Chicagoland Soccer Final 50 state ranking
By Patrick Z. McGavin
“At the start of the season, around March 10, those first two weeks, the weather was brutal,” Lane coach Andrew Ricks said.
“(But) the kids didn’t care. They were outside in shorts, nobody ever complained. It was infectious, and it made me think: This is why we are out here.”
After the longest interruption in the nearly half-century history of the high school sport in Illinois, boys soccer returned — with a vengeance.
It appeared regardless of the area, at least anecdotally, the most remarkable part was just how competent, consistent, even superb the quality of play was.
The season began with the realization of time limits: a six-week schedule that would preclude most tournaments including, most impactfully, the state tourney.
Teams could not travel outside of a radius of 30 miles to play a game.
After six frenetic and intense weeks, we have arrived at the end point. Solorio defeated Ricks’ Lane team 3-0 in the city title game, ending just before 9 p.m. Saturday night.
For practices purposes, that game put the formal end to the season.
From the available evidence culled from digital and traditional news media sources, these programs went unbeaten and untied with a minimum of eight games played:
Warren, West Aurora, Althoff and Solorio.
Several other programs, like Shepard, were unbeaten with at least one tie.
The state tournament always created a natural hierarchy of teams, creating context and wider understanding of their accomplishments.
The absence of that certainly presents structural and foundational issues in constructing the Final 50 – an admittedly wholly subjective accounting of the top teams in the state.
The Final 50 is the bookend to the First 50 that was published here on March 1.
The Final 50 intertwines the top-ranked programs of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 with the Illinois 10, which ranks the top programs outside of the Chicago coverage market.
The season offered a dual purpose format for coaches -- it allowed their seniors a sense of closure and was also a way to get ready for the fall season for the underclassmen.
It was in some ways the equivalent of spring football repurposed for soccer. But there is no doubt that this season was memorable. And the games mattered in some ways even more than if there were a state tournament.
Nothing in high school sports has been the same since the mid-March week of 2020 when the boys state basketball tournament was canceled.
This unique boys special spring season was a grasp of the normal, opening up new platforms of expression and giving teams a chance to show what they were capable of.
The lack of a state title season is a melancholy note to a significant achievement. The publishing of the Final 50 is a first attempt at making sense of it all.
Key: FRSR-final regular season rank; PR-Preseason First 50 rank; NR-not ranked; HM-honorable mention: I-Illinois 10 rank.
By Patrick Z. McGavin
“At the start of the season, around March 10, those first two weeks, the weather was brutal,” Lane coach Andrew Ricks said.
“(But) the kids didn’t care. They were outside in shorts, nobody ever complained. It was infectious, and it made me think: This is why we are out here.”
After the longest interruption in the nearly half-century history of the high school sport in Illinois, boys soccer returned — with a vengeance.
It appeared regardless of the area, at least anecdotally, the most remarkable part was just how competent, consistent, even superb the quality of play was.
The season began with the realization of time limits: a six-week schedule that would preclude most tournaments including, most impactfully, the state tourney.
Teams could not travel outside of a radius of 30 miles to play a game.
After six frenetic and intense weeks, we have arrived at the end point. Solorio defeated Ricks’ Lane team 3-0 in the city title game, ending just before 9 p.m. Saturday night.
For practices purposes, that game put the formal end to the season.
From the available evidence culled from digital and traditional news media sources, these programs went unbeaten and untied with a minimum of eight games played:
Warren, West Aurora, Althoff and Solorio.
Several other programs, like Shepard, were unbeaten with at least one tie.
The state tournament always created a natural hierarchy of teams, creating context and wider understanding of their accomplishments.
The absence of that certainly presents structural and foundational issues in constructing the Final 50 – an admittedly wholly subjective accounting of the top teams in the state.
The Final 50 is the bookend to the First 50 that was published here on March 1.
The Final 50 intertwines the top-ranked programs of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 with the Illinois 10, which ranks the top programs outside of the Chicago coverage market.
The season offered a dual purpose format for coaches -- it allowed their seniors a sense of closure and was also a way to get ready for the fall season for the underclassmen.
It was in some ways the equivalent of spring football repurposed for soccer. But there is no doubt that this season was memorable. And the games mattered in some ways even more than if there were a state tournament.
Nothing in high school sports has been the same since the mid-March week of 2020 when the boys state basketball tournament was canceled.
This unique boys special spring season was a grasp of the normal, opening up new platforms of expression and giving teams a chance to show what they were capable of.
The lack of a state title season is a melancholy note to a significant achievement. The publishing of the Final 50 is a first attempt at making sense of it all.
Key: FRSR-final regular season rank; PR-Preseason First 50 rank; NR-not ranked; HM-honorable mention: I-Illinois 10 rank.
| Rank | FRSR | PR | Team | W | L | T | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 6 | Warren | 15 | 0 | 0 | Others faltered, Blue Devils got stronger |
| 2 | 2 | 10 | Lyons | 11 | 1 | 0 | Senior-laden team shined |
| 3 | 4 | 3 | Benet | 14 | 1 | 0 | Confirmed status as historically elite |
| 4 | 3 | 5 | Naperville N | 10 | 2 | 1 | Team to beat this fall |
| 5 | 5 | 22 | W Aurora | 18 | 0 | 0 | Ran the table in the SW Prairie |
| 6 | 8 | 15 | Loyola | 10 | 1 | 0 | Avenged only loss to New Trier |
| 7 | 7 | 1 | Morton (B-C) | 8 | 1 | 2 | Slow start, great finish |
| 8 | 11 | 35 | SC North | 12 | 4 | 2 | Made great strides this year |
| 9 | 6 | 8 | SC East | 12 | 4 | 3 | Another team to watch in fall |
| 10 | I1 | 37 | ND (Quincy) | 11 | 1 | 0 | Dominated its area |
| 11 | 10 | 25 | Naperville C | 5 | 3 | 4 | Tough, disciplined and very effective |
| 12 | NR | 12 | Evanston | 9 | 3 | 2 | Beat New Trier in rematch |
| 13 | 9 | 11 | New Trier | 13 | 4 | 1 | Played state’s toughest schedule |
| 14 | 17 | 19 | St Laurence | 12 | 1 | 0 | Loyola deprived them of perfect run |
| 15 | 20 | NR | Plainfield N | 14 | 3 | 1 | Took W Aurora to the wire twice |
| 16 | HM | 20 | Solorio | 10 | 0 | 0 | City champs one more time |
| 17 | HM | 34 | Barrington | 9 | 3 | 0 | MSL Soccer Bowl winner |
| 18 | I5 | NR | Althoff | 11 | 0 | 0 | Best in historically tough StL area |
| 19 | 13 | NR | Buffalo Gr | 10 | 2 | 0 | Young team 1 of year’s top stories |
| 20 | 14 | NR | Hersey | 9 | 2 | 0 | Stood out in hyper-competitive MSL |
| 21 | HM | NR | Stevenson | 10 | 3 | 0 | The Patriots make a statement |
| 22 | 15 | NR | DG North | 9 | 2 | 1 | The Trojans one of best in west suburbs |
| 23 | NR | 2 | W Chicago | 8 | 2 | 4 | Another season to remember |
| 24 | 25 | NR | Wheaton A | 13 | 2 | 1 | Took down St. Francis for share of title |
| 25 | NR | NR | R Meadows | 8 | 3 | 0 | Another team with great narrative |
| 26 | 12 | 17 | Jacobs | 12 | 1 | 1 | Proved last season was no fluke |
| 27 | I3 | NR | Geneseo | 10 | 1 | 0 | Another top season from stellar program |
| 28 | HM | 7 | Fremd | 9 | 3 | 0 | Team took off when basketball ended |
| 29 | NR | NR | Hampshire | 10 | 3 | 0 | FVC ty. title; what a reversal vs. Jacobs |
| 30 | 23 | NR | St Francis | 9 | 1 | 0 | Danced with perfection |
| 31 | NR | NR | Moline | 12 | 1 | 1 | Best in Quad Cities |
| 32 | NR | 43 | Glenbard E | 8 | 1 | 2 | No longer under the radar |
| 33 | I7 | 9 | Edwardsville | 9 | 2 | 0 | A model of consistency |
| 34 | I6 | 14 | Triad | 14 | 2 | 1 | One of most consistent AA programs |
| 35 | NR | NR | Columbia | 8 | 1 | 0 | Eye-opening late win over Collinsville |
| 36 | HM | NR | Shepard | 11 | 0 | 1 | Unbeaten season for program on rise |
| 37 | NR | 23 | Lane | 6 | 1 | 2 | Back in the city final |
| 38 | NR | 24 | Mt Crml (Chi) | 6 | 2 | 0 | Overcame hardships to finish strong |
| 39 | NR | 26 | Streamwood | 8 | 3 | 3 | Program that rubber stamps success |
| 40 | I4 | NR | Collinsville | 12 | 3 | 0 | A program easy to count on |
| 41 | NR | NR | Glenwood | 12 | 3 | 0 | Split season series with Springfield |
| 42 | I8 | 45 | Springfield | 13 | 4 | 0 | Another solid and steady year |
| 43 | HM | NR | Lockport | 8 | 1 | 0 | Overcame delays to post standout year |
| 44 | NR | 40 | Normal | 10 | 2 | 2 | At their best at the end |
| 45 | I2 | 30 | Dunlap | 11 | 1 | 2 | One of the best in central Illinois |
| 46 | HM | 50 | NSCD | 10 | 1 | 2 | A program on the rise |
| 47 | 16 | 39 | Leyden | 7 | 4 | 0 | Memorable last run for 14 seniors |
| 48 | I10 | NR | Normal W | 8 | 1 | 3 | Beat crosstown rival Normal |
| 49 | HM | 32 | Geneva | 6 | 4 | 7 | Big wins against elite competition |
| 50 | 18 | 36 | Maine S | 6 | 3 | 5 | Played with skill and discipline |