See all Heartland TeamRank rankings - Boys | Girls

See TeamRank National Championship rankings criteria

The TeamRank National Championship is a unique rankings setup that only includes team performance from the current season. It begins with events in August and ends with final events in July, at which point a new competition begins and the slate is again wiped clean. Each ranking is only for that August to July season.

Coach Andy Benkis took over the U18 Nebraska Futbol Club Veleno boys this season after their previous coach of the past few years moved away.

And what a team Benkis inherited.

Ranked No. 1 in our Heartland Region TeamRank ranking for the U18 division, NFC is a talented squad knocking on the door of national recognition. Despite the changeover at the top, this group has good self awareness and knows how to play together.

“Everyone on this team really seems to understand their defined role,” Benkis said. “One thing they share is they all seem to be pretty offensive minded, which is good. They really want to attack, get forward and press a lot.”

Pressing forward for NFC will mean advancing beyond the regionals this season, something the team has not been able to accomplish … yet.

The players who hope to lead them to the next step includes regional team player Ameer Pinto; valuable midfielders Joe Marinkovich and J.P. Pulverenti – who is heading to Creighton and also plays some out wide; and Jake Linden, a striker who is also capable of playing in the back and is bound for Xavier.

“Technically, this team is really good on the ball,” Benkis said. “We’re on break for the high school season and our next big event is regionals. We’ve talked abut having discipline and doing the right things during the break. We want to advance.”

The rest of this week’s Heartland boys’ rankings features first-place U14 Red River United, U15 Minot SC, U16 Dakota United and U17 Lou Fusz SC.

On the girls’ side, the leaders are: U14 JB Marine Wipke, U15 KCFC Alliance Futura Academy, U16 JB Marine Wipke, U17 St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro IL Premier and U18 KCFC Alliance Intensity 92/93.

See all Heartland TeamRank rankings - Boys | Girls