HS: Winter SIMA FAB 50, Feb. 21

by Sheldon Shealer

February 21, 2017

Although a team's season is over, that doesn't mean a team's final ranking is set.

Arizona, Florida, Hawaii and Mississippi have completed winter play. Louisiana wraps up this week, leaving only California and Texas in action. But both of those states are a long way from the end. In fact, there is almost two months yet to play in the winter season since Texas competes until the second week of April.

As ranked California and Texas teams lose, it's probable -- in fact, almost guaranteed -- that ranked teams from Arizona, Florida, Hawaii and Mississippi will inch higher every week.

Florida was the first of the "major" winter soccer states to crown its champions with last week's finals, and it's beginning to sound like a broken record as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Johns Country Day, Cypress Bay, Oviedo, Fleming Island and Merritt Island added to the trophy case.

In high school soccer terms, Florida is a bit of an anamoly. In most states, the best teams tend to be clustered in one (usually the large-school) classification. Take, for example, Texas 6A. Fourteen of the Texas boys' teams and 11 of the girls teams in this week's SIMA FAB 50 rankings will be vying for a 6A title. Meanwhile, there is a grand total of three non-6A Texas teams in the SIMA FAB 50s. There are similar arrangements throughout the winter landscape, like the CIF Southern Section Division I, the San Diego Open and North Coast Section Division I tournaments. Those events, between boys and girls, feature nearly 30 SIMA FAB 50 teams.

Such is not the case in Florida.

Talented teams seem almost equally dispersed throughout the state's five-class system, and that setup has helped perpetuate a few dynasties since most of the top programs actually never have to go head-to-head in either boys or girls soccer. St. Johns Country Day girls did not see a single ranked opponent in its playoff run. Cypress Bay, the boys 5A champions, played six postseason matches before facing a SIMA FAB 50-ranked opponent -- and that was in the state final. St. Thomas Aquinas girls rolled through Class 4A, outscoring its five opponents 28-0.

After the state final pairings were set this year, there were only a couple intriguing matchups, and none bigger than the Oviedo and Boca Raton Class 5A girls final. Both teams were undefeated. Both teams generated a lot of offense during the season. And both teams are so clearly ahead of the Class 5A pack that this could be the start of a new postseason rivalry. When it was over, Oviedo had claimed its fourth state title in seven years with a 3-1 victory over Boca Raton. Considering all the goals were scored by underclassmen, it won't be a surprise if Oviedo and Boca Raton meet in next year's state tournament.

BIG MOVERS: BOYS: Sam Houston (Arlington, Texas). Sam Houston, helped by a couple local upsets, vaulted from No. 47 to No. 17 in this week's SIMA FAB 50. ... GIRLS: Merritt Island (Fla.). Merritt Island defeated Stanton in penalty kicks to claim the 3A state title and jump from No. 50 to No. 26 this week. The team's lone loss this year is to SIMA FAB 50 No. 6 Oviedo (Fla.).

NEWCOMERS: BOYS: No. 18 Duncanville (Texas), No. 44 Hebron (Carrollton, Texas), No. 46 Pioneer (San Jose, Calif.), No. 47 Freedom (Oakley, Calif.), No. 48 Granada Hills Charter (Granada Hills, Calif.), No. 49 Channelview (Texas) and No. 50 Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas). ... GIRLS: No. 23 Poway (Calif.), No. 47 American Heritage-Plantation (Plantation, Fla.), No. 48 Prosper (Texas), No. 49 Ursuline Academy (Dallas, Texas), No. 50 Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.).