Chicagoland Soccer Top 25
By Patrick Z. McGavin
Now it really gets interesting.
Everything up to now has been a prelude. Everything matters now. Teams have focused on getting healthy, had a full season to develop chemistry and cohesion, and now look to put on the finishing touches.
The small school state tournament paly-in matches took place last weekend. The larger schools in Class 2A and Class 3A start Saturday with play-in games. The regular season is close to a memory as conferences standings are finalized and teams prepare for first round tournament action.
On Monday night, no. 10 Lane and Taft end where they started. On August 22, the first Monday of the season, the two played to a scoreless draw. The same programs survived the gauntlet of the abbreviated Chicago Public League single-elimination tournament and meet for the city title. Lane is playing in the title for the fifth time in the last six years. Taft is making its first championship game appearance.
That is what makes the game so intoxicating, the mixture of the new and the established. Nothing is ever quite settled, nothing ever fully guaranteed.
On this final week of the regular season, the moment looks out in every direction, pondering what just happened and why and thinking about the next wave of possibilities.
It promises to be an epic ride.
By Patrick Z. McGavin
Now it really gets interesting.
Everything up to now has been a prelude. Everything matters now. Teams have focused on getting healthy, had a full season to develop chemistry and cohesion, and now look to put on the finishing touches.
The small school state tournament paly-in matches took place last weekend. The larger schools in Class 2A and Class 3A start Saturday with play-in games. The regular season is close to a memory as conferences standings are finalized and teams prepare for first round tournament action.
On Monday night, no. 10 Lane and Taft end where they started. On August 22, the first Monday of the season, the two played to a scoreless draw. The same programs survived the gauntlet of the abbreviated Chicago Public League single-elimination tournament and meet for the city title. Lane is playing in the title for the fifth time in the last six years. Taft is making its first championship game appearance.
That is what makes the game so intoxicating, the mixture of the new and the established. Nothing is ever quite settled, nothing ever fully guaranteed.
On this final week of the regular season, the moment looks out in every direction, pondering what just happened and why and thinking about the next wave of possibilities.
It promises to be an epic ride.
Look out for: Mundelein, New Trier, Latin, Naperville Central, Downers Grove North, Downers Grove South, Glenbrook South, Streamwood, Neuqua Valley, Conant, Fenwick, Argo, Leyden, Jacobs, Carmel.