Chicagoland Soccer Top 25
By Patrick Z. McGavin
“In my opinion I’d consider Naperville North, Barrington, New Trier and St. Charles North the truly elite teams in the state,” Loyola coach Craig Snower said on the eve of the North Shore Invitational championship involving top-ranked Naperville North and no. 2 Barrington.
It's true that the best teams have begun to separate from the pack. The frightening part about Naperville North is their offense remains a work in progress.
Neuqua Valley has played a brutal schedule. It was clear from the start the Wildcats simply needed time to mesh their returning high- level club players with the returning high school players. The team’s 4-0 victory over Naperville Central serves notice.
Two of the last untied and unbeaten programs, rivals Geneva and Batavia, remain slightly on the outside looking in. Geneva and Fremd are the teams best positioned to solidify their status as elite programs with this week’s Naperville Invitational, the strongest in-state regular season tournament.
The other significant riser is Lake Forest, which shocked previously unbeaten Warren and then Metea Valley to qualify for the championship of the strongest bracket of this year’s PepsiCo Showdown. As Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley noted, the Scouts play exceptionally hard.
Now the season truly gets interesting.
By Patrick Z. McGavin
“In my opinion I’d consider Naperville North, Barrington, New Trier and St. Charles North the truly elite teams in the state,” Loyola coach Craig Snower said on the eve of the North Shore Invitational championship involving top-ranked Naperville North and no. 2 Barrington.
It's true that the best teams have begun to separate from the pack. The frightening part about Naperville North is their offense remains a work in progress.
Neuqua Valley has played a brutal schedule. It was clear from the start the Wildcats simply needed time to mesh their returning high- level club players with the returning high school players. The team’s 4-0 victory over Naperville Central serves notice.
Two of the last untied and unbeaten programs, rivals Geneva and Batavia, remain slightly on the outside looking in. Geneva and Fremd are the teams best positioned to solidify their status as elite programs with this week’s Naperville Invitational, the strongest in-state regular season tournament.
The other significant riser is Lake Forest, which shocked previously unbeaten Warren and then Metea Valley to qualify for the championship of the strongest bracket of this year’s PepsiCo Showdown. As Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley noted, the Scouts play exceptionally hard.
Now the season truly gets interesting.
Rank | LW | School | W | L | T | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Naperville N | 8 | 0 | 1 | The Siebers twins are dynamite |
2 | 2 | Barrington | 8 | 1 | 0 | Ashley Prell is an elite sophomore |
3 | 4 | New Trier | 10 | 1 | 0 | Emma Weaver states her case as top freshman |
4 | 3 | St. Charles N | 7 | 0 | 1 | Cassidy Joyce is an impressive talent |
5 | 11 | Neuqua V | 4 | 2 | 2 | Allie Fullriede part of loaded arsenal |
6 | 5 | Geneva | 9 | 0 | 0 | Look to stay hot at Naperville Invite |
7 | 7 | Fremd | 6 | 0 | 1 | Top MSL threat to Barrington |
8 | 8 | Batavia | 9 | 0 | 0 | Alex Piron is an elite defender |
9 | 23 | Lake Forest | 4 | 1 | 0 | Mary Gregg stepping up for Scouts |
10 | 6 | Warren | 8 | 1 | 0 | Lydia Sundberg subdues Evanston |
11 | 12 | Metea V | 6 | 3 | 2 | Maeve Riordan is emerging star |
12 | 10 | Evanston | 8 | 2 | 1 | Back-to-back shootout losses |
13 | 15 | Nazareth | 9 | 2 | 0 | Stays hot in PepsiCo Showdown |
14 | 9 | Glenbrook S | 8 | 2 | 0 | Strong finish at North Shore Invite |
15 | 19 | St. Charles E | 5 | 1 | 3 | Find explosive scoring touch |
16 | 13 | Lincoln-Way E | 8 | 3 | 1 | Caroline Kilrea is a top talent |
17 | NR | Lemont | 6 | 1 | 1 | Edges Sandburg 2-1 |
18 | 17 | Sandburg | 6 | 2 | 0 | Looking for greater balance |
19 | NR | CL South | 8 | 1 | 1 | Reaches semifinals at PepsiCo |
20 | HM | Benet | 7 | 2 | 0 | Nicole Burns is top sophomore |
21 | 21 | Lane | 5 | 2 | 3 | Johanna Bozic is gifted young talent |
22 | NR | W Aurora | 12 | 1 | 0 | Kat Stephens leads squad to 12-straight wins |
23 | HM | DG North | 8 | 1 | 1 | Grace Stevenson is skilled keeper |
24 | NR | Lake Zurich | 6 | 2 | 0 | Becca Kubin is a big-time talent |
25 | 18 | Plainfield N | 8 | 3 | 0 | Victoria Thornton is emerging talent |
Look out for: Loyola, Libertyville, Glenbard East, Lyons, Jones, Andrew, Wheaton Warrenville South, Glenbard West, Conant, St. Francis, Wauconda, Sycamore, Latin, Wheaton Academy, Lincoln-Way West