1)
2. Trinity Western (7-0-0) / 47 / (2)
3. Wilfrid Laurier (8-0-2) / 36 / (5)
4. Montreal (7-1-0) / 32 / (4)
5. Victoria (6-0-1) / 27 / (8)
6. McGill (6-1-0) / 25 / (3)
7. Queen’s (7-1-2) / 22 / (6)
8. Alberta (4-0-2) / 16 / (7)
9. Cape Breton (5-0-2) / 11 / (10)
10. UBC (6-1-0) / 10 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: McMaster (1).

MEN’S SOCCER

(regular season record) / votes / (previous rankings)
1. York (9-0-1) / 59 points / (2)
2. UBC (6-0-0) / 52 / (3)
3. Saint Mary’s (5-0-2) / 45 / (4)
4. Alberta (5-1-1) / 39 / (1)
5. Trinity Western (6-0-2) / 34 / (7)
6. McMaster (8-1-0) / 33 / (6)
7. Queen’s (7-1-1) / 28 / (5)
8. Laval (4-1-1) / 14 / (NR)
9. Sherbrooke (4-2-1) / 9 / (8)
10. Carleton (7-2-1) / 6 / (10)

-CIS-