Taft Remains No. 1 as Top 7 Hold Steady in Prep Soccer Top 15

Thirteen of the 15 team's in last week's Prep Soccer Top 15 National Rankings competed in the NXT LVL Invitational over the weekend, and the results led to almost no movement, especially among the elite.

Top-ranked Taft School (CT), No. 2 Hoosac (NY), No. 3 Woodstock (CT), No. 4 Northwood (NY) and No. 5 Masters (MA) went a combined 5-1-2. The only loss came when Northwood defeated Masters, while the two ties came in matches involving Combine Academy (N.C.), which is not eligible for these rankings, against Northwood and Masters.

No. 13 Vermont Academy and No. 15 St. George’s School are the newcomers to this week’s Top 15. Vermont Academy moved into the rankings after knocking off former No. 13 Deerfield Academy. St. George’s earned its spot with a win over former No. 14 Avon Old Farms and a tie with current No. 9 Choate Rosemary Hall.

Now, on with the rankings (though Sept. 27 matches):

1. Taft School [Conn.], 4-0-0

League: NEPSAC-A
Notes: Alex Calabro scored twice around a Fields DeShaw goal as Taft School shut out Bridgton Academy 3-0 at the NXT LVL Showcase. Lehigh commit Reed Orben had the shutout in goal.

2. Hoosac School [N.Y.], 3-0-0

League: Prep Premier League
Notes: Will Curtis, a post-grad and lone American on the roster, opened the scoring in a 4-2 win over RMPUS (Canada) at the NXT LVL Invitational, Hoosac's only match of the week. Matheus Belucio, Marcos Silva and Michel Tapoko netted the other goals. Hoosac clashed with No. 4 Northwood School on Saturday.

3. Woodstock Academy [Conn.], 3-0-1

League: Prep Premier League
Notes: Coastal Carolina commit Jeremie Kasongo scored two goals to lead Woodstock Academy to a 4-1 victory over FC Florida at the NXT LVL Invitational. It was Woodstock Academy's lone contest last week. The team returns to league play Saturday against Darrow School.

4. Northwood School [N.Y.], 3-1-2

League: Independent
Notes: After tying a strong Combine Academy program on Saturday, Northwood School completed its three-game run at the NXT LVL Invitational with a 2-1 win over Masters Academy.

5. Masters Academy International [Mass.], 3-1-1

League: Prep Premier League
Notes: Holy Cross commit Bryden Marta scored both goals in a 2-2 draw with Combine Academy in Saturday's NXT LVL Invitational action. In Sunday's match, Masters led 1-0 over Northwood School before falling 2-1. Andre Ferreira scored against Northwood. Masters and Northwood might meet again this fall. Next up, however, is a return to PPL play with a Saturday match against St. Thomas More.

6. Milton Academy [Mass.], 2-0-2

League: NEPSAC-A
Notes: After shutting out Phillips Andover 1-0 to start the week, Milton played to a rain-soaked 1-1 draw against Berkshire School on Sunday at the NXT LVL Invitational. Henry Brown scored for Milton.

7. Northfield Mount Hermon [Mass.], 2-1-1

League: NEPSAC-A
Notes: Northfield Mount Hermon's strong start was tempered by a 1-0 loss to St. Andrew's College (Canada) at the NXT LVL Invitational. Earlier in the week, NMH pinned a 2-0 defeat on Worcester Academy.

8. Loomis Chaffee School [Conn.], 4-1-0

League: NEPSAC-A
Notes: After opening the season with a loss to Northfield Mount Hermon, Loomis has rolled off four straight wins, including a 2-1 victory over Top 15-ranked Pennington School at the NXT LVL Invitational. James Drago scored and recorded one assist against Pennington, and Jaden Behm netted the other goal. Loomis clashes with always-tough Berkshire School on Saturday.

9. Choate Rosemary Hall [Conn.], 2-0-2

League: NEPSAC-A
Notes: Wisdom Humalie scored three of Choate's four goals at the NXT LVL Invitational over the weekend. The standout striker scored twice in a 3-1 win over the Puerto Rico Sea Raiders and netted the lone goal in a 1-1 draw with Top 15-ranked St. George's.

10. Brooks School [Mass.], 4-0-0

League: NEPSAC-B
Notes: Brooks started the season with four straight shutout wins. The schedule this week includes a clash with Phillips Andover, which will give a good point of reference considering the teams Andover already has played.

11. Pennington School [N.J.], 3-3-0

League: Mid-Atlantic Prep League
Notes: Pennington took two losses last week, including a 2-1 setback to Loomis Chaffee at the NXT LVL Invitational. Pennington also handed St. Thomas More a 3-1 defeat at the same event. Rutgers commit Matthew Addai had a goal and one assist during the weekend.

12. Hotchkiss School [Conn.], 2-0-2

League: NEPSAC-A
Notes: Hotchkiss was held to a pair of 1-1 draws last week, first with Berkshire School and then with Hill School. Michael Ji scored in a tie with Hill that was played at the NXT LVL Invitational.

13. Vermont Academy [Vt.], 4-0-0

League: NEPSAC-B
Notes: Vermont Academy was on the fringe of the Top 15 in the preseason, but now breaks through following a 2-0 win over Deerfield Academy at the NXT LVL Invitational. Led by former Dartmouth head coach Bo Oshoniyi, Vermont Academy has been a scoring machine, netting 21 goals in four matches. Marcos Gomez and Santino Luccetta scored against Deerfield.

14. Mount St. Charles [R.I.], 2-0-2

League: NEPSAC-B
Notes: Mount St. Charles pulled away from Rivers School 5-1 in its only outing of the week. The match was tied at halftime before Mount St. Charles scored four second-half goals.

15. St. George's School [R.I.], 3-0-3

League: NEPSAC-B
Notes: A 2-0 early-week win over Avon Old Farms coupled with a 1-1 draw with Choate Rosemary Hall earned St. George's a spot in this week's Top 15. Kaisei Korytoski netted the game-tying goal for St. George's.

OTHERS UNDER CONSIDERATION (in alphabetical order): Avon Old Farms [Conn.], Berkshire School [Mass.], Brunswick School [Conn.], Deerfield School [Mass.], Middlesex School [Mass.], Noble & Greenough School [Mass.], Phillips Andover [Mass.], St. Sebastian's [Mass.], South Kent School [Conn.], Suffield Academy [Conn.], Western Reserve Academy [Ohio], Williston Northampton [Mass.], Worcester Academy [Mass.]

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