Today we take a look at the U13, U14 and U15 Girls in our monthly Grande Sports Academy TeamRank Top 25 update. Keep following us throughout the season as we track the best teams in the country.

State Cup imminent at U13

For Grande Sports Academy TeamRank Top 25 teams in Southern California, Cal South National Cup play begins in just days. All five ranked teams from Cal South are into the second round of group play vying for a spot in the quarterfinals. No. 1 So Cal Blues Baker and No. 4 Legends FC 01 are the top TeamRank teams heading into the championships.

Dallas Sting 02 Higginbotham remains undefeated in the LHGCL’s top division and re-enters the top five this month at No. 5. Sting beat now No. 7 Solar Chelsea 02 Red in league play, handing the metro-area rival its first league defeat this season. Solar also suffered a loss to No. 19 Challenge 02 Red in the Lonestar Jr. ECNL Event held at the end of last month.

More: ECNL Scoreboard | Commitments

Play resumes at U14

San Juan SC and Colorado Rush continue to lead their respective divisions of the ECNL’s Northwest Conference and both picked up wins after play resumed in February. No. 17 San Juan extended its lead in the California Division with a 4-0 win over Santa Rosa United, while Rush went to 9-1-1 after defeating Crossfire United and FC Portland on a trip to Oregon earlier this month. Mike Piserchio’s Rush has one of the most impenetrable defenses in this age group with only four goals against all season. Add in the production of forward Audrey Weiss and midfielder Coriana Dyke, both of whom just returned from U.S. U16 Girls National Team camp, and Rush boasts the second best goal differential in the U14 age group (behind Slammers), climbing four spots to No. 18 as a result.

Richmond United shines at U15

For many teams, the 2015 campaign will begin in a couple of days at the ECNL Texas Showcase, but for Richmond United, it began in early February with a 3-1 win over CASL, extending Richmond’s winning streak to eight and raising its rank to No. 17. Tennessee verbal commits Paige Franks (2018) and McKinley Burkett (2017) provide virtually all the scoring for Aaron Brunner’s squad, Burkett leading the team with 22 goals, and Franks close behind with 18, but providing adding 12 assists.

Next week: U16, U17, U18 Boys update

Grande Sports Academy TeamRank Top 25 is the comprehensive team-ranking system devised by TopDrawerSoccer.com to provide an objective and common-sense approach to determining which elite youth soccer teams are the best in the nation.

The rankings, updated monthly, are primarily results-based, with a nod toward the league and championship competitions that emulate how excellence is determined in leading soccer nations around the world.

Tournaments are also included but at a reduced value due to the many mitigating factors involving such events, including attrition and guest players.

A final layer of executive evaluation is provided to account for variables that often impact results, thus ensuring that the monthly lists are not subjective, but are not purely mechanical.