HS: Winter, Spring region rankings, Apr. 20

by Sheldon Shealer

April 20, 2015

The cliche "Everything is bigger in Texas" certainly holds true when it comes to the high school state tournament in Texas.

Bigger AND filled with drama.

The winter high school soccer season drew to a close Saturday night in Texas. The next-to-last match of the year featured a SIMA FAB 50 winter first -- two undefeated girls soccer teams from Texas playing for the 6A state and FAB 50 national title. That was followed by a pair of undefeated boys teams vying for a No. 2 SIMA FAB 50 finish.

In Texas' 6A classification -- schools basically with student body populations between 2,500 and 6,000 -- 128 teams qualify for the single-elimination event. On the girls side, a pair of Dallas-area programs -- Coppell and Highland Park worked their way through different regions and, following state semifinal wins, paired up for a SIMA FAB 50 No. 1 vs. No. 2 final. Coppell quickly removed the drama with a pair of first-half goals en route to a 3-0 victory. On the boys side, Rivera struck twice early in the first half for a win over Cinco Ranch in the 6A boys final between undefeated programs. Coppell and Rivera, which entered the state tournaments as the highest-ranked teams in the SIMA FAB 50 both finish No. 1 in their respective state and region rankings.

The final winter SIMA FAB 50 will be released Tuesday.

In spring soccer, several teams returned from spring break last week, but few surprises leave the state and region rankings largely unchanged. This week's new key state No. 1s are Ankeny Centennial (Ankeny, Iowa), Catholic Memorial (Waukesha, Wis.), Providence (Charlotte, N.C.) and Stoney Creek (Rochester Hills, Mich.) in girls and Papillion-La Vista South (Papillion, Neb.) in boys spring soccer.

See the entire WINTER high school region and state rankings:

WINTER REGION RANKINGS: BOYS (April 20) | GIRLS (April 20)

WINTER STATE RANKINGS: BOYS (April 20) | GIRLS (April 20)

See the entire SPRING high school region and state rankings:

SPRING REGION RANKINGS: BOYS (April 20) | GIRLS (April 20)

SPRING STATE RANKINGS: BOYS (April 20) | GIRLS (April 20)