Wisconsin Soccer Central

Milwaukee Marquette continues to rise in the Student Sports Fab 50 national boys soccer rankings.

The unbeaten Hilltoppers moved up seven spots to No. 11 in this week's rankings, heading into the annual Jesuit Classic. Marquette will take on host Rockhurst (6-3-0) on Friday and Washington D.C. Gonzaga (2-3-1) on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.

Kettle Moraine, which extended its winning streak to 10 games on Tuesday night, received votes in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25. Marquette remained 16th in that national poll.

The Hilltoppers stayed put at No. 2 in the NSCAA Region VI poll, which also include No. 5 Kettle Moraine, No. 8 Hartland Arrowhead, No. 9 Brookfield East and No. 15 Neenah. The Student Sports Wisconsin rankings have Marquette, followed by Arrowhead and Kettle Moraine.

• Two other long streaks continued Tuesday night. Marquette thumped Brookfield Central 6-1 to extend its unbeaten run against state teams to 55 games (52-0-3), while Oregon's 6-0 rout of Monroe was its 29th consecutive victory in Southern Badger Conference play.
• There's a neat matchup ahead on Saturday as Sheboygan Christian-Lutheran (15-0-0) – ranked second in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Division 4 state poll – plays host to Delafield St. John's in a non-conference game at 11 a.m. The Lancers' coach is Parker Phillips, whose father, Perry Phillips, is the Christian-Lutheran coach.
• Were you wondering about the divisional breakdowns for the first four-division WIAA state boys tournament? Here they are: Division 1 encompasses schools with enrollments of 1,323 and greater; Division 2 includes teams with enrollments between 811 and 1,322; Division 3 is 438 to 810; and all Division 4 teams have enrollments of 437 or fewer.
• Fond du Lac coach Greg Winkler, who posted his 250th career victory with the Cardinals' boys program earlier this month, is one of three candidates for the boys high school representative on the NSCAA Board of Directors. Winkler is looking for support from state coaches who are NSCAA members – voting must be done by Jan. 3. Here are brief biographies of the three candidates (pdf), and Winkler can answer other questions about the process via email at gregwinkler10@gmail.com.