Wisconsin Soccer Central

It's probably not a surprise, but Milwaukee Marquette heads into the 2014 season regarded as one of the top prep boys soccer teams in the nation.

The Hilltoppers, who finished 15-2-2 last fall, are 21st in the Top Drawer Soccer Fab 50 preseason rankings. The weekly national rankings done by Sheldon Shealer have moved to Top Drawer Soccer after being under the ESPNHS, Student Sports and Elite Soccer Report banners in the past few years.

"Marquette is always the safe choice in Wisconsin," Shealer writes of the Hilltoppers. "After all, this powerhouse program has won four of the past six large-school state titles (24 in the last 33 years). The team keeps its state dominance in check by playing a national schedule, often seeing top teams from four to six states during the course of the season."

Indeed, Marquette's schedule this year features four teams in the preseason Fab 50: No. 28 Peoria Notre Dame (Ill.), No. 39 Creve Coeur Chaminade (Mo.), No. 42 Kansas City Rockhurst (Mo.) and No. 44 Lexington Dunbar (Kent.). The match against Chaminade is part of the annual Jesuit Classic, while the game against Dunbar will be in the opening round of the Gateway City Classic in Collinsville, Ill.

The Hilltoppers, who open the season Aug. 26 at West Allis Hale, also are third in the Top Drawer Soccer Great Lakes Region rankings and first in the website's Wisconsin rankings ahead of No. 2 Brookfield East and No. 3 Kettle Moraine.

The first National Soccer Coaches Association of America rankings of the season will be released Sept. 2.

Do you know of other prep coaching changes for the 2014 season? Let us know at wisconsinsoccercentral@gmail.com

Six state players were named to the NSCAA Winter-Spring All-North Region team, led by Waukesha Catholic Memorial's Emily Cervantes.

Cervantes had 66 goals and 20 assists as a sophomore last spring and was the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year for the second straight season. She also made the NSCAA Winter-Spring All-American team, one of six repeat selections on the squad.

Whitefish Bay senior defender Cassidy Blanchard (UW-Milwaukee) and teammate Caroline Fink, a senior midfielder now at Marquette, also made the regional team along with Schofield D.C. Everest junior forward Maddie Mittelsteadt, Waukesha West senior striker Katie Grall (Loyola, Ill.) and Waunakee sophomore Jada Dayne.

Midfielder Heather Handwork of Planfield North (Ill.), an incoming freshman at Marquette, also made the regional team.