HS: Fall SIMA FAB 50, Nov. 8

by Sheldon Shealer

November 8, 2016

When asked who was the best team Rick Wolf's Regis Jesuit (Colo.) team played this year, there was no hestitation:

"That team from Cleveland -- that's the best high school team I've ever seen," he said.

We won't disagree.

St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) moves back into the SIMA FAB 50 Fall No. 1 ranking for the second time this season following losses by former No. 1 Conestoga (Berwyn, Pa.) and No. 2 Morton (Cicero, Ill.) last week. St. ignatius, No. 3 last week, stays ahead of now No. 2 Boulder (Colo.) and No. 3 West Chester Henderson (West Chester, Pa.).

Wolf offers a unique perspective this year as Regis has played -- and lost -- to three of the current SIMA FAB 50 Top 10 teams: St. Ignatius, Boulder and Milwaukee Marquette (Milwaukee, Wis.). Marquette already has secured a Top 10 final ranking, and St. ignatius and Boulder could follow suit this week with state titles of their own. Boulder had the largest margin of victory over Regis, but Wolf said that was partly due to the circumstances -- the playoff match was scoreless with 24 minutes remaining before Boulder scored two quick goals. Knowing Regis didn't have an answer, he emptied the bench to make sure everyone got playing time and the team allowed three more late goals in a 5-0 loss. By contrast, Wolf said Regis "played the game of their life" against St. Ignatius to keep the contest close on the scoreboard. Wolf's high praise of St. Ignatius comes despite the fact the Ohio power played without three injured starters -- including All-America candidate and Xavier commit Stephen Milhoan.

Although St. Ignatius is back to No. 1 this week, there's still work to be done to finish atop the SIMA FAB 50. Milhoan, who recently became the school's all-time goalscoring leader, leads the Wildcats into a midweek clash with Medina in the state semifinals. If St. Ignatius wins, either undefeated and SIMA FAB 50 Top 25-ranked St. Charles Prep (Columbus, Ohio) or one-loss Beavercreek (Ohio) awaits for the Sunday state final.

BIG MOVERS: BOYS: Pennington School (Pennington, N.J.). After ending St. Benedict's Prep's 27-year run of state titles, Pennington School moves to No. 4 in this week's SIMA FAB 50. The team wrapped up an undefeated season with a 4-0-1 record over FAB 50- and Prep Top 10-ranked opponents ... GIRLS: Camas (Wash.). A lack of regular season tournaments and very few meaningful nonleague matches leaves Washington as one of the states that are hard to size up until playoff time. The first head-turning postseason result was delivered by Camas in a 5-1 win over Kentridge (Kent, Wash.). That's the same Kentridge that played state No. 3 Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.) to a draw to start the season and spent time in the SIMA FAB 50 earlier this year. Camas' one-sided win helped the team jump from No. 34 to No. 16 this week.

NEWCOMERS: BOYS: No. 24 Dodge City (Kan.), No. 30 Page (Greensboro, N.C.), No. 42 Calvert Hall (Baltimore, Md.), No. 44 Fordham Prep (Bronx, N.Y.), No. 47 Beavercreek (Ohio), No. 48 Christian Brothers College (St. Louis, Mo.), No. 50 East Kentwood (Kentwood, Mich.). ... GIRLS: No. 23 Centennial (Circle Pines, Minn.), No. 31 Niskayuna (N.Y.), No. 36 Villa Joseph Marie (Pa.), No. 37 Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), No. 42 Portland Jesuit (Portland, Ore.), No. 44 Franklin (Tenn.), No. 45 [Germantown Houston tn-w] (Germantown, Tenn.), No. 46 Gig Harbor (Wash.), No. 50 Oliver Ames (Easton, Mass.).