When it comes to high school girls soccer events in the fall, none are more important to the regional and national landscape than the Zionsville Lady Eagle Invitational.

And this year’s event starts off with a blast.

FAB 50 No. 9 Avon (Ind.) faces No. 14 Carmel (Ind.) in the opening match, Friday at 5 p.m. in Zionsville, Ind.

In all, eight FAB 50 teams and seven other TopDrawerSoccer state-ranked squads grace the 28-team event representing three fall-playing states.

The Avon-Carmel match will be important for current ranking purposes, but the reality is since both schools are from Indiana, the state tournament will have the final say on those teams’ standing. The greater value, nationally, to the Lady Eagle Invitational is the state crossover matches, which help sort of the varying levels of play between elite programs and top states.

The event also features more than 12 players from the current Fall All-America Watch List.

Some of the key matches this weekend are: 

FRIDAY

No. 12 Brebeuf Jesuit (Ind.) vs. Notre Dame Academy (Ky.)

No. 15 Fishers (Ind.) vs. No. 35 St. Ursula (Ohio)

No. 28 Medina (Ohio) vs. Sacred Heart Academy (Ky.)

Mount Notre Dame (Ohio) vs. Zionsville (Ind.)

SATURDAY

No. 10 Noblesville (Ind.) vs. No. 35 St. Ursula (Ohio)

No. 14 Carmel (Ind.) vs. No. 28 Medina (Ohio)

“We will know by Saturday evening just how good we are at this point in the season,” Carmel coach Frank Dixon said. And he won’t be alone.

McDONOGH INVITATIONAL 

One of the original marquee fall girls soccer events is the McDonogh Invitational. At one point, it was THE event for the fall. After undergoing a number of changes -- from the director to the format to the participants, the two-day mixer has lost a bit of its punch. 

FAB 50 No. 7 McDonogh (Md.), the host, No. 13 Bishop Connell (Va.) and No. 20 Good Counsel (Md.) highlight the field. Last year’s event also featured Maria Carrillo (Calif.) and Pennington School (N.J.).

Play at the McDonogh Invitational starts Friday afternoon.

Since O'Connell and Good Counsel are league rivals, and Good Counsel faces McDonogh later in the season, none of the ranked teams will clash at McDonogh this weekend.

McDonogh's Bridgette Andrzejewski, who is committed to North Carolina, and Bishop O'Connell's Lauren Harkes are two players competing who are part of the Fall All-America Watch List.

PARTING SHOTS 

TopDrawerSoccer will offer Twitter updates from both the Zionsville and McDonogh invitationals throughout the weekend, and an event recap, complete with top performers Sunday night.