WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – For the first time since joining the NCAA Division III ranks in 1974, the Eastern Connecticut State University men’s soccer team has earned a national ranking.

Unbeaten since Sept. 8, Eastern (11-1-3) jumped from sixth to second in the eighth weekly New England rankings, released today, and debuted in the NSCAA Division III Top 25 rankings at No. 13. The Warriors stretched their unbeaten streak to 13 matches (10-0-3) this past week with a 1-0 road win over the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a 4-3 Little East Conference home verdict over the University of Southern Maine. The Huskies were 4-0-0 in LEC play prior to the loss to Eastern, now 3-0-2 in the LEC.

Among New England programs, only defending national champion Middlebury College (8-1-1) is ranked higher than Eastern. The Panthers are ranked first in New England and fifth nationally.

“Obviously, we’re very happy and pleased, but at the same time, we realize that it doesn’t necessarily mean anything for another month,” points out head coach Greg DeVito, who has a 22-8-6 record in two years. “It’s something that we’re very proud of, but we realize that there are other things that we want to achieve.”

Eastern won last year’s Little East Conference regular season and playoffs and qualified automatically for its first NCAA Division III tournament, where it lost a first-round contest to Williams College.

The Warriors first appeared in this year’s regional poll in the third week, when they “also received votes” after defeating Ramapo College, ranked regionally in the Metro Region. Eastern jumped to No. 6 on Sept. 23, fell to No. 9 and No. 10 (tie), respectively, the next two weeks after tying Western Connecticut, Salem State and Keene State (all on the road). Two weeks ago, three wins improved their record to 9-1-3 and moved them to No. 6, before two more wins last week vaulted them to No. 2.

Western New England College, Williams College, Trinity College and MIT – all teams ranked ahead of Eastern last week – all either lost or tied matches this past week.

Eastern is a veteran team this year which has been strengthened by several talented newcomers. Four seniors, three juniors and three freshmen have have primarily comprised the starting lineup. The starting backfield features three seniors and a freshman. Senior backs Kyle Bedini (Manchester, Conn.), Jimmy McConville (Manchester, Conn.) and Bill Constantine (Glastonbury, Conn.) all average better than 83 minutes of action per game.

Freshman Carl Appel (West Windsor, N.J.) has started all 15 matches in net with six shutouts and a 0.86 goals-against average and .812 save percentage.

All-region junior forward Maxim Fantl (West Hartford, Conn.) has recorded 13 of the team’s 36 goals this season and also has five assists for a conference-leading 31 points. He has been named conference Offensive Player-of-the-Week three times in the last five weeks. Junior forward Nicholas Boretti (Marshfield, Mass.) has chipped in four goals and four assists and freshman back Aaron Smiles (Bedford, Mass.) has collected a team-high seven assists.

“I think the guys have (the ranking) in perspective,” noted DeVito “Obviously, they are excited about it, but I have the feeling that it’s put into perspective. We talked about it for a total of about a minute (Tuesday). We have three regular-season games left and we’re not even in first place in our conference. We still have a lot of things that we want to accomplish.”

The Warriors have overcome a number of injuries to put together their longest unbeaten streak since a 15-0-0 start in 1969. Junior midfielder Sean Capezzone (Colchester, Conn.) was lost for the season after five matches due to a knee injury; first-year freshman transfer Kyle Wallace (Storrs, Conn.), a midfielder, has played in only four matches due to a broken nose, and sophomore midfielder Justin Millette (Plainfield, Conn.) has sat out four matches with a wrist injury. A number of nagging injuries have also limited the effectiveness of senior forward Rukevwe Ehwarieme (Norwich, Conn.), last year’s second-leading scorer 4-6-14. He does not have a point this year.

“The kids have worked hard. The respect (of being ranked) is not undeserved, and I think they realize that they are getting some respect,” said DeVito. “They’re not overly cocky about it, but it’s there, and it’s kind of a good feeling.”

Ranked first in the conference in overall scoring and second in defense, Eastern winds up its regular season Nov. 1. The Warriors visit Fitchburg State College Wednesday and are at conference leader Rhode Island College Saturday before hosting Massachusetts Dartmouth a week from Saturday. The conference playoffs feature the top five finishers in the regular season and get underway with a play-in game Nov. 3

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