KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The High Point University men's soccer team moves back into the Top 10 of the final regular-season United Soccer Coaches rankings at No. 9, which was announced on Tuesday afternoon. This is the official NCAA.com poll and last ranking until postseason play concludes.
Dating back to 2024, the Panthers have been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches for 16 regular-season weeks in a row. High Point has been a top-ranked squad in the country since October 15, 2024. On October 28 of last year, HPU earned its highest ranking at No. 11 ranking before rising as high as No. 5 on October 7 of this season.
RECORD: 12-1-4
Home: 6-0-1 (fewest number of home games of any team in the Top 35)
Away: 6-1-3
Quad 1: 3-1-4 (5 out of 8 were away games)
* NO LOSSES/DRAWS OUTSIDE OF QUAD 1
* 9-0-0 in Quad 4
Last 8: 6-1-1
7th Straight Big South Conference Tournament Final appearance
^Hosts Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m.
RANKINGS:
RPI: #12
Non-Conference RPI: #5
NCAA Committee Top 16: #7
Coaches Poll: #9
TopDrawerSoccer Ranking: #9
College Soccer News Ranking: #10
QUICK FACTS:
1. HPU has played the most Quad1 games in the COUNTRY with 8 and is 3-1-4 in those games.
- 6 of the 8 on the road.
- HPU is unbeaten against THREE Top-20 teams in the RPI, two of the three on the road.
2. The ONLY TEAM IN THE COUNTRY with a Top 5 Scoring Offense (Goals Per Game), Top 5 Defense (Goals Against Average) & Top 15 RPI
3. HPU is unbeaten against the NCAA Committee's Top 16 on its schedule: Georgetown, West Virginia & Marshall
4. HPU has played THREE games against the NCAA Committee's Top 16, which is tied for the most.
5. HPU's 13 Points vs Quad 1 teams; the most of any team in the country. (3 Pts for Win, 1 Point for Tie, 0 for a loss)
- HPU has achieved this while being shut out by local ACC/Power Conference opponents in scheduling.
6. IF HPU LOSE IN THE CONFERENCE FINAL to Gardner-Webb (13-2-2, #35 in RPI), they will likely have 9 Quad1 Games on their Schedule w/ GWU entering the top 25 after a win vs HPU.
7. The ONLY TEAM IN THE COUNTRY with a Top 10 Scoring Offense (Goals Per Game), Top 10 Defense (Goals Against Average), Top 10 Ranking & Top 15 RPI
- HIGH POINT
-PORTLAND
The Panthers were ranked No. 1 in the South Region for four straight weeks and now sit at No. 2 with Virginia ahead of them in that order. High Point is still in front of NC State, UNC Greensboro, Furman, SMU, Stanford, Clemson, Syracuse, and Duke. Additionally, the Panthers are No. 12 in RPI, which is a combination of the team's winning percentage and strength of schedule.
High Point entered the United Soccer Coaches rankings following its first 2-0 start since the 2020-21 season. The Panthers defeated No. 14/25 Georgetown in the season opener, 2-1, before shutting out ETSU on the road,1-0.
The Panthers moved to No. 15 after a 1-1 draw with Charlotte, and then after besting VCU via scoring three unanswered goals the Panthers moved up three spots to No. 12. High Point tied No. 10 Marshall and shutout Central Arkansas to slide up one spot to No. 11 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. In its Big South Conference opener, High Point knocked off Presbyterian to move into the top-10 at No. 9.
The Panthers then moved up to No. 7, following its tie with No. 10 West Virginia and shutout of Longwood. High Point continued its thumping of Big South opponents, securing its second shutout with a 4-0 win over UNC Asheville to enter the top-5 ranking. HPU suffered its first loss in the 11th game in a 2-0 result at No. 23 UNC Greensboro, which pushed the Panthers from No. 5 to No. 11 in the nation. High Point bounced back with its fifth shutout, beating USC Upstate 2-0 on Sunday night and followed it up with another clean sheet at Radford, 2-0.
High Point kept the clean sheet trend going, shutting out its fifth opponent over six games with this one being against Gardner-Webb to outright claim the Panthers' third straight Big South regular-season title, 3-0. The Panthers capped the regular season with their sixth conference shutout in a 5-0 rout of Winthrop.
In seven regular-season conference games, the Panthers outscored opponents 22-1 — with the lone goal being a penalty kick late against Presbyterian in the 80th minute — which is the best goal differential in conference history. High Point continued its dominance with its ninth overall shutout in the Big South semis behind its second straight 5-0 win, this one over USC Upstate.
Under Head Coach
Zach Haines, HPU has been ranked six out of his seven years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025) with the Panthers receiving votes in 2023. HPU earned the program and school's highest national ranking in 2024 when United Soccer Coaches tabbed the Panthers at No. 11, while TopDrawerSoccer ranked High Point No. 2 in the nation. At 12-1-4, this is the best start in the Haines' era as the Panthers were unbeaten through 10 matches.
The Panthers have become accustomed to besting some of the nation's top teams under Haines as High Point has defeated: No. 1 Pittsburgh, No. 7 Maryland, North Carolina, Duke, No. 14/25 Georgetown, No. 25 Coastal Carolina while tying No. 2 Georgetown in 2022, No. 10 Marshall and No. 10 West Virginia in 2025.
#GoHPU
2025 Rankings
TopDrawerSoccer (TDS)
United Soccer Coaches (USC)
College Soccer News (CSN)
Preseason: #24 (TDS)
Week 1: #13 (USC), #24 (TDS)
Week 2: #15 (USC), #19 (CSN)
Week 3: #12 (USC), #18 (CSN)
Week 4: #11 (USC), #14 (CSN), #23 (TDS)
Week 5: #9 (USC), #13 (CSN), #19 (TDS)
Week 6: #7 (USC), #9 (CSN), #16 (TDS)
Week 7: #5 (USC), #8 (CSN), #12 (TDS)
Week 8: #11 (USC), #9 (CSN), #14 (TDS)
Week 9: #8 (USC), #9 (CSN), #11 (TDS)
Week 10: #8 (USC), #9 (CSN), #8 (TDS)
Week 11: #12 (USC), #10 (CSN), #10 (TDS)
Week 12: #9 (USC), #10 (CSN), #9 (TDS)
