The Ashland University women's soccer team held its position in the No. 5 spot in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region rankings released on Wednesday (Oct. 25) afternoon.
The Eagles (10-5-1) were also ranked No. 5 last week. The third edition of the rankings will be released next Wednesday with the NCAA Tournament field being announced on Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. on the NCAA.com Selection Show.
The top six teams in the region will earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament with automatic qualification going to the champions of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) and Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Tournaments.
The Eagles are coming off a week in which they went 1-1, following up a 2-1 loss to Saginaw Valley State with a 3-0 shutout of Northwood last Sunday. AU plays Tiffin this Friday (Oct. 27) at 7 p.m. at Ferguson Field in a nonconference game, but one with regional implications.
Ashland earned the No. 2 seed in the GLIAC Tournament by going 7-2 against conference competition in the regular season. The Eagles will play No. 7-seed Northern Michigan on Oct. 31 at 1 p..m. at Ferguson Field in the tournament quarterfinal.
The Eagles have not advanced to the NCAA Tournament since 2004 when they made it to the national quarterfinal.
Three teams from the GLIAC are included in the regional rankings: Grand Valley State (No. 1), Ashland (No. 5) and Ferris State (No. 8).
The full NCAA Division II Midwest Region rankings follow.
| School | In-Region Record | Division II Record |
| 1. Grand Valley State (Mich.) | 14-1-0 | 15-2-0 |
| 2. Quincy (Ill.) | 14-2-0 | 14-2-0 |
| 3. Ohio Valley (W.Va.) | 12-0-2 | 12-0-2 |
| 4. McKendree (Ill.) | 9-2-3 | 10-2-3 |
| 5. Ashland (Ohio) | 10-5-1 | 10-5-1 |
| 6. Bellarmine (Ky.) | 7-3-4 | 7-3-4 |
| 7. Ohio Dominican | 12-4-1 | 12-4-1 |
| 8. Ferris State (Mich.) | 9-6-0 | 9-6-0 |
AU
WSOC/BB