NSCAA NEW COLLEGE RANKINGS & PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Caitlin Golden & Shelby Sprague Repeat as Winners

Soccer News: The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) has released the new regional and national rankings for all NCAA divisions, Junior College divisions, and NCCAA levels.

NAIA men’s and women’s rankings will be posted early Wednesday morning.

The NSCAA regional and national college rankings are a week-to-week status of qualified programs. These polls are released on Tuesday afternoons on NSCAA.com during the college soccer season.

Additionally, freshman forward Caitlin Golden (Lumberton, N.J.) picks up her second consecutive NSCAA College Player of the Week, while Massasoit Community College’s Shelby Sprague (Stoughton, Mass.) earns her second overall for their on-field performance, September 21-27.

NCAA Division I Men’s Winner

Kyle Bjornethun
Seattle University
Junior Defender
Snohomish, Wash.

Bjornethun scored both the equalizer and the game-winner at No. 13 Oregon State, both in the final 1:36 of the match. He played all 180 minutes on defense, holding UW to just a PK goal and Oregon State to just one goal off a corner kick. In addition to his NSCAA College Player of the Week honor, Bjornethun was named College Soccer News National Player of the Week and will be the WAC Offensive Player of the Week.

NCAA Division I Women’s Winner

Casie Ramsier
Auburn University
Junior Midfielder
Dallas, Texas

Ramsier had a career weekend helping Auburn to thrilling wins over LSU and No. 9 Florida. She scored two goals in both wins, both game-winners; the winning goal over LSU coming minutes into the second overtime period and the winner against Florida coming in the final 30 seconds of regulation.  Ramsier helped Auburn defeat Florida, which marked the first win for Auburn over a ranked opponent this season and the first over a top-ten team since 2011.  Ramsier’s five points against LSU set a new career-high as she was responsible or had a hand in all three goals of Auburn’s victory. With the four points added against Florida on Sunday, the nine-point weekend for Ramsier marks her best two-game weekend of her Auburn career.  Both matches were the second and third two-goal games for Ramsier this season. With now eight goals and 18 points on the year, Ramsier continues to lead the Auburn team in both categories and tied for fourth in the conference in goals scored.  She also now has three game-winners this season to her credit, which is third-best in the SEC.

NCAA Division II Men’s Winner

Gui Machado
Limestone College
Junior Midfielder
São Paulo, Brazil

Machado scored his first hat-trick in only 21 minutes against Lees-McRae and followed that up with a goal in the team’s 3-0 win over North Greenville. He was tabbed the Conference Carolinas Player of the Week and currently ranks third in the conference in points (14) and goals (6).

NCAA Division II Women’s Winner

Tina Harberberger
Drury University
Sophomore Goalkeeper
St. Louis, Mo.

Haberberger posted two shutout GLVC wins over McKendree and Illinois Springfield last week. She also recorded eight saves on the week, five of which against McKendree. Harberberger also posted a 0.00 goals against average and went 2-0 in 180 minutes in goal. She earned a GLVC Player of the Week nod as well.

NCAA Division III Men’s Winner

Lucas Talaveira-Befi
Belhaven University
Sophomore Forward
São Paulo, Brazil

Befi contributed the first hat trick in Belhaven men’s soccer history on Wednesday evening against rival, William Carey. Befi’s three goals came in a 4:26 span with the Blazers down 2-0 in the 69th minute. The game-winning goal came off a penalty kick after William Carey drew a foul on Ricky Hackler in the box. Befi added a fourth goal and an assist on Friday in the Blazers’ 4-1 victory against McMurry.

NCAA Division III Women’s Winner

Caitlin Golden
Penn State Berks
Freshman Forward
Lumberton, N.J.

Golden picks up her second consecutive NSCAA College Player of the Week award, as she netted six goals during a 2-1 week. After a tough outing with the top team in the country Messiah to open the week, Golden helped Berks rebound with a pair of conference wins, as she netted two goals in a victory over Cazenovia Saturday before scoring four goals in a win over Morrisville State Sunday. Golden now leads the conference in both points (38) and goals (12) for the Nittany Lions, who improved to 5-0 in the NEAC and 7-1-2 overall.

Junior College Men’s Winner

Elvis Andrade
Massasoit Community College
Freshman Forward
Brockton, Mass.

Andrade netted the game winner as part of a two-goal performance in a 4-2 victory against Bunker Hill. The freshman midfielder rocketed a shot from the top of the box in the 81st minute to break a 2-2 tie with the visiting Bulldogs. Less than a minute later, Andrade struck again for a much needed insurance goal for the Warriors. His two-goal showing marked his second multiple goal performance of the season.

Junior College Women’s Winner

Shelby Sprague
Massasoit Community College
Freshman Defender
Stoughton, Mass.

Sprague netted six goals this past week to help the Warriors post a perfect 3-0 record and improve to 5-0-1 on the year. The freshman found the back of the net twice in all three Massasoit victories. She recorded two goals and an assist in a 4-0 win against Division I foe Dean College before leading Massasoit to a pair of road victories at Bristol CC and Springfield Tech CC. Five of the six goals scored by Sprague came in the first half and she netted what proved to be the game winners in all three matches. Sprague has now registered a team-best 14 goals on the season, posting multi-goal performances in five of the team’s six matches thus far.

The NSCAA College Players of the Week are announced every Tuesday throughout the fall college regular season on NSCAA.com. The next announcement of the NSCAA College Players of the Week will be Tuesday, Oct. 6.

2015 NSCAA National Rankings for College Teams

As of Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015

Note: For corrections to your school’s record and/or scores, please email calvertas@wofford.edu or polsonrd@wofford.edu.