ONU WOMEN RANKED 22nd; MEN 20th IN NAIA PRESEASON SOCCER RANKINGS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After earning trips to their respective NAIA postseason tournaments last fall, the Olivet Nazarene University men's and women's soccer programs both earned top-25 spots in this year's NAIA's Preseason Soccer Rankings. The league office announced their 2023 preseason polls Wednesday morning, with the Tiger women checking in at No. 22 while the men earned the No. 20 spot.

Both squads' claim their spots as the highest-ranked NAIA programs for men and women in the state of Illinois, while standing as the only teams in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) to appear on either Preseason Coaches' Top-25.

The ONU women are coming off an incredible bounce-back season. After falling short of the national tournament in 2021, the Tigers put together one of their best seasons in recent history in 2022. ONU notched a 15-6-1 overall record, including an 11-1-1 record in conference play to win the CCAC regular-season title outright.

After earning a runner-up finish in the CCAC Tournament, the ONU women made a splash at the national tournament with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over SCAD Savannah in the NAIA's Opening Round.

The Tiger women are returning a bevy of their top players from last season's squad, including NAIA All-American honorable mentions Abbey Cash and Sara Loichinger alongside CCAC All-Conference selections Marissa Anderson, Alaina Bahr, and Melea Miller.

The ONU men are coming off one of their best seasons in program history, in which they qualified for their ninth postseason tournament by winning the CCAC regular-season title with an unblemished record of 9-0-3 in conference play. Olivet continued into the postseason with a championship title run in the conference tournament to complete their second-consecutive "CCAC Double", accomplishing the feat in 2021.

Returning to the roster is former NAIA All-American defender Nick Kilian, the program's all-time leader in career assists with 30. Alexis Mancera, an all-CCAC second team selection a season ago, will return to the roster alongside Kurodo Ihara and Elias Nonnenmann.

The ONU men's soccer team will begin their "three-peat" quest with a match at Goshen on Aug. 23. The ONU women will start their 2023 campaign at Benedectine (Kan.) on Aug. 26.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu