KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released its 2026 Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Top 25 Poll. For the second straight season Carroll College will begin the year in the receiving votes portion of the national poll.
Ahead of Thursday night's highly-anticipated home opener against Dordt (Iowa), the Carroll Men's Soccer team sees their name penciled in amongst the best in the nation. The Fighting Saints ('25: 14-4-3, 10-1-1) once again will begin the year in the receiving votes portion of the national coaches' poll.
The 2025 season was another highly successful one for Head Coach Austin Shick and his Fighting Saints. For the second-consecutive season, the Saints qualified for and won an opening round game in the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship.
This year's group has even bigger goals in sight, aiming to be the first Carroll team to advance the NAIA Championship Final Site, and compete for the Red Banner.
Three full months stand between the Saints and the tournament, however, as Carroll looks to once again contend for the Cascade Collegiate Conference crown. The 2024 CCC Champions finished runner-up in both the regular season standings (Eastern Oregon), and CCC Tournament (Warner Pacific).
The Saints are one of four CCC teams to appear on the national poll, joining No. 8 Warner Pacific, (RV) Eastern Oregon, and (RV) Rocky.
Thursday marks the official competition start date for the NAIA, and Carroll will get right to work. The Saints will welcome Dordt to Valley Bank Field at Nelson Stadium for the first time in history, looking to set the tone for the season. First touch is slated for 7 p.m., and tickets will be available for purchase at the gates.
The full NAIA Preseason Coaches' Top-25 Poll is as follows:
| RANK |
INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
2025 RECORD |
| 1 |
Grand View (Iowa) [19] |
18-4-3 |
| 2 |
WV Tech (W. Va.) |
20-1-2 |
| 3 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
16-3-5 |
| 4 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
9-6-6 |
| 5 |
Georgia Gwinnett |
13-3-4 |
| 6 |
Indiana Tech |
18-5-1 |
| 7 |
William Penn (Iowa) |
12-6-4 |
| 8 |
Warner Pacific (Ore.) |
16-4-4 |
| 9 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
19-1-3 |
| 10 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
13-2-2 |
| 11 |
Life (Ga.) |
16-1-3 |
| 12 |
LSU Shreveport (La.) |
14-2-6 |
| 13 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
16-3-3 |
| 14 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
14-4-3 |
| 15 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
16-1-2 |
| 16 |
Ottawa (Kan.) |
15-3-6 |
| 17 |
John Brown (Ark.) |
12-5-5 |
| 18 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
12-4-1 |
| 19 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
11-5-4 |
| 20 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
14-4-3 |
| 21 |
Baker (Kan.) |
14-5-3 |
| 22 |
Grace (Ind.) |
16-7-3 |
| 23 |
Madonna (Mich.) |
17-3-2 |
| 24 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
11-5-4 |
| 25 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
19-3-1 |
Receiving Votes: Xavier (La.), Union Commonwealth (Ky.), Westcliff (Calif.), Faulkner (Ala.), Eastern Oregon, Carroll (Mont.), Milligan (Tenn.), Central Methodist (Mo.), Stanton (Calif.), Rocky Mountain (Mont.).
Poll Methodology
- The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
- A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
- The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system:
- 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
- The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
- Teams receiving only one point are not listed as "receiving votes."
- For the Preseason Poll, there is no "previous ranking" column since it is the initial poll and differs from the prior rating system.
Be sure to visit www.carrollathletics.com tomorrow morning for a full preview of the Men's Soccer season, and for complete coverage of the Fighting Saints all season long.
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