Chicagoland Soccer Top 25
By Patrick Z. McGavin
After he scored a goal and registered four assists in leading Libertyville past host New Trier in the championship of the Northside College Showcase on Saturday in Northfield, star forward Ryan Wittenbrink talked about his team’s participation in the elite tournament.
“We wanted to schedule hard, especially early on. We wanted to test ourselves, see where we are at, figure out our weaknesses and then build off of that,” he said. “We do not shy away. We are not going to back down. I think it is great to test yourselves against top teams in the state early on.”
This reiterates the point of last week. The season is two weeks old now, and separation has started to take place. The New Trier tournament featured five teams in the top eight, including the the teams locked in 5-8.
Are this year’s Wildcats possibly more explosive than the 2015 Class 3A state championship team?
“It’s early to tell,” Wittenbrink said. “There are definitely signs of that caliber on this team. We have very high expectations, we have very high goals, just as we did my sophomore year. We are just trying to be consistent. We have the capabilities, and now we just have to stay at it and keep working hard.”
Schedules matter, competition matters. Bradley-Bourbonnais is still undefeated but beating an outmatched Bishop McNamara team by the margin of 10-0 says very little about the Boilermakers' actual level of accomplishment. Libertyville played games Lyons, Glenbrook North and New Trier in successive and jumped up to no. 2. The last two large-schools state champions now occupy the top poll positions.
Top-ranked Naperville North made history, becoming the first program to win the coveted Best of the West Tournament three-consecutive years.
The movement in the top 10 was largely unchanged. New teams and emerging programs now dot the lower end of the Top 25.
Woodstock and St. Edward are undefeated after two weeks, but the strength of schedule makes it hard to adjudicate their numbers so far. Those two, like others, populate the teams to look out for list.
By Patrick Z. McGavin
After he scored a goal and registered four assists in leading Libertyville past host New Trier in the championship of the Northside College Showcase on Saturday in Northfield, star forward Ryan Wittenbrink talked about his team’s participation in the elite tournament.
“We wanted to schedule hard, especially early on. We wanted to test ourselves, see where we are at, figure out our weaknesses and then build off of that,” he said. “We do not shy away. We are not going to back down. I think it is great to test yourselves against top teams in the state early on.”
This reiterates the point of last week. The season is two weeks old now, and separation has started to take place. The New Trier tournament featured five teams in the top eight, including the the teams locked in 5-8.
Are this year’s Wildcats possibly more explosive than the 2015 Class 3A state championship team?
“It’s early to tell,” Wittenbrink said. “There are definitely signs of that caliber on this team. We have very high expectations, we have very high goals, just as we did my sophomore year. We are just trying to be consistent. We have the capabilities, and now we just have to stay at it and keep working hard.”
Schedules matter, competition matters. Bradley-Bourbonnais is still undefeated but beating an outmatched Bishop McNamara team by the margin of 10-0 says very little about the Boilermakers' actual level of accomplishment. Libertyville played games Lyons, Glenbrook North and New Trier in successive and jumped up to no. 2. The last two large-schools state champions now occupy the top poll positions.
Top-ranked Naperville North made history, becoming the first program to win the coveted Best of the West Tournament three-consecutive years.
The movement in the top 10 was largely unchanged. New teams and emerging programs now dot the lower end of the Top 25.
Woodstock and St. Edward are undefeated after two weeks, but the strength of schedule makes it hard to adjudicate their numbers so far. Those two, like others, populate the teams to look out for list.
| Rank | LW | School | W | L | T | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Naperville N | 7 | 0 | 1 | Ethan Harvey sparks tournament title |
| 2 | 3 | Libertyville | 4 | 0 | 1 | Thomas Pearson is stellar keeper |
| 3 | 2 | Bradley-B | 4 | 0 | 0 | Unbeaten in regular season last two years |
| 4 | 4 | Morton | 5 | 0 | 1 | Beats Hinsdale Central for Red Devil Cup |
| 5 | 6 | New Trier | 5 | 1 | 0 | Ryan Krueger is major talent |
| 6 | 5 | Waukegan | 4 | 1 | 1 | Bulldogs off to suggestive start |
| 7 | 7 | Lyons | 3 | 2 | 1 | Charlie Clarke is top offensive threat |
| 8 | 8 | Glenbrook N | 4 | 1 | 1 | Fraser all-tourney at N'side Showcase |
| 9 | 11 | Evanston | 4 | 1 | 0 | Easily win own tournament |
| 10 | NR | Glenbrook S | 5 | 1 | 0 | Stuns Wheeling for Titan Invitational title |
| 11 | 12 | Barrington | 4 | 2 | 0 | Rips Jacobs for own tournament title |
| 12 | 18 | Argo | 5 | 0 | 0 | Meets Bremen in Windy City final Monday |
| 13 | HM | Bremen | 6 | 1 | 0 | Third-straight Windy City title appearance |
| 14 | NR | Prairie Ridge | 5 | 0 | 0 | Wolves are greatly improved |
| 15 | 21 | Mount Carmel | 5 | 1 | 0 | Plays Bloom in Windy City consolation final |
| 16 | 17 | Dundee-Crown | 5 | 0 | 0 | Chargers off to great start |
| 17 | 9 | Latin | 4 | 1 | 0 | Win streak stopped by University (Chic) |
| 18 | 10 | Wheeling | 4 | 2 | 1 | Runner-up at Titan Invitational |
| 19 | 13 | Maine South | 4 | 2 | 0 | Top threat to New Trier in CSL South |
| 20 | 16 | Lane | 3 | 1 | 1 | Return of Marcin Kieta sparks offense |
| 21 | HM | Taft | 4 | 0 | 2 | Patrick Knap is carrying Eagles |
| 22 | 22 | St. Ignatius | 3 | 1 | 2 | Rudy Bieglmeier impresses in Red Devil Cup |
| 23 | NR | Lake Park | 4 | 0 | 1 | Sebastian Glodz powers Lancers to own title |
| 24 | NR | CL South | 5 | 1 | 0 | Brad Grabowski keys fast Gators’ start |
| 25 | NR | Plainfield C | 4 | 0 | 1 | Surprise early team belongs |
Look out for: Plainfield South, Naperville Central, St. Charles North, Loyola, Round Lake, Streamwood, Geneva, St. Edward, Carmel, Oak Park and River Forest, Woodstock, University (Chicago), Wheaton Academy, Conant, Leyden, Prospect.