Chicagoland Soccer Top 25
By Patrick Z. McGavin
And so it comes to this.
The last Chicagoland Top 25 of the girls’ season helps contextualize the formal start of the larger schools state tournaments.
Strength of schedule, head-to-head results and level of achievement against top programs are the primary signifiers for where teams are ranked.
It bears repeating that a team that falls a couple of slots week to week, is not necessarily being penalized. It’s just another team that has simply leapt over them on the basis of their performance.
Metea Valley is the primary instance.
The Mustangs made a huge leap to no. 2 last week on the basis of their 3-1 victory over previously top-ranked Naperville North.
That ranking was validated by their equally impressive 4-1 win over Naperville Central on Tuesday.
Timing is everything.
Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley lamented the seedings for the state tournament were issued before those two victories.
For all its achievement, Metea Valley earned the lowest seed relative to its power ranking.
The Mustangs are the fourth-seed in the Naperville Central Sectional.
If the sectionals were re-seeded, Metea Valley would undoubtedly be the top seed.
Going off the final regular-season Top 25, three Class 3A sectionals stand clearly above the pack in quality of competition: Naperville Central; New Trier; and Warren.
That trio of sectionals accounts for 16 teams in the Top 25.
Naperville Central gets the top rating with four teams from the top seven: no. 2 Metea Valley; no. 3 Naperville North; the no. 6 Redhawks; and no. 7 Oswego East.
No. 19 Plainfield North rounds out that bunch.
New Trier has a sectional-best six schools with no. 5 Evanston, no. 11 Loyola, no. 15 Lane, no. 16 Young, no. 17 Maine South and the 23rd-ranked host.
Warren features no. 8 Glenbrook North, no. 9 Stevenson, no. 10 Libertyville and the no. 18 Blue Devils.
St. Charles East has three teams represented, with no. 12 St. Charles North, the no. 20 Fighting Saints and no. 24 Wheaton Warrenville South.
The other local sectionals have one ranked team: Glenbard West (no. 1 Lyons); Round Lake (no. 4 Barrington); and Sandburg (no. 21 Lincoln-Way Central).
In Class AA, Wauconda has no. 14 Deerfield and no. 22 Carmel. Wheaton Academy has no. 13 Benet; and Freeport has newly ranked no. 25 Crystal Lake Central.
The state tournament is the ultimate arbiter. The games played over the next two weeks are going to decide the final hierarchy and order of things.
With the conclusion of the Class AA and Class 3A state tournaments on June 4 at North Central College, we will unveil our Final 50 ranking of the top teams in the state regardless of class or geographical location.
All sectionals in the comments are Class 3A unless noted.
By Patrick Z. McGavin
And so it comes to this.
The last Chicagoland Top 25 of the girls’ season helps contextualize the formal start of the larger schools state tournaments.
Strength of schedule, head-to-head results and level of achievement against top programs are the primary signifiers for where teams are ranked.
It bears repeating that a team that falls a couple of slots week to week, is not necessarily being penalized. It’s just another team that has simply leapt over them on the basis of their performance.
Metea Valley is the primary instance.
The Mustangs made a huge leap to no. 2 last week on the basis of their 3-1 victory over previously top-ranked Naperville North.
That ranking was validated by their equally impressive 4-1 win over Naperville Central on Tuesday.
Timing is everything.
Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley lamented the seedings for the state tournament were issued before those two victories.
For all its achievement, Metea Valley earned the lowest seed relative to its power ranking.
The Mustangs are the fourth-seed in the Naperville Central Sectional.
If the sectionals were re-seeded, Metea Valley would undoubtedly be the top seed.
Going off the final regular-season Top 25, three Class 3A sectionals stand clearly above the pack in quality of competition: Naperville Central; New Trier; and Warren.
That trio of sectionals accounts for 16 teams in the Top 25.
Naperville Central gets the top rating with four teams from the top seven: no. 2 Metea Valley; no. 3 Naperville North; the no. 6 Redhawks; and no. 7 Oswego East.
No. 19 Plainfield North rounds out that bunch.
New Trier has a sectional-best six schools with no. 5 Evanston, no. 11 Loyola, no. 15 Lane, no. 16 Young, no. 17 Maine South and the 23rd-ranked host.
Warren features no. 8 Glenbrook North, no. 9 Stevenson, no. 10 Libertyville and the no. 18 Blue Devils.
St. Charles East has three teams represented, with no. 12 St. Charles North, the no. 20 Fighting Saints and no. 24 Wheaton Warrenville South.
The other local sectionals have one ranked team: Glenbard West (no. 1 Lyons); Round Lake (no. 4 Barrington); and Sandburg (no. 21 Lincoln-Way Central).
In Class AA, Wauconda has no. 14 Deerfield and no. 22 Carmel. Wheaton Academy has no. 13 Benet; and Freeport has newly ranked no. 25 Crystal Lake Central.
The state tournament is the ultimate arbiter. The games played over the next two weeks are going to decide the final hierarchy and order of things.
With the conclusion of the Class AA and Class 3A state tournaments on June 4 at North Central College, we will unveil our Final 50 ranking of the top teams in the state regardless of class or geographical location.
All sectionals in the comments are Class 3A unless noted.
| Rk | LW | Team | W | L | T | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Lyons | 17 | 1 | 0 | Top seed at Glenbard West |
| 2 | 2 | Metea Valley | 16 | 2 | 1 | Fourth seed at Naperville Central |
| 3 | 3 | Naperville N | 16 | 2 | 3 | Second seed at Naperville Central |
| 4 | 4 | Barrington | 17 | 2 | 0 | Top seed at Round Lake |
| 5 | 5 | Evanston | 16 | 2 | 1 | Top seed at New Trier |
| 6 | 6 | Naperville C | 14 | 2 | 1 | Top seed of own sectional |
| 7 | 7 | Oswego E | 16 | 2 | 0 | Third seed at Naperville Central |
| 8 | 8 | Glenbrook N | 17 | 1 | 1 | Top seed at Warren |
| 9 | 12 | Stevenson | 14 | 2 | 1 | Second seed at Warren |
| 10 | 9 | Libertyville | 13 | 3 | 2 | Third seed at Warren |
| 11 | 10 | Loyola | 15 | 4 | 1 | Third seed at New Trier |
| 12 | 13 | St. Charles N | 16 | 2 | 0 | Top seed at St. Charles East |
| 13 | 14 | Benet | 16 | 4 | 0 | Top seed at AA Wheaton Academy |
| 14 | 11 | Deerfield | 17 | 3 | 2 | Top seed at AA Wauconda |
| 15 | 21 | Lane | 13 | 4 | 1 | Seventh seed at New Trier |
| 16 | 20 | Young | 13 | 7 | 3 | Sixth seed at New Trier |
| 17 | 15 | Maine S | 15 | 5 | 1 | Second seed at New Trier |
| 18 | 16 | Warren | 11 | 3 | 4 | Fourth seed at own sectional |
| 19 | 17 | Plainfield N | 15 | 3 | 4 | Fifth seed at Naperville Central |
| 20 | 18 | St. Charles E | W | L | T | Second seed at own sectional |
| 21 | 19 | L-W Central | 18 | 1 | 0 | Top seed at Sandburg sectional |
| 22 | 25 | Carmel | 12 | 5 | 1 | Third seed at AA Wauconda |
| 23 | 24 | New Trier | 10 | 7 | 5 | Fifth seed at own sectional |
| 24 | 22 | WW South | 9 | 4 | 3 | Fifth seed at St. Charles North |
| 25 | NR | CL Central | 13 | 2 | 0 | Sub-sectional top seed at AA Freeport |
Look out for: Batavia, Glenbard West, Downers Grove North, Oak Park and River Forest, Hinsdale Central, Geneva, Prospect, Fremd, Neuqua Valley, Oswego, Downers Grove South, Morton, Lincoln-Way East, Sandburg, Payton.
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