HS: Fall FAB 50 rankings, Sept. 18

by Sheldon Shealer

September 18, 2018

What a week for elite high school boys soccer.

Sophomore standut Isreal Neto had a break-through performance, scoring all three goals as top-ranked St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.) won a FAB 50 Top 25 clash over Christian Brothers Academy (Lincroft, N.J.), 3-0. Naperville North keeper Tommy Welch, an All-America selection last year, set a school career shutout record. Michigan commit Evan Rasmussen had a pair of hat tricks for Libertyville. And to top it all off, Louisville commit and St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) junior Kyle Folds made SportCenter's Top 10 with this stellar effort.

Those performances and acknowledgements help validate high school soccer's place in this country.

For the favorites in both the boys and girls Top 10, they were pretty much all winners last week, leaving little room for change at the top of the rankings. But as usual, the FAB 50s have turn over in the bottom of the rankings, welcoming new programs as teams around the country are hitting their stride.

BIG MOVERS: BOYS: Vianney (St. Louis, Mo.). First Vianney tied Top 25-ranked Christian Brothers College (St. Louis, Mo.), then won the CBC Tournament to vault from No. 47 to No. 18 this week. The move gives the St. Louis Metro League three teams in the FAB 50 Top 25. ... GIRLS: Medina (Ohio). Medina ended a 107-match home undefeated streak for perennial state power Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio), and in the process played its way into the FAB 50 national title chase. The Bees move to No. 5 this week.

NEWCOMERS: BOYS: No. 24 Wheaton Academy (West Chicago, Ill), No. 37 Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.), No. 41 Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio), No. 42 Farmington (Conn.), No. 44 Troy Athens (Troy, Mich.), No. 45 Francis Howell (St. Charles, Mo.), No. 46 Grandview (Aurora, Colo.), No. 48 Highlands (Fort Thomas, Ky.), No. 49 Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.) and No. 50 Lake Park (Roselle, Ill.). ... GIRLS: No. 19 Bishop Watterson (Columbus, Ohio), No. 28 Beavercreek (Ohio), No. 31 Seattle Prep (Seattle, Wwash.), No. 37 Sacred Heart (Yonkers, N.Y.), No. 38 Bedford (N.H.), No. 39 Monroe-Woodbury (Central Valley, N.Y.), No. 40 Hunterdon Central (Flemington, N.J.), No. 46 Mason (Mason, Ohio), No. 49 Mars (Pa.) and No. 50 Homestead (Fort Wayne, Ind.).