The winter high school season is in full throat across the nation. While Texas programs are just beginning to compile their non-district resumes, programs in places like Hawaii and Florida are inching ever closer to the state playoffs and a chance at state-wide glory.

Here's a breakdown of some of the salient news and notes from around the nation's high school soccer corners this week.

Montverde Academy wraps up another unbeaten season

Statistically, some of the best high school teams to ever lace up have come in the last couple years. St. Benedict’s only had its 71-game win streak arrested this past season, for instance. But one streak is still humming along. Montverde still can’t lose.

The Orlando-area program wrapped up its fourth consecutive unbeaten season over the weekend with a 1-0 win over Dallas, Texas-area Coppell High School in the final of the Montverde Academy Soccer Tournament. The event has become known as one of the premier high school soccer tournaments on the schedule with some of the nation’s best winter soccer programs descending on Florida for a two-day affair. This year was as stout as it’s ever been. In addition to national No. 1 Montverde, the tourney offered No. 2 San Clemente (Calif.), No. 4 Coppell, No. 10 North Broward and the always competitive Brophy Prep from the Phoenix, Ariz. area.

READ: Montverde gathers niche as one of the top-producing high schools in the country

The tourney didn’t disappoint, though Montverde wasn’t challenged in opening wins over North Broward (5-0) and American Heritage (8-0). That set up the Eagles with a meeting against stout Coppell, and the game was a cracker. Montverde, which was playing in its final game of the season, got a goal from star forward and Clemson commit Diego Campos in the 46th minute that held up at the final whistle. That guided Montverde to a 21-0-1 season-end record to extend the unbeaten run to 97 games and roll it into the 2014-2015 season.

Oh, and the program unveiled the nation’s first Cruyff Court that same weekend. The small, enclosed soccer field is the first of its kind in the U.S., and it was inaugurated by Johan Cruyff himself. Not a bad way to close out the season.

Melbourne (Fla.) girls eye unbeaten record

There are few teams that can claim perfect unbeaten, untied seasons. It happens a handful of times across the country each year, but the teams able to pull off the feat over a grueling season of high school soccer are not great in number. And so the great eye of expectation falls on the Melbourne girls soccer program.

Melbourne is no secret in Florida, a program TopDrawerSoccer.com profiled as one of the teams to watch as the winter season plunges into its final stages. The team has kept up its rabid pace all season, and now they sit at a sterling 18-0-0 through their first 18 games. There have been some close scrapes for the defending Class 4A state champs, including the most recent win over Viera. It took penalty kicks for Melbourne to down their district rivals for the title, which launches the team into the playoffs as a marked team. 

READ: Melbourne girls program among teams to watch in Florida in 2014

The defending champs not only have that bull’s-eye on their back, but they’ll have to somehow keep their nerve in the postseason without having so much as tied a game. They’re the only girls high school team in Florida left with that perfect record still intact, and any kind of blemish now mean’s the season ended before a second straight state title. No pressure.

Soccer firing up in Texas via tournament season

Texas was the last state to get rolling on winter high school soccer, which started in the second week of January. Teams now are mostly sprinting into non-district tournament play, which will help us get a barometer on which teams to watch. For instance, eventual 2013 4A boys champ Waco University smashed supposed state hopeful Waller 8-0 in an early tournament in Brenham last year. It augured what was to come. 

The Coppell boys, the defending 5A state champs, were held to a draw by Katy Seven Lakes in the final game of the Klein Showcase before heading off to the MAST, where they won two before dropping the finale to host Montverde. That will dent the team’s record but adds valuable experience for district and the playoffs. Boys programs Flour Mound Marcus (Meinster Tournament), The Woodlands (Kilt Cup) and Brownsville Porter (Brownsville ISD Tournament) and Frisco Liberty (Frisco ISD Tournament) all won their respective tournaments to kick off the season. 

READ: Plano West girls program approaching big things in hunt for third straight title

On the girls side, defending 5A girls state champ Denton Guyer opened its season with a 7-0-0 mark thanks in part to a sweep at the Arlington Tournament. Guyer ended Highland Park’s 49-game win streak last season in the state final, and they’re widely considered one of the best girls winter teams in the nation. Once nationally top-ranked Plano West, meanwhile, already has a blemish on its record after a 4-1-0 start. Westview (Calif.) dropped West 3-0 in the National Elite Prep Showcase in Fort Worth. That was the team’s first loss in nearly two years, but the hunt for a third straight state title is still very much on.

Hawaii star guiding high school to rare heights

It’s true that the winter slate’s somewhat lighter schedule allows some programs to stand out where they otherwise might not. Still, that’s often a good thing, because it unearths some stories worth relaying. That’s the case here with Iolani’s K.J. Ahlo, one of the most exciting high school players to watch in the country. The YouTube star made waves on his native island when he committed to San Francisco last spring. His exploits with the ball are worth seeing.

READ: Hawaii commit Ahlo lands at USF after Internet stardom pays off

For now, the Iolani High School star is wrapping up his senior year in Honolulu in style. His high school program is currently 9-0-1 and getting consideration as one of the nation’s top winter high school boys programs. Indeed, things are humming along nicely as the program inches closer to the start of the state playoffs on Feb. 12. The team has won its last three games a combined 19-1, including a 2-1 win over rival Kamehameha on Saturday. Three more wins assures the team of an unbeaten regular season, and Ahlo a chance to secure a state title on his way out the door.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

2025 Men's WAC Breakout Candidates

2025 Women's Horizon Breakout Candidates

Recruiting Roundup: June 9-15