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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.


​​
RankFRSRPRTeamWLTComment
116Warren1500Others faltered, Blue Devils got stronger
2210Lyons1110Senior-laden team shined
343Benet1410Confirmed status as historically elite
435Naperville N1021Team to beat this fall
5522W Aurora1800Ran the table in the SW Prairie
6815Loyola1010Avenged only loss to New Trier
771Morton (B-C)812Slow start, great finish
81135SC North1242Made great strides this year
968SC East1243Another team to watch in fall
10I137ND (Quincy)1110Dominated its area
111025Naperville C534Tough, disciplined and very effective
12NR12Evanston932Beat New Trier in rematch
13911New Trier1341Played state’s toughest schedule
141719St Laurence1210Loyola deprived them of perfect run
1520NRPlainfield N1431Took W Aurora to the wire twice
16HM20Solorio1000City champs one more time
17HM34Barrington930MSL Soccer Bowl winner
18I5NRAlthoff1100Best in historically tough StL area
1913NRBuffalo Gr1020Young team 1 of year’s top stories
2014NRHersey920Stood out in hyper-competitive MSL
21HMNRStevenson1030The Patriots make a statement
2215NRDG North921The Trojans one of best in west suburbs
23NR2W Chicago824Another season to remember
2425NRWheaton A1321Took down St. Francis for share of title
25NRNRR Meadows830Another team with great narrative
261217Jacobs1211Proved last season was no fluke
27I3NRGeneseo1010Another top season from stellar program
28HM7Fremd930Team took off when basketball ended
29NRNRHampshire1030FVC ty. title; what a reversal vs. Jacobs
3023NRSt Francis910Danced with perfection
31NRNRMoline1211Best in Quad Cities
32NR43Glenbard E812No longer under the radar
33I79Edwardsville920A model of consistency
34I614Triad1421One of most consistent AA programs
35NRNRColumbia810Eye-opening late win over Collinsville
36HMNRShepard1101Unbeaten season for program on rise
37NR23Lane612Back in the city final
38NR24Mt Crml (Chi)620Overcame hardships to finish strong
39NR26Streamwood833Program that rubber stamps success
40I4NRCollinsville1230A program easy to count on
41NRNRGlenwood1230Split season series with Springfield
42I845Springfield1340Another solid and steady year
43HMNRLockport810Overcame delays to post standout year
44NR40Normal1022At their best at the end
45I230Dunlap1112One of the best in central Illinois
46HM50NSCD1012A program on the rise
471639Leyden740Memorable last run for 14 seniors
48I10NRNormal W813Beat crosstown rival Normal
49HM32Geneva647Big wins against elite competition
501836Maine S635Played with skill and discipline
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