Things are falling into place among the ranked teams in both the men’s and women’s polls, and for those who are looking for a game to see in person, the local Division I teams are playing well and competing with quality opponents.

Men
As the season enters October, the rankings seem to have settled down as teams get in a groove and fall into place. #1 Maryland had to overcome a 2-1 deficit to College of Charleston in the second half, but emerged with a 3-2 victory and a firm hold on the top of the rankings. Connecticut hosted Notre Dame in front of over 5,000 fan and emerged with a 2-1 victory, their 32nd straight at home. That is the 7th-longest such streak in NCAA history. Akron cruised to a 4-0 win over Buffalo to secure their spot as the #3 team in the country, while #5 Santa Barbara beat UC Riverside, 3-1 in their conference opener.

In other Top 25 news, #7 Marquette beat Providence in their Big East opener to stretch their win streak to 10 games. Meanwhile. Cornell, who has risen to #23 in the polls on the back of a 9-0-0 start, scored three goals in a win over Penn. That gave the Big Red 26 goals on the season, one more than they scored ALL of last season!!

Potential fallers in the poll this week could include #14 Creighton, who didn’t score a goal this week in losses to Tulsa and Drake. They had already fallen from #11 last week and could continue to slide. Penn State lost a tough 1-0 decision to #10 Indiana in the Big Ten opener, but a 1-0 loss to Lehigh will hurt.

Locally, #19 St. John’s outscored opponents 5-1 in wins over Columbia and DePaul after a tough week last week. Though neither team is ranked, getting back on the winning side of things could push them back to their #13 ranking of a week ago. Speaking of winning ways, Stony Brook has run their unbeaten streak to six games after a 1-0 win over Albany over the weekend. Hofstra wasn’t so fortunate, dropping a 3-2 decision to UNC Wilmington. Long Islander Adam Janokowski (Coram) made four saves in the game.

Women
In women’s soccer, simply put, the ACC rules! Five of the top ten teams in the country hail from the Atlantic Cost, including #1 Florida State, #3 Virginia, and #5 Duke. The PAC-12 isn’t far behind with Stanford (#2) and UCLA (#4) also in the top 5. The Seminoles boosted their record to 11-0-0 with a 2-0 win at N.C. State. The Cardinal is also unbeaten after a close call with Oregon this week. Virginia packed over 1,500 fans into Kloeckner Stadium for their 1-0 win over Duke, giving the Cavs their first win over a ranked team this season and boosting their overall mark to 10-2-1.

Fallers could include #12 Oregon State, who lost 3-1 to Cal, #14 BC, who lost at home to Pepperdine, and #10 Maryland, who dropped a 1-0 decision to Virginia Tech.

Still others are climbing up the polls thanks to prolific offense. Georgetown got five goals from Soph Daphne Corboz in an 8-0 win over Pitt in the Big East. Marquette scored seven goals in two games, defeating Louisville and Cincinnati, also in Big East conference play. Memphis tallied nine times in wins over East Carolina and Marshall as well.

In local action, the Stony Brook women went 1-1 as they opened America East Conference play, dropping the opener to Albany before topping Binghamton. St. John’s sophomore and Bohemia, NY native Deanna Murino (Connetquot HS) scored her first game-winning goal for the Johnnies in a 1-0 defeat of Rutgers. St. John’s then blanked Seton Hall, 4-0. Senior Megan Klement, a defender, scored her first career goal in the contest. Junior Jen Gibbons, a Bellport HS grad also had a goal. Over at Hofstra, LIers Jill Mulholland (Levittown) and Lulu Echeverry (East Meadow) continued their strong play with goals in a 3-1 win over James Madison