KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Northwestern College men’s soccer team (13-2-1, 9-1 GPAC) are tabbed No. 21 in this week’s installment of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Coaches’ Poll, the national office announced this afternoon.
Coming off a tough 1-0 loss for their first loss in conference play against Hastings, the Raiders only drop two spots in the national rankings and still controls their own destiny.
Northwestern has put 34 goals on the scoreboard this season, while holding opponents to only 10 goals in the 16 matches played. Juan Mackrey (Sr., Balcare, Argentina/Georgia Military College) continues to lead the squad with nine goals on the season, with junior James Bolger (Jr., Boyle, Republic of Ireland/Abbey Community College) netting five goals.
Luc Roelofs (So., Nederasselt, Netherlands/Kandinsky College) and Stan van den Beld (Fr., Voorhout, Netherlands/Rijnlands Lyceum Sassenheim) have both assisted on five goals this season to co-lead the team.
Ezekiel Foltz (Jr., Sioux Center, Iowa/Sioux Center) holds a 13-2-1 record in the net for the Raiders this season, tallying 63 saves for a save percentage of .875. He has only allowed nine goals in 1352:23 minutes in goal.
Again, only Northwestern represents the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) in this week’s national polls. The GPAC conference tournament is set to commence next Wednesday, Nov. 3 with the Quarterfinal round. The semifinal round is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 6, with the championship match set for Thursday, Nov. 11.
The Raiders have a chance to secure at least a share of the GPAC men’s soccer title and earn an automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament in their final regular season game of the season this Saturday, Oct. 30 when the Raiders travel to Crete, Neb. to square off with the Doane University Tigers (2-11-1, 2-6-1 GPAC) at 7:15 p.m. A Briar Cliff loss today or Saturday clinches the GPAC title outright for the Raiders. A Charger tie in their final two games, along with a Raider win on Saturday, also clinches the GPAC title outright.
