It’s the final stretch of the regular season as teams fine-tune for district play.
Here’s the fourth edition of our Boys’ Soccer Power Rankings.
AUG. 26 SOCCER RANKINGS – CLICK HERE
SEPT. 9 SOCCER RANKINGS – CLICK HERE
SEPT. 23 SOCCER RANKINGS – CLICK HERE
As with all of our other power rankings, these are based on dominance by Class, not head-to-head. It's the "pound for pound" best teams in the Ozarks.
Just because a team is ranked in the Top 5 doesn’t necessarily mean they’d beat a team ranked 8-through-10.
Overall record, Class level and previous ranking are in parenthesis.
1. Carthage (14-5, C3, PR: 3) – Kind of weird to put the Tigers here after taking a pair of 4-0 losses over the weekend, but those were against out-of-state teams. Carthage went 1-2 at that Gateway Classic, with a win over Cape Girardeau Notre Dame and losses to Washington (Ill.) and Northbrook South (Ill). Other than a 4-1 loss to Class 3 No. 3-ranked Farmington, Carthage has no “bad” losses against in-state completion. Carthage’s other losses were to Catholic, a team it later beat, and in double-overtime to Nixa, whom the Tigers will have a rematch with next week. Remember, Class 3 isn’t as treacherous as Class 4 is at the top. Carthage throttled Republic last night, 7-0, behind two goals apiece from Hector Marin and Juan Garcia. Carthage hosts Vianney this Friday. The Tigers’ final portion of the regular season schedule may be the toughest in the area. Carthage plays at Nixa (Oct. 13), hosts Carl Junction (Oct. 14), then plays at Joplin (Oct. 15) and Kickapoo (Oct. 20).
2. Nixa (16-1, C4, PR: 2) – Many will view Nixa as a non-threat to win state – St. Louis University High and Lee’s Summit West are two Class 4 teams ranked in the top 15 nationally – or even make it to Fenton, but the Eagles just keep on winning. Nixa can’t crack the Class 4 state rankings, so they’ll have plenty of motivation (and no pressure) if they run into one of those teams in the postseason. Nixa won its bracket at the Gateway Classic over the weekend, defeating Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) 3-2, Dunlap (Ill.) 4-0 and Glenbrook South (Ill.) 1-0. On Sept. 29, Nixa nearly fell into a “trap” game when it lost a 2-0 lead at Willard, before recovering and scoring twice to win 4-2. Nixa suffered its first loss of the season on Sept. 26, falling to Glendale in the finals of the Kickapoo Shootout. Nixa will look for payback Oct. 8 when it hosts the Falcons. Nixa rallied from a brief deficit last night to defeat Catholic, 2-1, behind a pair of goals from Joey Clem. He now has 32 for the season. If not for that shaky game against Catholic last night, I probably would have put the Eagles at No. 1 in this edition.
3. Catholic (11-7, C2, PR: 1) – A rocky past two weekends for the Irish, with losses to Glendale and Carthage in the Kickapoo Shootout (Sept. 25-26), then Class 4 schools Mehlville and Parkway Central in the Gateway Classic (Oct. 1-3). The Irish are finally healthy, it seems, as coach Mike Hines said after last night’s loss to Nixa. Catholic still remains the best Class 2 team locally, although its margin of victory has shrunk a bit compared to recent years. If it can get out of districts, Catholic would likely face a rematch with current Class 2 No. 2-ranked Southern Boone in the quarterfinals. Catholic prevailed in a memorable quarterfinal match over Southern Boone last season.
4. Monett (14-4, C2, PR: 4) – The Cubs dropped their fourth match of the season last night, losing 3-1 at Willard. Monett had been playing pretty well up until then, including winning the Willard Classic Sept. 24-26, with a 3-2 win over Willard in the finals. Monett defeated College Heights Christian 3-1 on Sept. 29, a team it will likely face again in the district finals in a couple of weeks. The CHC win saw Monett not only overcame a 1-0 deficit, but also play the final 67 minutes after a red-card ejection. After graduating a stellar senior class last season, Monett looks to have added one of the best rookies in the area to its lineup this season. Through 16 games, Monett freshman Jason Puente has tallied 22 goals and 12 assists for the Cubs.
5. Glendale (11-6, C3, PR: 6) – The Falcons got a taste of premier competition at the Gateway Classic over the weekend, finishing 1-2. Glendale started with a 2-1 win over Denver (Colo.) behind two goals from Sean Perryman. Glendale would go on to lose 4-1 to 2014 Class 3 state champ Webster Groves, and 6-0 to Peoria (Ill). Notre Dame, the No. 10 ranked team in the country. Before that, Glendale won the Kickapoo Shootout held Sept. 25-26, beating Sacred Heart and Catholic in OT, then Nixa in the finals. Glendale travels to Nixa for a rematch on Thursday then hosts Vianney this Saturday.
6. College Heights Christian (15-5, C2, PR: 5) – The Cougars have proven to be a quality team so far this season, but just maybe a notch or two behind the other Class 2 teams above them on this list. CHC scored the first goal of the game in its Sept. 29 matchup with Monett, then saw the Cubs score three unanswered goals to win 3-1. The Cougars also had a below-average showing in the Joplin Invitational over the weekend, beating Webb City 2-1 and taking 3-0 losses against Class 4 schools Joplin and Neosho. The Cougars rebounded with a 3-1 win at McDonald County on Monday, and travel to Barstow and Lutheran (Kansas City) this weekend.
7. Laquey (9-4, C1, PR: Unranked) – The Hornets cracked the Top 5 of the third Class 1 statewide poll last week, and we’re starting to see why. Laquey, after losing in 2-OT at Class 1 No. 4 Belle on Sept. 22, went on to beat Belle 1-0 at home Sept. 29. Laquey also avenged an earlier loss to Dixon, beating the Bulldogs 3-0 at home on Sept. 29, as well as 2-1 in PKs on Sept. 26 in the Frisco League Tournament. With a favorable schedule ahead, Laquey will be the No. 1 seed for the Class 1, District 5 tournament hosted by Greenwood.
8. Rolla (8-8-1, C3, PR: 8) – The Bulldogs recorded one of their best wins of the season on Sept. 26, defeating Ozark 2-1 in the Rolla Invitational. Rolla also beat Battle 4-1 and lost to Southern Boone 2-1 in the two-day event. With recent losses to Class 3 members Helias Catholic (2-0) and Glendale (1-0), though, Rolla will play an underdog role for districts and any postseason games. Rolla still hasn’t allowed more than two goals in a match, so they have some hope. Rolla, after winning 1-0 at Lebanon on Monday, travels to Ft. Zumwalt East on Friday then hosts MICDS on Saturday.
9. Dixon (11-2?, C1, PR: 7) – Full results from the Frisco League Tournament aren’t posted under their MSHSAA team page yet, but the Bulldogs did take a 3-0 loss to conference foe Laquey on Oct. 1. Dixon has its first matchup with Crocker on Oct. 8, then a rematch two weeks later. If it can sweep Crocker and get a second win over state-ranked Belle (Oct. 13), the Bulldogs would lock up the No. 1 seed for the Class 1, District 4 tournament.
10. Ozark (10-5, C4, PR: 9) – Not all losses are the same, and no team on this list with four or more losses has had better showings in defeat than the Tigers. Four of Ozark’s five losses have come by one goal: 2-1 to Glendale (state-ranked), 4-3 to Carthage (state-ranked), 2-1 to Rolla and 3-2 to Southern Boone (Class 2 No. 2). The other loss was 2-0 to Nixa, but if you were there at that game, you know the Tigers played better than the final score indicated. Ozark, after beating Neosho 3-0 on Tuesday, visits Joplin on Thursday for a match that would give Ozark a district No. 2 seed with a win.
KD: Kickapoo (13-3-1, C4), Greenwood (8-10, C1), Crocker (10-4, C1), Fair Grove (10-5, C2)
