Sep. 23, 2023 – After road victories at No. 2 Jones College and East Central last week, the Northwest women’s soccer program remains in the No. 1 spot in the latest NJCAA Division II rankings, released Monday afternoon.
Northwest battled for a 2-1 victory at Jones College last Tuesday, as freshman Allie Sifford came away with the golden goal with roughly 10 minutes left in regulation. The Lady Rangers’ match at East Central wasn’t as close, as Northwest scored six first half goals in an 8-0 triumph.
As for the rest of the top five, things shuffled a lot, as Jones College’s losses to Northwest and Holmes dropped the Lady Bobcats all the way down to sixth. Replacing Jones in the No. 2 slot was Johnson County, which moved up from its previous No. 3 spot.
Phoenix College moved up from fourth to third, while Heartland also jumped from No. 5 to No. 4. Rejoining the top five was Holmes, which moved up from No. 7 to fifth nationally.
Pearl River and Mississippi Gulf Coast held at No. 11 and No. 20, respectively, while Itawamba is unranked, but receiving votes.
Now 7-0 on the season and 2-0 in the MACCC, Northwest will gear up to face a pair of nationally-ranked opponents this week, starting with No. 11 Pearl River on Tuesday at 5 P.M. The Lady Rangers will also visit 20th-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast on Friday evening at 7 p.m.
Pearl River leads the all-time series against Northwest, 10-5-3. The most recent matchup between the two teams came in last season’s NJCAA Region 23 Championship match, where the Lady Rangers handed the Lady Wildcats a 3-0 defeat and earned the program’s first-ever Region 23 title.
Northwest holds a narrow 10-9 advantage in the all-time series against Mississippi Gulf Coast, with the Lady Rangers picking up a 4-0 victory against MGCCC in last year’s regular season battle on Sep. 26, 2023.
