Prep Girls Soccer- With the girls soccer season officially starting earlier this week, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released their first rankings for the year.
In Class 1A, last year’s champion headlines the rankings as Des Moines Christian is ranked #1. The Lions are 1-0 on the season after taking down Perry 10-0. Davenport Assumption was the runner-up last year and start out ranked 2nd this year. Dike-New Hartford comes into the rankings at #3. Two surprises in the top 15 as Gilbert comes in ranked 5th after going 7-9 in Class 2A last year. Dubuque Wahlert is another team that had a losing record last year that finds themselves ranked 12th. A big reason for that is the Golden Eagles having their returning goal scoring leader in Emma Donovan, as she netted 12 goals last season.
Hard to argue against Dallas Center-Grimes being put at the top of the list for Class 2A after their undefeated season from last year that ended in a state championship. North Scott and North Polk follow behind in the rankings in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Pella is ranked 9th, Clear Creek-Amana finds itself ranked 14th, and Atlantic rounds out the list.
It will be quite the battle in Ankeny as Ankeny Centennial, last year’s state champion, and Ankeny rank 1st and 2nd, respectively. Waukee Northwest finds themselves ranked 3rd. In a bit of a surprise, Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, last year’s runner up, is out of the top 5 and find themselves ranked 7th. Lastly, just the third team to have a losing record last year and be ranked in the top 15, Urbandale grabs the 15th spot with a record of 8-10 from a year ago.