If winning is infectious, consider the St. Thomas Aquinas girls soccer team the Johnny Appleseed of high school soccer, dolling out kernels of wins all over the country.

There aren’t many programs in the nation that can boast the level of success Aquinas has had over the past few decades. Since Carlos Giron took the reins at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida program 32 years ago, Aquinas has a whopping 14 girls soccer state titles, including the 2015 Florida 5A crown. That gave Aquinas its fourth title in five years and its second straight, cementing a dynasty within a dynasty within a larger dynasty. Giron is an incredible 733-68-19 with Aquinas, and the team’s seven straight state titles from 1993-1999 will probably stand in the Florida record books for some time.

Aquinas moved to 14-for-16 in state title games earlier this winter with an impressive 2-0 win over Oviedo thanks in large part to the contributions of the Dorosy sisters. Isabella scored both goals while Dallas notched an assist on the first.

Giron is in rarified air. The nation’s high school wins leader is Christian Brothers (Missouri) coach Terry Michler, who finished his 44th season in December with an 896-209-99 record. While Giron is still some way off that total, his winning percentage is one of the highest in the history of soccer coaching in America. The prime difficulty in keeping up is continuing to adapt with new generations of players and new waves of coaching innovation. Nobody’s done it better than Giron.

According to the NFHS, Giron is already the all-time wins leader for girls soccer. But his influence on the national record books doesn’t stop there. Manchester West (New Hampshire) and Northfield (Vermont) share the all time state titles record with 15, but Aquinas’ 14th this past season pulled it into a three-way tie for second. Its seven consecutive state titles are tied for fourth all time, while its incredible run of 119 consecutive victories from 1994-1998 remains the national standard by 33 wins. Nobody on the boys side has gotten even that close. Same goes for a streak of 158 games without a loss stretching from 1994-2001. Nobody’s sniffed those records since, and frankly it’d be a surprise if they were snapped in the foreseeable future.

Want more? In the 1995-96 season, Aquinas scored 238 goals (more than any school in one season in history) while simultaneously posting 29 consecutive shutouts. And even despite the fact that Giron has coached more games than just about any coach in the country, his winning percentage, which is creeping toward 90 percent, is higher than any other girls coach in the national top 10. A lot to digest.

Winter season giving way to spring

Whether you’re ready for it or not, the spring season is nearly upon us. The Oklahoman reported its first high school soccer scores earlier this week, albeit from scrimmages in advance of the season’s March 2 kickoff. That doesn’t mean soccer’s been entirely released from the throes of winter, however. A few winter states may have already put a ribbon on their 2014-15 seasons, but Texas and California are still notably bulling ahead toward the postseason.

In California, the CIF released its final regular season standings on Feb. 16 in preparation for anticipated playoff pairings. On the boys side, Division 1 doesn’t have a bigger juggernaut from the regular season than California High from the Del Rio League. California ended up 20-0-0 in the regular season and will have a target generously painted on its back in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Loyola and Harvard-Westlake both emerged from a difficult Mission League with positive records, while league winners Servite (20-2-1), Warren (21-3-3) and Huntington Beach (17-2-2) all have their sights set high.

In Division 1 on the girls side, finding a heavier challenger than Oaks Christian is a tough ask. OC finished the regular season with a 15-1-0 mark, and a 9-1-0 record in its difficult Marmonte League was a deserved reward for a top season so far. Huntington Beach (16-1-7), Troy (17-1-5) and Santiago-Corona (18-1-8) are all league-winning candidates to take home postseason hardware as well.

High school soccer still holds sway in girls realm

High school’s become almost completely phased out of the higher levels of development by the advent of the Development Academy. The oft-publicized split between the two created a narrower but more defined pathway to the top. Like it or not, boys high school soccer is more for camaraderie and enjoyment than recruiting and progression.

That obviously isn’t the case yet on the girls side, and it’s unclear whether it ever will be. The ECNL has made it clear that while it’s examined the possibility, it’s not yet ready to force a wedge between high school and elite club soccer. And while the high school game is clearly an inferior product to what you’ll see on an average ECNL field, the gap between the two isn’t as pronounced as it is for the boys.

Just look at the selection of girls youth national teams. Just about every one of the call-ups moonlights in high school soccer on the side while playing ECNL, and that isn’t changing amongst the younger crowd. If players had been choosing club over high school in droves, the movement will likely come from younger age groups raised in the fledgling era of the ECNL, which has only existed since 2009. But as Algonquin High freshman star Amanda Rapaduski proves, U.S. Soccer isn’t exactly discriminating if you play high school.

High school may lose some of its sway in the coming years as players opt to cut down on overall soccer time and hone in on ECNL, which has far more future growth potential than its high school cousin. But until that time, the balancing act for elite girls soccer players continues.

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