GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro men’s soccer team has received its highest ranking in program history of No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches final poll of the 2022 season on Tuesday.
 
In 2004, UNCG earned a No. 9 ranking during the final poll.
 
The Spartans totaled 153 points in this year’s final poll after a ranking of No. 7 in the poll on Nov. 8. The 2022 national champion, Syracuse topped the charts with 196 points and six first-place votes. Runner-up Indiana finished second with 193 points and one first-place vote, while Duke totaled 173 points and Vermont tallied 168 points and one first-place vote.
 
The national ranking is a testament to the historic run that the Spartans made this year, where they earned their ninth Southern Conference regular-season title and then won their fifth SoCon tournament title.
 
The title helped the Spartans punch their 12th NCAA Division I tournament bid. It was their 21st time in a NCAA tournament, earning seven appearances in Division III and two at the Division II level.
 
After hosting Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA tournament and tying 1-1, but advancing on penalty kicks 6-5, the Spartans faced No. 5 Stanford in California also tying, 1-1, but advancing on penalty kicks, 3-1. UNCG, never reaching the NCAA Division I quarterfinals before, fell to No. 13 Indiana in Greensboro with a score of 2-0.
 
UNCG first cracked the nation’s top 25 this season in the Sept. 6 poll after winning three straight games to open the season. The Spartans were 19th overall and were in the top 25 for three straight weeks. From Oct. 11 until the end of the season, all UNCG knew was up.
 
On Oct. 11, the Spartans were 23rd and climbed to 17th after defeating then-No. 18 Clemson, 2-1 in South Carolina. They jumped six spots to No. 11 with a 1-0 shutout, their sixth of the season, on Oct. 25. November jumpstarted with a No. 9 ranking after taking the regular-season title behind a 2-1 win over Wofford. In the poll before the final rankings, UNCG was seventh with its 12-1-4 record.
 
The 2022 campaign came to a close with UNCG’s fourth double SoCon crown in program history. The last time the Spartans won the double was 2006. The Spartans also won it in 2005 and 1998. UNCG concluded the season with a 13-2-6 overall mark and a 4-0-1 SoCon record. The undefeated SoCon record was UNCG’s first since 2004, when the Spartans went 6-0-1.