Chicagoland Soccer
boys preseason top 25
By Patrick Z. McGavin
“Everybody’s in the same boat,” Lane coach Andrew Ricks said about the opening week of the season.
Twenty-five contact days during the summer and a roughly two-and-a-half week training session before the start of games prepares for only so much.
On last Monday night, the formal start of the IHSA season, the players of Deerfield and Rolling Meadows took their spots on the field to the sounds of the starting announcements prior to the national anthem. Unfortunately, they were soon drowned out by the sound of the device that tracks lightning.
Moments later, the rain came and the lightning flashed, and it never stopped -- so there was truly an electric start to the season. Put it all together and you get what just unfolded, a surreal and wild opening week of stunning results, upsets, surprises and also displays of power and skill.
Lyons just played the top two teams in the state, Naperville North and Libertyville, two days apart. The games now come in so fast, the data points and need to process and contextualize the results gets trickier.
Tournaments have taken prominence, like the Northside College Showcase at New Trier, the Hillner Classic at Lake Park and the Windy City Ram Classic hosted by Reavis.
The season, said Glenbrook North coach Paul Vignocchi, is by its very nature a grind. Finding a rhythm is everything.
“Because you are playing two or three games a week and not a lot of time for training and rest, so you have to deal with that,” he said.
That is also the beauty and the challenge going forward.
boys preseason top 25
By Patrick Z. McGavin
“Everybody’s in the same boat,” Lane coach Andrew Ricks said about the opening week of the season.
Twenty-five contact days during the summer and a roughly two-and-a-half week training session before the start of games prepares for only so much.
On last Monday night, the formal start of the IHSA season, the players of Deerfield and Rolling Meadows took their spots on the field to the sounds of the starting announcements prior to the national anthem. Unfortunately, they were soon drowned out by the sound of the device that tracks lightning.
Moments later, the rain came and the lightning flashed, and it never stopped -- so there was truly an electric start to the season. Put it all together and you get what just unfolded, a surreal and wild opening week of stunning results, upsets, surprises and also displays of power and skill.
Lyons just played the top two teams in the state, Naperville North and Libertyville, two days apart. The games now come in so fast, the data points and need to process and contextualize the results gets trickier.
Tournaments have taken prominence, like the Northside College Showcase at New Trier, the Hillner Classic at Lake Park and the Windy City Ram Classic hosted by Reavis.
The season, said Glenbrook North coach Paul Vignocchi, is by its very nature a grind. Finding a rhythm is everything.
“Because you are playing two or three games a week and not a lot of time for training and rest, so you have to deal with that,” he said.
That is also the beauty and the challenge going forward.
| Rank | LW | School | W | L | T | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Naperville N | 2 | 0 | 0 | Nata Rojas keys Morton comeback win |
| 2 | 2 | Libertyville | 1 | 0 | 0 | Mickey Reilly is stellar against Lyons |
| 3 | 9 | Solorio | 5 | 0 | 0 | Carlos Villa is magic with ball; won BB tourney |
| 4 | 3 | Morton | 0 | 1 | 1 | Jesus Perez ends Naperville N shutout streak |
| 5 | 10 | SC North | 2 | 0 | 0 | Midfielder Parker Kolb is natural talent |
| 6 | 12 | Wheaton A | 2 | 0 | 0 | Owen Setran another emerging offensive weapon |
| 7 | 11 | Metea Valley | 1 | 0 | 1 | Matthew Berry is a skilled midfielder |
| 8 | 19 | Buffalo Gr | 3 | 0 | 0 | Christian Kozaczka is a ferocious defender |
| 9 | NR | CL South | 3 | 0 | 0 | Ryan Coughlin ignites win over Streamwood |
| 10 | HM | Fremd | 2 | 0 | 0 | Midfielder Dorian Lesiuk engineers fast start |
| 11 | HM | Lake Park | 3 | 0 | 0 | Franco Presta sparks huge win over York |
| 12 | 6 | Barrington | 1 | 1 | 0 | Sharp opener over GBN, loss to Hoffman |
| 13 | HM | York | 2 | 1 | 0 | Jack Musial is creative, gifted scorer |
| 14 | 16 | St. Patrick | 2 | 0 | 0 | Joshua Torres is an explosive scorer |
| 15 | 14 | Lyons | 1 | 2 | 0 | Jonny Gray is attacking talent to watch |
| 16 | 7 | Evanston | 1 | 1 | 0 | Dylan Taglang leads strong win over Waukegan |
| 17 | 8 | Waukegan | 2 | 1 | 0 | Javier Davilla is a breakout talent |
| 18 | 13 | Naperville C | 1 | 0 | 2 | Owen Jarrell a breathtaking individual talent |
| 19 | 4 | New Trier | 0 | 1 | 1 | Andrew Kuhn is a human wall on defense |
| 20 | 5 | Glenbrook N | 1 | 2 | 0 | Max Marquez is a game-breaker |
| 21 | 21 | Streamwood | 2 | 1 | 0 | Bryan Mora is an all-around talent |
| 22 | 24 | Elgin | 1 | 0 | 0 | Alex Kunicki is a solid defender |
| 23 | 18 | Hinsdale C | 3 | 1 | 0 | Aidan White is a skilled forward |
| 24 | HM | Loyola | 2 | 0 | 1 | David Gripman secures tie with rival New Trier |
| 25 | NR | Bolingbrook | 3 | 0 | 0 | Qualify for Windy City semifinals |
Look out for: Highland Park, Lockport, St. Ignatius, Oak Park and River Forest, Carmel, Benet, Mundelein, St. Laurence, Mount Carmel, Oswego, West Aurora, St. Charles East, Bremen, Plainfield South, Warren.