By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University is ranked #25 in this week's NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Coaches Poll released by the United Soccer Coaches on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The Bearcats are ranked #2 in Region X of Division III. Willamette is 12-2-3 overall on the season and the Bearcats lead the Northwest Conference with a 10-2-1 record.

With one game remaining on the regular season schedule, Willamette tops the NWC standings with 31 points (3 points for each win, 1 point for each tie), while Pacific Lutheran University holds second place at 10-3-0 and 30 points. The Bearcats will be the NWC champions if they win at Linfield University on Saturday, Nov. 5 in McMinnville, Oregon, or if PLU loses at Puget Sound on the same day. Both games will start at 1:30 p.m. (PDT). Willamette also can win the NWC title outright if both WU and Pacific Lutheran tie their opponents.

If Willamette loses to Linfield and PLU ties Puget Sound, the teams will be co-champions. The NWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament will be awarded to PLU on the third tie-breaker. The first tie-breaker is head-to-head results, but the Bearcats and Lutes split their two games. The second tie-breaker is head-to-head goal differential, but each team won by a 2-1 margin. The third tie-breaker is goal differential in all NWC games. PLU is +28 in NWC goal differential and Willamette is +21.

Messiah University (Pa.) moved up to the #1 ranking this week from #2 last week. Messiah is 17-0-1 on the season. University of Chicago (Ill.) dropped one spot to #2 in the poll with a 15-0-1 record. Kenyon College (Ohio), also 15-0-1, was ranked #3, and Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.) was listed at #4.

Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) held the #5 ranking at 13-0-4, while Amherst College (Mass.) was #6 at 11-1-5. Holding the #7 spot in the poll was Franklin & Marshall College (Pa.) at 12-1-3, with Bowdoin College (Maine) at #8 on the strength of an 11-1-4 mark. Montclair State University (N.J.) was #9 with a 14-1-4 record. North Central College (Ill.) was #10 at 14-0-4.

Willamette was one of two teams from Region X in the Top 25. The other team was Pacific Lutheran at #16 with a 15-3-0 record.

In the Region X rankings, Willamette and PLU switched positions, with the Lutes now at #1 and the Bearcats at #2. The University of St. Thomas (Texas) was ranked #3 with a 12-1-3 record and Chapman University (Calif.) was #4 at 9-2-6. The #5 team in the region was Concordia University Texas at 10-3-3, while the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor was listed at #6 with an 11-2-2 record. Colorado College followed with an 8-2-6 record at #7 and Trinity University (Texas) was #8 at 8-4-3.