Chicagoland Soccer Top 25
By Patrick Z. McGavin
What promised to be a special year has been borne out.
Naperville North and Libertyville continue to be the gold standard of Illinois high school soccer in this most recent span. The pair of teams have dominated the state to win the last three Class 3A state championships. North beat Libertyville 1-0 to capture its second-straight title last year.
Now the two superpowers have achieved the unprecented by running the 2018 table and produced perfect regular seasons.
Naperville North tops that with its current 38-game winning streak. The Huskies have allowed a microscopic four goals on the year.
Libertyville is 36-1-2 the last two years; its only loss came in the state title game last year.
Perennial kingpin Morton has been eclipsed by the recent play of the top two. In a normal year, the Mustangs would be in the conversation for the best team in Chicago.
Morton's only losses this season have come against top-ranked teams: a 2-1 defeat to Naperville North on Aug. 25, and a defeat to Wisconsin no. 1 Marquette 2-2 (4-3 in seven rounds of penalty kicks) in the semifinals of the Go 4 the Goal Fall Classic on Sept. 28 in Iowa. Naperville North then beat Marquette 2-2, 4-3 in regulation penalties for the title the following day.
The conclusion of the regular season marks the end of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 for the 2018 boys campaign. There will be no polls during the duration of the state tournaments. A statewide Final 50 ranking, that includes the Illinois 10-eligible schools, will be published on Nov. 4 following the end of the state championship series.
Because the IHSA seeds its team several weeks before the start of the state tournament, a great deal can happen from the seeding announcement to the start of the tournament. With that in mind, the use of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 can be a better barometer of the strength of each sectional complex.
The Top 25 rankings can sometimes stand in stark contrast to the seeding format.
That is the case with the teams from Addison Trail and Benet. Larkin, in the Hampshire Sectional, is a ridiculous 10 seed, despite going 10-0-1 in its last 11 games.
For sectionals, the Addison Trail event finished with the highest number of ranked programs with six. It is followed by Geneva and Riverside-Brookfield with four apiece. Barrington has three programs listed in the top 11. Evanston has three teams in the Top 25.
The sectionals at Riverside-Brookfield, Barrington and St. Ignatius are the only three with two top 10 representatives.
In the comments below, all sectional assignments are Class 3A. St. Ignatius and Harvard are both Class AA.
Have a great tournament. We'll meet you at the Final 50 poll in three weeks.
By Patrick Z. McGavin
What promised to be a special year has been borne out.
Naperville North and Libertyville continue to be the gold standard of Illinois high school soccer in this most recent span. The pair of teams have dominated the state to win the last three Class 3A state championships. North beat Libertyville 1-0 to capture its second-straight title last year.
Now the two superpowers have achieved the unprecented by running the 2018 table and produced perfect regular seasons.
Naperville North tops that with its current 38-game winning streak. The Huskies have allowed a microscopic four goals on the year.
Libertyville is 36-1-2 the last two years; its only loss came in the state title game last year.
Perennial kingpin Morton has been eclipsed by the recent play of the top two. In a normal year, the Mustangs would be in the conversation for the best team in Chicago.
Morton's only losses this season have come against top-ranked teams: a 2-1 defeat to Naperville North on Aug. 25, and a defeat to Wisconsin no. 1 Marquette 2-2 (4-3 in seven rounds of penalty kicks) in the semifinals of the Go 4 the Goal Fall Classic on Sept. 28 in Iowa. Naperville North then beat Marquette 2-2, 4-3 in regulation penalties for the title the following day.
The conclusion of the regular season marks the end of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 for the 2018 boys campaign. There will be no polls during the duration of the state tournaments. A statewide Final 50 ranking, that includes the Illinois 10-eligible schools, will be published on Nov. 4 following the end of the state championship series.
Because the IHSA seeds its team several weeks before the start of the state tournament, a great deal can happen from the seeding announcement to the start of the tournament. With that in mind, the use of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 can be a better barometer of the strength of each sectional complex.
The Top 25 rankings can sometimes stand in stark contrast to the seeding format.
That is the case with the teams from Addison Trail and Benet. Larkin, in the Hampshire Sectional, is a ridiculous 10 seed, despite going 10-0-1 in its last 11 games.
For sectionals, the Addison Trail event finished with the highest number of ranked programs with six. It is followed by Geneva and Riverside-Brookfield with four apiece. Barrington has three programs listed in the top 11. Evanston has three teams in the Top 25.
The sectionals at Riverside-Brookfield, Barrington and St. Ignatius are the only three with two top 10 representatives.
In the comments below, all sectional assignments are Class 3A. St. Ignatius and Harvard are both Class AA.
Have a great tournament. We'll meet you at the Final 50 poll in three weeks.
| Rank | LW | School | W | L | T | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Naperville N | 19 | 0 | 0 | Top seed at Geneva Sectional |
| 2 | 2 | Libertyville | 16 | 0 | 0 | Top seed at Barrington Sectional |
| 3 | 3 | Morton | 18 | 2 | 1 | Top seed at Riverside-Brookfield Sectional |
| 4 | 6 | New Trier | 13 | 3 | 2 | Top seed at Evanston Sectional |
| 5 | 4 | Wheaton A | 19 | 2 | 0 | Second seed at Addison Trail Sectional |
| 6 | 5 | Solorio | 17 | 1 | 2 | Top seed at Class AA St. Ignatius Sectional |
| 7 | 7 | Latin | 19 | 0 | 1 | Second seed at Class AA St. Ignatius |
| 8 | 8 | Elgin | 14 | 1 | 3 | Top seed at Hampshire Sectional |
| 9 | 18 | Buffalo G | 14 | 4 | 2 | Second seed at Barrington |
| 10 | 14 | OPRF | 15 | 3 | 2 | Fourth seed at Riverside-Brookfield |
| 11 | 9 | Fremd | 11 | 5 | 1 | Fifth seed at Barrington |
| 12 | 17 | Addison Trail | 15 | 5 | 0 | Sixth seed at own sectional |
| 13 | 10 | Lyons | 13 | 7 | 0 | Third seed at Riverside-Brookfield |
| 14 | 11 | York | 13 | 5 | 1 | Third seed at Addison Trail |
| 15 | 15 | St. Patrick | 20 | 3 | 0 | Fourth seed at Evanston |
| 16 | 15 | Benet | 14 | 3 | 1 | Seventh seed at Addison Trail |
| 17 | 23 | Loyola | 15 | 1 | 3 | Fifth seed at Evanston |
| 18 | 20 | CL South | 15 | 2 | 3 | Top seed at Class AA Harvard sectional |
| 19 | 19 | Lake Park | 15 | 3 | 3 | Top seed at Addison Trail |
| 20 | 21 | Oswego | 16 | 2 | 2 | Third seed at Geneva Sectional |
| 21 | HM | Metea Valley | 12 | 5 | 1 | Sixth seed at Geneva sectional |
| 22 | 13 | West Aurora | 15 | 3 | 1 | Second seed at Geneva |
| 23 | 22 | Streamwood | 14 | 4 | 3 | Second seed at Hampshire |
| 24 | 12 | Hinsdale C | 15 | 5 | 0 | Second seed at Riverside-Brookfield |
| 25 | HM | St. Charles N | 10 | 4 | 1 | Fourth seed at Addison Trail |
Look out for: St. Charles East, Bremen, Evanston, St. Ignatius, Oswego East, Mundelein, Stevenson, Hersey, Washington (Chicago), Neuqua Valley, St. Laurence, Dundee-Crown, Naperville Central, Mount Carmel, Wheeling.