CIS Top Ten Tuesday (#5)

OTTAWA (CIS) – Trinity Western University tops the two CIS soccer rankings this week as the Spartans leapfrog both the Montreal Carabins and Victoria Vikes in the men’s coaches poll to climb to No. 1 for the first time in two years.

On the women’s side, the reigning national champion Spartans remain No. 1 for the fifth time in as many polls this fall.

York was the last school to lead both CIS rankings simultaneously. The Lions were on top of the CIS soccer world for one week starting on Sept. 9, 2008.

The 2008 CIS finalist Trinity Western men (4-0-2) remained undefeated in conference play last weekend with road victories over Fraser Valley, 3-2, and Victoria, 3-0. The Spartans, who were last ranked No. 1 for three straight weeks early in the 2007 schedule, look to resume their winning ways Friday evening when they host UBC (4-2).

Victoria (3-2-1), which also lost 2-1 to UBC over the weekend, drops four spots to No. 6 this week.

Montreal, which had topped the last two national polls, slides to No. 2 after suffering its first defeat of the campaign Friday night, a 1-0 loss to UQAM in its lone outing of the past week.

The Alberta Golden Bears (4-0-2) improve three positions to a season-high No. 3 and sit in a tie for first place with TWU in the Canada West standings after blanking Lethbridge and Calgary by identical 1-0 scores.

Rounding out the men’s soccer Top 10 are the No. 4-Dalhousie Tigers (3-0-1), defending CIS champion York (2-2-2) at No. 5, Guelph (4-1-1) at No. 7, UNB (3-1-2) at No. 8, Toronto (4-1-2) at No. 9, and UPEI (4-1) at No. 10.

In women’s soccer, Trinity Western improved to a perfect 4-0 in conference action shutting out archrival UBC 2-0 in its lone outing of the past weekend. The Spartans face a tough challenge Sunday when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the No. 8-Manitoba Bisons (5-1), who crack the coaches poll for the first time this season.

Montreal (6-0) remains at No. 2 for the fifth straight week, while the Ottawa Gee-Gees (6-0-2) gain two positions to a season-best No. 3.

Rounding out the new Top 10 are No. 4-Wilfrid Laurier (3-0-1), No. 5-Victoria (4-1), No. 6-StFX (5-0), No. 7-Brock (4-1-1), as well as Laval (4-1) and Toronto (5-0-2), both tied with Manitoba at No. 8.

In women’s rugby, the two-time defending CIS champion Lethbridge Pronghorns top the poll for the fourth time in as many weeks after opening the regular season with a convincing 66-0 shutout of Calgary last Saturday. The ‘Horns make their way to the West Coast this weekend to face Victoria (0-1) Friday night and No. 10-UBC (0-1) Sunday afternoon.

The rest of the Top 4 remains intact with undefeated StFX (3-0), Guelph (3-0) and Laval (3-0) following in order. The X-Women dominated UPEI 65-0 this past weekend, the Gryphons blanked Brock 29-0, while the Rouge et Or edged No. 7-Concordia 19-12.

Rounding out the CIS rankings are No. 5-Alberta (2-0), No. 6-McMaster (3-0), No. 8-Western Ontario (2-1) and No. 9-Queen’s (2-1).