With the club season nearing an end, this week marks the penultimate girls Grande Sports TeamRank Top 25 update for the 2015-16 season, examining the latest standings for U16, U17 and U18 Girls. Next week, we will update the younger age groups on the Boys side. We will update our National Top 25 of each age group at least once per month.

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New No. 1 at U16

The showdown between the top two teams in the Grande Sports TeamRank Top 25 proved to be an exciting one, with a new No. 1 emerging from the battle. PDA’s Amelia Paternoster scored the game winner, handing PDA the top overall seed in the ECNL playoffs and the No. 1 spot in our rankings.

Indiana Fire ECNL makes the biggest leap this month, climbing again, this time six spots to No. 4 after a full month of ECNL action. Indiana Fire earned a draw with No. 1 PDA as well as wins over No. 17 Ohio Premier, No. 23 West Coast FC, and No. 16 Real So Cal to build momentum heading into the playoffs.

More: Commitments | ECNL NJ Coverage

New No. 1 at U17

Powered by the prolific Santa Clara recruit Kelsey Turnbow, SC Del Sol has reached the top spot just as the postseason looms near. Turnbow’s 37 goals on the season is one of the top stats in all of ECNL play, and her hat trick against CASL at the New Jersey ECNL event kept her team undefeated in the month of May.

Eclipse Select finished the season strong, climbing from fifth to third in the Midwest Conference standings to earn a seeded spot in the playoffs. During Eclipse’s 6-0-1 run, the suburban Chicago side topped No. 23 Crossfire United and earned at draw with No. 25 Penn Fusion.

Eclipse earns top seed at U18

As predicted last month, Eclipse Select has earned the No. 1 seed for the ECNL finals. Eclipse will learn its schedule for its players’ final youth competition at 6 pm Thursday.

As for some of the others, Slammers climbs into the third spot after finishing out the regular season on a 13-0 streak since returning from the high school break. Slammers sits on top of the ECNL Southwest Conference and could be the one to beat at the finals.

Tophat earned one final win at the end of May to clinch the top spot in the Southeast Conference and to climb three spots to No. 9.

Next Thursday: U13, U14, and U15 Boys

Grande Sports TeamRank 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.