Wisconsin Soccer Central

Cedarburg, Waukesha Catholic Memorial and Menasha St. Mary Central start the 2012 season atop the three divisions in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state girls polls.

Seven of the 10 teams in the Division 1 rankings hail from two Milwaukee-area conferences – four play in the North Shore Conference and three are in the Greater Metro Conference.

The top three sides are from the North Shore, with the Bulldogs followed by No. 2 Grafton and No. 3 Mequon Homestead, while Whitefish Bay is ninth. Cedarburg and Grafton met in a conference opener Thursday, with the Bulldogs winning 1-0. No. 4 Milwaukee DSHA, No. 7 Brookfield Central and No. 8 Menomonee Falls, meanwhile, all are Greater Metro rivals.

Reigning Division 1 champion Appleton North, which lost to Cedarburg 2-1 in its opener, is ranked fifth. The defending state champions in the other two divisions, Madison Edgewood (Division 2) and Kettle Moraine Lutheran (Division 3), are each ranked second to start the year.

Menomonee Falls and New Berlin Eisenhower, which is fourth in Division 2, are the only teams out of the 20 ranked sides that weren't either in the rankings or honorable mention in the final 2011 polls.