SIMA FAB 50 HS Rankings Update: Oct. 14

by Sheldon Shealer

October 14, 2014

A sophomore delivered a big-time performance for Copley (Copley, Ohio), leading Ohio's top-ranked boys soccer team into the thick of the SIMA FAB 50 national title chase.

Christian Harter scored twice as Copley handled [Revere oh-m] (Richfield, Ohio) 4-1 to clinch the league title. The win marked the team's second over a recent coaches' state classification No. 1 team. Copley also defeated SIMA FAB 50-ranked St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) earlier in the season. The wins move Copley from No. 6 to No. 3 in this week's FAB 50.

On the girls side, Immaculate Heart Academy (Township of Washington, N.J.) moves to No. 5 after a 6-0 throttling of Old Tappan (Old Tappan, N.J.). Old Tappan had played top-ranked Northern Highlands (Allendale, N.J.) to a 1-0 match earlier in the season. Immaculate Heart and Northern Highlands could meet in the county tournament.

The Indiana playoffs are in full swing, and this proves an interesting week for a couple of the Top 25-ranked squads. Brebeuf Jesuit (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Carmel (Carmel, Ind.) could meet this week in the regional final if both get past solid regional semifinal opponents. Brebeuf is facing Avon (Avon, Ind.), a current SIMA FAB 50 team that was ranked as high as No 2 earlier this season. The hyper-local Indiana playoff system leads to many of the state's top title contenders playing well before the state tournament. Already, Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers, Ind.), Noblesville (Noblesville, Ind.) and Zionsville (Zionsville, Ind.) -- all recent SIMA FAB 50 teams -- lost to other current SIMA FAB 50 teams in the early playoff rounds.

Staying on the girls side, one of the most anticipated regular-season matches of the season was reduced in value, first due to one team losing; then to the squads' primary stars being unable to play. At one point, Pennington School (Pennington, N.J.) was ranked No. 2 and McDonogh School (Owings Mills, Md.) at No. 3 in the SIMA FAB 50, in anticpation of an Oct. 18 showdown. Pennington School took an upset loss, bumping it from the FAB 50. Now, both teams will be without their star players. Stanford commit Alana Cook of Pennington School and North Carolina commit Bridgette Andrzejewski of McDonogh are training with the U.S. Under-20 National Team in San Diego, and are unable to play high school soccer.

See all the updates in this week's rankings:

BOYS FAB 50 (Oct. 14) | GIRLS FAB 50 (Oct. 14)

Regional Rankings: Boys (Oct. 13) | Girls (Oct. 13)

State Rankings: Boys (Oct. 13) | Girls (Oct. 13)

Related Topics: SIMA FAB 50 / Event