Wisconsin men’s soccer lands in top 10 for first time since 2017

The Wisconsin Badgers’ men’s soccer team owns the No. 10 spot in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Poll.

The crew’s undefeated start to its season landed it a top 10 position in the poll for the first time in seven seasons. This also marks the first time Wisconsin’s men’s soccer program started 4-0-0 since 2002.

West Virginia owns the No. 1 spot in the ranking with No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Denver, No. 4 Western Michigan, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Marshall, No. 8 Pittsburgh and No. 9 Northwestern ranked ahead of Wisconsin at this stage of the season.

A large part of UW’s success on the pitch rests on the shoulders of freshman Dean Boltz.

Boltz entered Wisconsin’s Sept. 2 match against Marquette as the nation’s leading scorer with six goals and 14 points in three appearances. That’s nearly five points per output.

The Badgers ultimately beat the Golden Eagles 2-1 courtesy of a late Boltz header in the 86th minute. His seven goals are the most by any UW freshman since 2005, per UWBadgers.com.

Wisconsin owns triumphs over Marist, Drexel, UIC and Marquette thus far. The teaem will square off against #23 Kentucky on Sept. 6 and #10 UCLA on Sept. 16 in its first ranked tests of the season.