The Grande Sports TeamRank Top 25, the comprehensive ranking system for elite club soccer teams nationwide, begins March updates this week with the U16, U17, and U18 boys teams. Next week, we will update the older age groups on the Girls’ side. We will update our National Top 25 for each age group at least once per month.

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Still Top Dog 

FC Dallas remains in the top spot in the U16 boys Grande Sports TeamRank Top 25 in the March update. The MLS Academy picked up wins over Texas Rush and Solar Chelsea SC since the last update. The victory against Texas Rush was the thriller of the two contests. FC Dallas trailed 0-2 in the second half before three games in the final 17 minutes to snag all three points from the road game. Jalen James netted the game-winner for FC Dallas. 

Real Salt Lake AZ jumps up to No. 2 in the updated rankings. Real Salt Lake defeated FC Golden State twice since the last update. Sebastian Soto has been on fire for RSL lately with four goals in his last three games. The RSL defense has also been great with 0 goals conceded over the last month of play. 

Vardar keeps hold of the No. 3 spot in the latest update. Vardar is still enjoying the winter break with no games in 2017, but the Michigan club returns to action on March 11 against Crew SC Academy. 

Houston Dynamo is the new team in the rankings this week. The Texas club rattled off three wins in February to improve to 10-4-2 on the season. Domingo Mba Mba Ayecaba and Heriberto Soto have been the standouts for Dynamo recently. 

Raiding the Cabinet 

Raiders FC (IL) is No. 1 in the latest Grande Sports TeamRank update. The National League leader returns to US Youth Soccer National League play again on March 11 with the event in Las Vegas. 

Baltimore Celtic SC jumps up to No. 2 in the March update for the TeamRank in the U17 boys rankings. Celtic heads into National League play with the hold of the top spot int he Blue division. Celtic was also the winner of the Disney Soccer Showcase in December. 

Delaware Rush and CASL are three and four in the rankings, respectively. 

Hanging On 

Despite a loss to IMG Academy in Development Academy play in February, Atlanta United remains in the top spot in the Grande Sports TeamRank update for March for the U18 boys teams. Atlanta United is still top of the Development Academy standings with a 12-1-3 record and bounced back from the loss with a 2-0 result against Chargers. 

FC Dallas also suffered a setback last month with a 0-1 loss to Texas Rush, but the MLS academy is still in second place in the Top 25. FC Dallas recorded a 1-0 win over Solar in the next game. 

New York Red Bulls is in the third spot. Red Bulls returns to Academy play this month after being off since December. 

Outside of the top three, the story of February was the top 25 was blowouts. Capital Area Railhawks - CASL notched the most lopsided result of the season with a 15-0 win over Boca United Football Club. Alex Rose and Lucas Del Rosario each scored four goals in the win. Real So Cal notched a 13-1 win over Juventus SC in the second most lopsided win over the past month in Academy play. 

Next Friday: U16, U17, and U18 Girls

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.