Chicagoland Soccer Top 25
By Patrick Z. McGavin
The grand experiment now reaches its intermission.
“I was not even sure we’d have a season,” was the dominant refrain, of players and coaches. For the first time since 1972, a boys season will not end with playoffs and state champions.
What exists in its place is an in-between space intertwining present and future. The absence of a tournament leaves an unmistakable melancholy tone.
Given the wider backdrop of the pandemic year, any competitive soccer is a moment worth rejoicing. The games were meaningful, and they were high-level, a remarkable achievement given how little time teams had to practice and play before the six-week season.
This unprecedented season now overlaps, for the first time ever, with the girls’ season. Nearly two full years have passed since Benet and Naperville North won state championships, at North Central College, in the first week of June, 2019.
After the lost season of 2020, the girls will have a state series.
This transition year offers a unique perspective, a fast turnaround to the start of summer camps, team contact dates and the arrival, in the middle of August, of the next boys season.
This boys season has mattered. It provided a unique experience for coaches.
“We want to honor our seniors,” Naperville North boys’ coach Jim Konrad said. “We want to win every game obviously. At the same time, in the back of our minds, there is always that Plan B of preparing for next fall.
“Guys earning spots for next year once the seniors are gone. Once these seniors are gone, we are thinking about those spots.”
Most of the normal evaluative standards were upended by the circumstances of this spring season. By any measure, it was a success, and the teams on this list represent a high point.
This is the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 poll (with 15 additional programs listed in our honorable mention tally). With the close of the season on Saturday, we will publish a Final 50, a ranking of the top teams in the state, regardless of class or location.
We will also publish our annual all-state team, with special mention of the top seniors and a watchlist identifying the best underclassmen in the state.
As always, the all-state list will be headed by our Player of the Year.
This spring offers a tantalizing glimpse, a chance to give the proper send off to the best players in the class of 2021 and an extended preview of what to look out for come August.
Players, coaches and their families, friends and teammates have endured a great deal, with the specter of the pandemic, upended schedules, a scattering of positive cases or schools forced to quarantine.
Once the players hit the pitch, they performed at a high level. This penultimate poll of the boys spring season is one of the last opportunities to show our gratitude for their spirit and effort as we welcome yet another new no. 1 team.
Enjoy, but don’t blink. The new season is right around the corner.
Games through Saturday
By Patrick Z. McGavin
The grand experiment now reaches its intermission.
“I was not even sure we’d have a season,” was the dominant refrain, of players and coaches. For the first time since 1972, a boys season will not end with playoffs and state champions.
What exists in its place is an in-between space intertwining present and future. The absence of a tournament leaves an unmistakable melancholy tone.
Given the wider backdrop of the pandemic year, any competitive soccer is a moment worth rejoicing. The games were meaningful, and they were high-level, a remarkable achievement given how little time teams had to practice and play before the six-week season.
This unprecedented season now overlaps, for the first time ever, with the girls’ season. Nearly two full years have passed since Benet and Naperville North won state championships, at North Central College, in the first week of June, 2019.
After the lost season of 2020, the girls will have a state series.
This transition year offers a unique perspective, a fast turnaround to the start of summer camps, team contact dates and the arrival, in the middle of August, of the next boys season.
This boys season has mattered. It provided a unique experience for coaches.
“We want to honor our seniors,” Naperville North boys’ coach Jim Konrad said. “We want to win every game obviously. At the same time, in the back of our minds, there is always that Plan B of preparing for next fall.
“Guys earning spots for next year once the seniors are gone. Once these seniors are gone, we are thinking about those spots.”
Most of the normal evaluative standards were upended by the circumstances of this spring season. By any measure, it was a success, and the teams on this list represent a high point.
This is the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 poll (with 15 additional programs listed in our honorable mention tally). With the close of the season on Saturday, we will publish a Final 50, a ranking of the top teams in the state, regardless of class or location.
We will also publish our annual all-state team, with special mention of the top seniors and a watchlist identifying the best underclassmen in the state.
As always, the all-state list will be headed by our Player of the Year.
This spring offers a tantalizing glimpse, a chance to give the proper send off to the best players in the class of 2021 and an extended preview of what to look out for come August.
Players, coaches and their families, friends and teammates have endured a great deal, with the specter of the pandemic, upended schedules, a scattering of positive cases or schools forced to quarantine.
Once the players hit the pitch, they performed at a high level. This penultimate poll of the boys spring season is one of the last opportunities to show our gratitude for their spirit and effort as we welcome yet another new no. 1 team.
Enjoy, but don’t blink. The new season is right around the corner.
Games through Saturday
| Rk | LW | Team | W | L | T | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Warren | 11 | 0 | 0 | GK Nic Diana helps take down New Trier |
| 2 | 2 | Lyons | 9 | 1 | 0 | Cameron Labbato energizes attack |
| 3 | 6 | Naperville N | 9 | 2 | 0 | Cameron Radeke is an elite junior |
| 4 | 4 | Benet | 11 | 1 | 0 | Brendan Forsythe beats Wheaton A. late |
| 5 | 11 | W. Aurora | 15 | 0 | 0 | Top seed at SPC conference tournament |
| 6 | 7 | St. Charles E | 11 | 3 | 2 | Josh Ruiz is a deft passer |
| 7 | 8 | Morton | 6 | 1 | 2 | Luis Gonzalez stabilizes the middle |
| 8 | 9 | Loyola | 8 | 1 | 0 | Joseph Roscoe is strong presence in middle |
| 9 | 1 | New Trier | 12 | 3 | 0 | Collin Donnelly-Maine is key weapon in attack |
| 10 | NR | Naperville C | 3 | 2 | 4 | Sharp win against St. Charles North |
| 11 | 5 | St. Charles N | 10 | 4 | 1 | Nate Hanselman an evolving offensive threat |
| 12 | 17 | Jacobs | 10 | 0 | 1 | Statement win over CL South |
| 13 | 22 | Buffalo Grove | 9 | 1 | 0 | Bison take thriller over Hersey |
| 14 | 10 | Hersey | 8 | 2 | 0 | Eric Worwa helps power attack |
| 15 | 19 | DG North | 7 | 2 | 1 | Ben Schaub keys win over Leyden |
| 16 | 12 | Leyden | 7 | 2 | 0 | Dylan Santamaria bolsters middle of attack |
| 17 | 18 | St. Laurence | 8 | 1 | 0 | Loyola ends winning streak |
| 18 | 24 | Maine South | 7 | 2 | 3 | Beat New Trier in final 2 seconds |
| 19 | NR | Mt. Carmel | 5 | 0 | 0 | Big win over Fenwick |
| 20 | 23 | Plainfield N | 11 | 2 | 1 | Miguel Rodriguez is athletic keeper |
| 21 | HM | Round Lake | 9 | 2 | 1 | Strong win over Lakes |
| 22 | 15 | Lakes | 8 | 2 | 0 | Edged out by Round Lake |
| 23 | NR | St. Francis | 8 | 0 | 0 | Showdowns with Wheaton A., Timothy |
| 24 | 14 | Timothy | 8 | 2 | 1 | Jackson Day is dynamic in space |
| 25 | 20 | Wheaton A | 10 | 2 | 1 | Haetham Nasr a jack of all trades for Warriors |
Look out for: West Chicago, Geneva, Fremd, Stevenson, Fenwick, Riverside-Brookfield, Lockport, Niles West, Glenbrook North, Solorio, North Shore Country Day, Latin, St. Patrick, Shepard, Barrington.
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