SAN ANGELO – Up two spots following two Lone Star Conference shutout wins last weekend, the Angelo State soccer team is now the No. 8-ranked team in the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division II Poll which was released on Tuesday.

The Rambelles (9-0-1, 2-0-1 LSC) are also atop the conference standings after earning a 1-0 double-overtime win over Texas A&M-Commerce last Friday and then a 1-0 victory over Texas Woman's on Sunday. ASU has secured six straight shutouts and has not allowed a goal in the last 661 minutes dating back to a fourth minute goal by Colorado Mesa in a 4-1 win by the Rambelles on Sept. 13.

"Our defending is really the key to our success right now," ASU head coach Travis McCorkle said. "We are playing with a lot of energy and concentration. We are seeing great results because of the level of play we have on the defensive side of the field."

ASU, which had never been ranked in program history before this season, entered the polls three weeks ago at No. 14 before rising to No. 11 and then No. 10. The No. 8 ranking is the highest in program history and comes with the team outscoring its opponents 33-3 this season and owning a 173-71 shot advantage through the first 10 games.

"I think our team has responded well to our success early this season," McCorkle said. "They are very proud of what we are accomplishing, but they are also keeping it in perspective. They understand that we have a long season ahead of us and we can't slip up because we start getting overconfident. Conference is just getting started and we understand that. We are going to keep working hard to improve and there are still a lot of areas where this team can be better in."

College of Saint Rose (9-0-1) remains the top ranked team in the nation, followed by No. 2 Minnesota State-Mankato (10-0-0), No. 3 Grand Valley State, No. 4 Columbus State (8-0-1) and No. 5 Colorado School of Mines (8-0-2). The Orediggers are the top ranked team in the South Central region which also has No. 17 Metro State (6-1-1) also in the national rankings. The NSCAA also releases regional rankings with Mines, ASU, Metro State, Regis, Western State Colorado, Midwestern State, Dallas Baptist, St. Edward's, A&M-Commerce and Eastern New Mexico representing the top-10 in the region.

The Rambelles are surging this season with a big cast of performers. The team has seen 15 players score this season, with Haley Mendel leading the way with seven goals and Sierra Anderson providing five goals. Loni Byers is third on the team with four goals and has added three assists, while Jenny Kotowych has three goals and three assists. Elizabeth Rodriguez, Cynthia Andrews and Brianne Brown each have two goals and Selena Alvarez, Callie Smith, Ashley Exford, Dakota Briseno, Caitlyn Conaway, Tiffany Dang, Kathleen Keoughan and Brittany Martinez have one goal each. Dang leads the team with four assists after connecting with Briseno for the game-winner on Sunday against TWU.

A tradition of defensive excellence has continued for the Rambelles this season with the team earning eight shutouts through the first 10 games of the season. Shantel Wittke has six of those shutouts in goal and has recorded 35 saves and has a 0.37 goals against average and a .921 saves percentage. Sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Nielsen has started two games and has two shutouts and six saves for the Rambelles. The team is limiting opponents to 7.3 shots per game with the strong defensive work of Exford, Martinez, Conaway, Lauren Perry and Briseno throughout the season.

Angelo State returns to action this weekend with a pair of LSC road games at West Texas A&M on Friday and a Sunday afternoon game at Eastern New Mexico. The Rambelles and Lady Buffs take the field at 7 p.m. on Friday and Sunday's game in Portales, New Mexico is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. (CST). ASU is 2-0 away from San Angelo this season with neutral field wins over Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa. This weekend's games will be the first true away games for ASU this season.

"For us it's about adjusting to the differences of playing on the road and playing with the same consistency we have been throughout the season and getting the results we want," McCorkle said. "I'm looking forward to travelling this weekend and think it will be good for us to focus on soccer."