Louisville back to #1 after win; Rolfe POTW

Big East power Louisville returns to #1 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Men’s Tournament 48 National Ranking, with Big East Conference wins over Syracuse and Villanova, and a 2-1 loss by previous #1 Akron against Cleveland State.

The Cardinals are one of just two undefeated programs in DI men’s soccer (Butler is the other), have won 10 matches in a row and now stand at 14-0-2 overall and 9-0-0 in the Big East. Akron drops to #3 with the upset loss, while Maryland rises to #2 after an ACC win over Virginia. California and Butler are big risers in this week’s ranking.

The Men’s Tournament 48 National Ranking is a running effort to project the 48-team NCAA Tournament field, including all automatic conference and at-large bids to the field. It is updated every Monday through the season. You can see the entire ranking here.

The ranking now beings to crystallize in terms of the RPI and especially the automatic vs. at-large bids as those begin to take shape with the approaching end of the regular season in many leagues.

Meanwhile, Louisville forward Colin Rolfe has been named TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Week. Rolfe scored three goals in two matches for the Cardinals in a week where a number of players had standout goal-scoring outings.

With the award, Rolfe headlines this week’s TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week.

The full TopDrawerSoccer.com Men's Team of the Week for Monday Oct. 25 through Sunday Oct. 31 is as follows.

GK: Matt Lampson, Ohio State
D: Matt Hedges, Butler
D: Mark Wiltse, South Carolina
M: Ashley McInnes, Tulsa
M: Ryan Kinne, Monmouth
F: Andy Lubahn,Wake Forest
F: Colin Rolfe, Louisville
F: Davis Paul, California
F: Victor Chavez, UCLA
F: Steven Perry, Notre Dame
F: Ryan Finley, Duke

Player of the Week: Colin Rolfe, Louisville

The TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week is chosen after consulting match reports from all DI matches played in the preceding week.