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1
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St. Benedict's Prep
Newark, NJ
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0-0-0
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| Two words come to mind when describing St. Benedict's in 2014: deep, talented. The squad returns seven starters from last year's 20-1 team, but it's the four transfers that add unrivaled quality to a star-studded lineup. St. Benedict's arrangement with PDA in the Development Academy allows for a number of PDA players to represent the high school team, which helps set St. Benedict's even further apart from other high school programs. This year's team features junior and former U.S. Soccer Youth National Team member Johnny Antunes, a midfielder who recently committed to Monmouth. Juan Parada, Anderson Asiedu, Victor Villagomez and Wilber Nunez are all starters with PDA in the DA. Newcomers include Jean Wisner Derival, a starter for the Haitian U17 National Team, and scored a goal against the U.S. in the last U17 World Cup, Cristian Martinez, who was in the U.S. Soccer Residency Program last school year, and Aurochit Patnaik, a member of the India's youth national team. |
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2
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McDonogh School
Owings Mills, MD
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0-0-0
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| Last year's Fall FAB 50 national champion saw George Campbell graduate to the University of Maryland and longtime head coach Steve Nichols accept a job as head coach at Loyola University (Maryland). However, the Eagles are still in good standing to make a run at No. 1. McDonogh returns eight starters from last year's 21-0-1 team, including Maryland commit Connor Smith, U.S. Youth National Team member Keegan Kelly and standout Michael DeShields, who scored a dramatic, last-second match-winning goal in last year’s league championship match. Seven members of the Baltimore Celtic U16 club team that won the US Youth Soccer national title, will suit up for McDonogh this fall. |
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3
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St. Ignatius
Cleveland, OH
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0-0-0
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| Seventeen players return from last year’s St. Ignatius team, including four NCAA Division I senior commits: Mikal Outcalt (Pittsburgh), Clark Gronek (George Mason), Bobby Barsic (Holy Cross) and David Sisson (Davidson). Junior Hunter Gordon was named to the US Youth Soccer Top 11 after helping the OP Eagles Green to a national runner-up performance during this summer’s Under-16 national championships. During the regular season, St. Ignatius will face state-ranked St. Edward and make a first-ever visit to the Gateway City Soccer Classic, where it will take on one of the nation’s top prep school programs in South Kent School (Conn.). |
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4
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St. Anthony's
Melville, NY
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0-0-0
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| St. Anthony’s returns seven started from last year’s 22-1-1 team, including Boston University commit T.J. Butzke. Beau Hornberger, Jake Giuffrida, John Foley, Quentin Volpe, Ryan Healy and Costas Efstathiou are all being recruiting by college coaches. St. Anthony’s figures to have a difficult test in repeating as league champion, as rival Chaminade is equally as solid this season. |
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5
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Avon
Avon, IN
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0-0-0
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| Avon is the highest ranked public school to start the season, checking in at No. 5. Avon returns seven starters last year, which includes the early candidate for state player of the year in Indiana University commit Jordan Kleyn. Kleyn had 25 goals and 20 assists last season. Other key returners include senior defender Bryce Cirbo and junior midfielders Logan Hatter and Tyler Shanahan. |
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6
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Jesuit
Carmichael, CA
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0-0-0
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| Coach Paul Rose joined the 700-win club last year, and Jesuit -- despite losing a lot to graduation -- figures to remain in the running for the section championship. Senior keeper Luc Barbe recently committed to Army. Senior midfielder Gonzalo Garcia committed to Westmont College. Senior forward Diego Buesrostro is the team’s leading returning scorer. Although Jesuit will not be traveling to St. Louis to defend its Gateway City Soccer Classic title, it will face FAB 50-ranked Portland Jesuit (Ore.) and possibly Granite Bay in the postseason. |
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7
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Washington Township
Sewell, NJ
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0-0-0
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| High-scoring Derek MacKinnon and Lou Vilotti highlight the returners for Washington Township, a team that was headed for a FAB 50 Top 10 finish until an upset loss in the playoffs. The squad went 25-1 last year. |
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8
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Hinsdale Central
Hinsdale, IL
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0-0-0
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| Hinsdale Central posted a 23-match undefeated run until losing its first match of the year -- and that coming in the playoffs. Senior midfielder Jack Niestrom and goalkeeper Wes Bergevin highlight a solid cast of returners that are expected to keep Hinsdale Central in the serious state title chase in one of the nation’s most competitive fall soccer states. |
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9
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Haverford School
Haverford, PA
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0-0-0
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| Haverford School just might be this year’s sleeping giant. The Fords are returning nine starters -- and most of them are juniors -- from a team that pushed FAB 50 No. 1 McDonogh School (Md.) and Prep School co-No. 1 Hill School to overtime before losing one-goal contests. Twins Conor and Shane Bradley highlight a cast of juniors that could produce five NCAA Division I commitments in the coming months. The team gets a boast from the return of Grant Yu, a Development Academy player who will be playing for Haverford School this season. |
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10
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Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Scotch Plains, NJ
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0-0-0
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| Scotch Plains may emerge as the top public school program in New Jersey this year with seven returning starters and 15 returning lettermen -- 14 of them seniors. First-team all-state selection James Murphy is expected back, along with Justin Rodriguez and Joey Bianco. Jassiem Wathuse, who is being courted by several NCAA Division I programs, is giving up the Development Academy this fall for a last chance to suit up on the high school squad. Longtime coach Tom Breznitsky figures the attacking combo of Wathuse, Rodriguez and Bianco is easily worth 40 goals this season. |
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11
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Ann Arbor Skyline
Ann Arbor, MI
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0-0-0
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| Skyline, coming off a 21-1-5 state title-winning campaign, is the early favorite in Michigan, thanks to the expected return of Alec Lasinksi. The Loyola-Chicago commit netted 31 goals with six assists last year and was named Mr. Soccer by Michigan’s soccer coaches association. |
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12
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DeMatha Catholic
Hyattsville, MD
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0-0-0
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| After a rocky start to the 2013 campaign, DeMatha won its final 13 matches to claim the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title. The Stags figure to be the WCAC frontrunner with six returning starters and 10 players who saw significant time last year. The team did, however, graduate five players who signed with NCAA Division I programs. Senior keeper Keegan Meyer returns after posting 11 shutouts in his last 13 matches. Other key returners are senior midfielder James Gielen, senior defender Marco Torchia and junior Jordan Dove. |
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13
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Upper St. Clair
Pittsburgh, PA
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0-0-0
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| Some of the big guns are gone from Upper St. Clair’s back-to-back state title teams, but the cupboard is not bare. Senior defender Doug Hapeman and junior midfielder Robbie Mertz are expected to return to highlight the lineup. Mertz had a team-best 22 assists last season, in which he was named to the Post-Gazette All-Area first team. |
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14
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Brentwood
Brentwood, NY
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0-0-0
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| Ever Torres highlights a talented Brentwood, one capable of making an all-too-familiar state title run. This school of 3,500 students has made three state final appearances in the past six years, a difficult feat in a state as large as New York. Torres, who will be a four-year starter, netted 19 goals last season and was named a second-team All-State selection in a senior-dominated list of players. |
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15
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Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL
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0-0-0
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| Edwardsville returns only four staters from last year’s state title team, but it does bring back its most important offensive player in Landon Paul. The senior forward scored seven goals in the playoffs last season, propelling the team to a rare large-school state title win by a non-Chicagoland school. Andrew Mullican is a former Development Academy player who will represent Edwardsville again this fall. Paul and Mullican will be joined by key returners Sulemon Bazai, Max Kieffer, Liam Burke and Hamada Freese. |
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16
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St. Charles East
St. Charles, IL
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0-0-0
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| Deep, talented, but unlucky summed up St. Charles East in 2013. The team went 20-1-4 against a regionally challenging schedule, then was upset in the playoffs. St. Charles East was so solid last year, both goalkeepers signed with NCAA Division I programs. This year’s team feature 13 returning players from last year, although the big names have graduated. |
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17
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Salesianum
Wilmington, DE
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0-0-0
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| Salesianum graduated its entire starting lineup -- but historically such drastic changes in personnel have never been much more than a speed bump on this dynasty’s race toward the top of the rankings. This private school posted a 36-2-3 record among its three teams (varsity, junior varsity and freshmen) last year, and will reload, sparked by an underclass that features members from the Delaware Rush squad that reached the US Youth Soccer national championship series this past summer. |
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18
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Massapequa
Massapequa, NY
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0-0-0
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| Massapequa, the defending New York large school state champion, could be poised for another deep playoff run, as long as junior Dylan Nealis returns. Nealis emerged as the hero during last year’s state title run, scoring the match-winning goals in both the state semifinals and final. An early match with Top 25-ranked Chaminade will help determine if the public or private schools have the upper hand this year on Long Island. |
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19
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Blue Valley Northwest
Overland Park, KS
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0-0-0
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| Blue Valley Northwest swept the Kansas Class 6A honors last year with the Offensive, Defensive, Goalkeeper and Coach of the Year honorees. With NCAA Division I prospect Sam Glass, the keeper of the year, returning, Northwest was given the label as preseason favorites to repeat as Class 6A state champions. |
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20
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Cumberland Valley
Mechanicsburg, PA
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0-0-0
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| Senior defender Riley Katshir is the key returning player for Cumberland Valley. The Eagles, which hail from the current state soccer hotbed -- District 3, are coming off a 21-3-1 season and expected to challenge for the state title yet again. |
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21
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Milwaukee Marquette
Milwaukee, WI
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0-0-0
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| Marquette is always the safe choice in Wisconsin. After all, this powerhouse program has won four of the past six large-school state titles (24 in the last 33 years). The team keeps its state dominance in check by playing a national schedule, often seeing top teams from four to six states during the course of the season. As long as Marquette can find an adequate replacement for Marquette signee Danny Jarosz to control the midfielder, Marquette will remain a state title contender. The team’s showings at the annual Jesuit mixer and the Gateway City Soccer Classic will go a long way in determining Marquette’s national standing. |
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22
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Portland Jesuit
Portland, OR
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0-0-0
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| Portland Jesuit simply dominates Oregon, although rival Central Catholic is closing the gap. Jesuit graduated the two-time state player of the year, yet remains the favorite in Oregon until someone can prove otherwise. After all, Portland Jesuit has lost only one instate match since 2011. This team’s national standing will be greatly influenced by the outcome of its match with Jesuit (Calif.) on Sept. 11. |
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23
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Vianney
St. Louis, MO
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0-0-0
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| Vianney gets the nod as preseason favorite in St. Louis with four all-league performers expected to return. Given Vianney’s challenging schedule, there’s no guarantee this team will end up as the top team in St. Louis, or even the league, which features such storied programs as Chaminade, Christian Brothers, DeSmet and SLUH. Chaminade, on paper, looked to be the favorite, but word of the team losing upwards of seven players to the Development Academy resulted in a flip of opinion from local coaches. |
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24
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Evansville Memorial
Evansville, IN
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0-0-0
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| The Tigers return seven starters from last year’s state semifinal squad, and have the look of a serious state title challenger in Indiana. Senior Jack Vieth is the team’s top returning player. |
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25
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Chaminade
Mineola, NY
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0-0-0
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| Chaminade has a reputation of being defensively stingy, and that figures to be the situation again this year. While the Flyers return only two starters and both are NCAA Division I prospects -- mid/defender James Brady and defender Joe Lomonaco, who plays for Smithtown Arsenal, the squad is expected to welcome back a pair of former Development Academy performers to beef up the lineup. |
