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Chicagoland Soccer Top 25


By Patrick Z. McGavin

A somewhat surreal week kicked off the new season. The common refrain touched all sides, the issue that was bound to complicate the opening stretch of the year.

What was the outcome after so few teams were able to get outside and play full-field soccer before the early March 11 opening date?

Those and other questions remain tantalizingly unresolved until more games are played this week.

Most grass fields proved unplayable. Snow lined a great many fields. The first week was not exactly a mulligan. Context is necessary, and the worst thing is to jump to conclusions, on either side.

“The teams that you see the first week of the season are not going to be the same that you see once we get to April or later,” one prominent coach said.

Top-ranked Barrington and Neuqua Valley played to a 1-1 draw on Thursday. The game was played with a 45-mile an hour wind. Both sides had to deal with it, and each scored when playing with the wind.

Part of the subjectivity of the poll is to reward coaches that schedule exceptionally tough opponents, like Barrington that opened with Naperville North and Neuqua Valley, or the Wildcats that started the year with an opening double against no. 1 and no. 2 (Barrington and St. Charles North, respectively).

The Lyons’ boys did the same last fall with Naperville North and Libertyville. Lyons lost both games. The Lions eventually reached a Class 3A supersectional, where they lost narrowly to now three-time state champion Naperville North.

That leads to one of the maxims of this poll: Schedules matter more than records.

The other interesting early development was how the early tournaments provided a snapshot going forward: Glenbard East and Sandburg made big leaps from the First 50 preseason poll.

Those are definitely teams on the make.

The Windy City Ram Classic is the largest ad first really significant tournament of the season. It will feature first-time entrant, new no. 7 Glenbrook South, and now no. 9 Glenbard East in a semifinal on Tuesday. That makes for a fantastic start to the week.

From here on out, the game is going to get hotter in every sense.

Records through March 16



RkLWTeamWLTComment
11Barrington301Christine Batliner is superb defender
22St. Charles North201Claudia Najera is explosive talent
33New Trier302Meghan Dwyer is gifted keeper
47Glenbrook South700Win in debut of Windy City Ram Classic
54Neuqua Valley111Katelyn Nardulli is breakout sophomore
612Evanston300Callista O’Connor GW-goal against Loyola
714Benet500Kate Flynn is very talented
816Fremd210Lauren Burk is disruptive defender
9HMSt. Charles East310Kayla Villa is explosive in space
105Naperville North121Leah Shumate is thrilling talent
119Glenbard East510Maia Zatarski is gifted freshman
128Lyons001Sophie Grabis is elite keeper
1313WW South200Allie Anderson is a vivid talent
1415Lane300Camaron Niforos is breakout junior
1510Andrew510Strong showing at Windy City Ram Classic
1611Sandburg411Impressive at Wheaton North Kickoff Classic
176St. Francis011Caroline Zimmer is explosive in space
1820Deerfield520Shayna Wood is versatile talent
19NRStevenson401Impressive win over Wauconda
2022Wauconda311Tough early schedule catches attention
21NRWaubonsie Valley201Megan Burling makes instant impact
22HMLake Forest310Leland Keller is top flight defender
23HMProspect402Ashley Welk has great start to year
2421Hersey211Laura Burkhardt is knockout talent
2518Prairie Ridge301Slowed down by Buffalo Grove
Look out for: Carmel, Maine South, Lincoln-Way West, Cary-Grove, Naperville Central, Conant, Geneva, Batavia, Wheaton Academy, Libertyville, Loyola, Downers Grove North, St. Ignatius, Stagg, Lincoln-Way Central.
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