Chicagoland Soccer Top 25
By Patrick Z. McGavin
That famous T.S. Eliot quotation, in “The Waste Land,” that “April is the cruellest month,” has a wholly different meaning with soccer. April is the most revealing month. The terrible weather and the multiple cancellations and postponements are largely a memory.
Teams are using spring break to get healthy and reinvigorated.
The area programs that traveled to St. Louis for the Parkway College Showcase used the tournament as a way to measure their early progress, and the results were very encouraging. Warren made another leap this week after winning twice in St. Louis, scoring six goals in the second half of its game against Marquette (Missouri). They team also shut out Incarnate Word 4-0 on Saturday (that same team played a very good Belleville West team to a 1-1 draw).
The normal two and a half week March schedule was an unusually slippery one this year; now events are about to gain traction. Two major tournaments launch this week. On Saturday, the PepsiCo Showdown hosts its first-round games at Olympic Park in Schaumburg. Three-time defending tournament champion New Trier is elsewhere, joining Loyola to host a new elite event, the North Shore Invitational, featuring a murderer’s row of elite programs such as top-ranked Naperville North, no. 2 Barrington and the no. 3 Trevians.
As such, the games kick in really seriously starting Monday and push through Saturday. Many of the top conference schedules also feature top match ups, in the DuPage Valley and Mid-Suburban especially.
The first part of the schedule was a prelude, the calm before the storm. Now it is really about to get interesting.
By Patrick Z. McGavin
That famous T.S. Eliot quotation, in “The Waste Land,” that “April is the cruellest month,” has a wholly different meaning with soccer. April is the most revealing month. The terrible weather and the multiple cancellations and postponements are largely a memory.
Teams are using spring break to get healthy and reinvigorated.
The area programs that traveled to St. Louis for the Parkway College Showcase used the tournament as a way to measure their early progress, and the results were very encouraging. Warren made another leap this week after winning twice in St. Louis, scoring six goals in the second half of its game against Marquette (Missouri). They team also shut out Incarnate Word 4-0 on Saturday (that same team played a very good Belleville West team to a 1-1 draw).
The normal two and a half week March schedule was an unusually slippery one this year; now events are about to gain traction. Two major tournaments launch this week. On Saturday, the PepsiCo Showdown hosts its first-round games at Olympic Park in Schaumburg. Three-time defending tournament champion New Trier is elsewhere, joining Loyola to host a new elite event, the North Shore Invitational, featuring a murderer’s row of elite programs such as top-ranked Naperville North, no. 2 Barrington and the no. 3 Trevians.
As such, the games kick in really seriously starting Monday and push through Saturday. Many of the top conference schedules also feature top match ups, in the DuPage Valley and Mid-Suburban especially.
The first part of the schedule was a prelude, the calm before the storm. Now it is really about to get interesting.
| Rank | LW | School | W | L | T | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Naperville N | 4 | 0 | 0 | Caroline Weiss is crucial offensive threat |
| 2 | 2 | Barrington | 2 | 0 | 0 | Kayla Keck is excellent ballhawk |
| 3 | 3 | New Trier | 5 | 0 | 0 | Beat Wisconsin’s best team 2-0 |
| 4 | 4 | Glenbard E | 5 | 0 | 0 | Elizabeth Toledo is electric in space |
| 5 | 5 | St. Charles N | 3 | 0 | 1 | Hailey Rydberg is poised and talented midfielder |
| 6 | 6 | St. Charles E | 3 | 0 | 1 | Kaitlyn Dziubinski is heady midfielder |
| 7 | 10 | Warren | 5 | 0 | 0 | Lindsey Hardiman is fun to watch |
| 8 | 7 | Fremd | 3 | 0 | 1 | Julia Leonard is an elite defender |
| 9 | 9 | Sandburg | 4 | 0 | 0 | Best in south suburbs |
| 10 | 11 | Geneva | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 shutouts, 30-0 aggregate scores |
| 11 | 15 | Metea V | 3 | 0 | 2 | Katherine Wieland makes St. Louis statement |
| 12 | 12 | Glenbrook S | 4 | 0 | 0 | Won 3 games last week |
| 13 | 13 | L-W East | 6 | 1 | 1 | Edged Lyons 1-0 in marquee game |
| 14 | 16 | Batavia | 5 | 0 | 0 | Keegan Maris is big time athlete |
| 15 | 14 | Evanston | 3 | 0 | 1 | Won twice out of state |
| 16 | NR | Hinsdale S | 6 | 0 | 1 | Unscored upon this year |
| 17 | HM | Andrew | 6 | 1 | 0 | Strong win over Plainfield N |
| 18 | 21 | Plainfield N | 5 | 2 | 0 | Megan Breier leads St. Louis wins |
| 19 | 8 | Neuqua V | 0 | 2 | 2 | State’s best winless team |
| 20 | 20 | Conant | 2 | 0 | 0 | Barrington showdown Wednesday |
| 21 | 17 | Benet | 2 | 1 | 0 | Erin Flynn is a top defender |
| 22 | 23 | DG North | 3 | 0 | 1 | Keeper Grace Stevenson has been solid |
| 23 | NR | Jones | 6 | 0 | 0 | Zoe Wright is magic to watch |
| 24 | 24 | WW South | 1 | 1 | 0 | Allie Anderson is a top sophomore |
| 25 | NR | Lane | 3 | 1 | 2 | Lena Price-Johnson leads talented young squad |
Look out for: Naperville Central, Lyons, Huntley, St. Francis, Wheaton Academy, Bartlett, Sycamore,Lockport, Latin, Glenbrook North, Loyola, Deerfield, Prospect, Libertyville, Wauconda.
