Immaculate Heart’s victory against Holy Cross capped a perfect season (Photo: Jodi Samsel, Courier-Post)
Cracking the debut edition of the USA TODAY High School Sports/National Soccer Coaches Association of America Super 25 in girls soccer wasn’t easy. Consider that the top 12 teams in the preseason rankings finished with a combined ONE loss last season.
The team at the top of the heap, though, is Immaculate Heart Academy (Washington Township, N.J.). Winners of the Non-Public A section title and also a state title, the Blue Eagles finished 22-0. Despite some key losses to graduation, the program remains strong and that extends beyond the varsity. The JV team was 14-1-1 and the freshman team went 12-0.
This is the first time the NSCAA has done preseason rankings and the initial outgrowth of a partnership between USA TODAY and the NSCAA announced Tuesday. Weekly regular season national and regional rankings begin Sept. 1.
RANKINGS: See the complete preseason rankings in girls soccer
The McDongh School (Owings Mills, Md.) begins the season at No. 2 in the rankings after a 16-0 mark last season but faces No. 1 Immaculate Heart in September. The team is led by North Carolina commit Bridgette Andrzejewski.
Maria Carillo (Santa Rosa, Calif.) is No. 3 but will get to stake its claim to No. 1 with a visit to New Jersey to face Immaculate Heart on Sept. 4. The Pumas enter the season on a 72-game unbeaten streak.
Eagan, a state champion in Minnesota with a 21-0-1 mark, and Somers (Lincolndale, N.Y.), the state Class A champion, round out the top 5.
RELATED: More on the partnership between USA TODAY HSS and NSCAA
Eighteen states are represented in the preseason poll with four teams from New York, three from New Jersey and two each from Tennessee and Ohio.