Wisconsin Soccer Central

With the WIAA prep girls season set to kick off Tuesday, at least in parts of the state where the snow has melted or in stadiums with artificial turf, two state teams will start the spring in the national rankings.

Reigning Division 1 state champion Milwaukee DSHA is 23rd in the latest Top Drawer Soccer Fab 50. The Dashers, who finished 19-5-2 in 2014 and open the season at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Racine Prairie School, have moved up nine spots in the website's national rankings over the past month despite not having yet played.

Waukesha Catholic Memorial, which went 25-2-1 last spring en route to winning the Division 3 state title, remain 41st in the Fab 50. The Crusaders, who claimed Division 2 championships in 2012 and '13, start the season Wednesday night against Hartford at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

DSHA is second and Catholic Memorial is third in the TDS Great Lakes Region rankings, which includes Wisconsin and Michigan, and the teams occupy the top two spots in the website's state rankings, followed by Division 2 Waukesha West.

• The Dashers also are ranked 20th in the first National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 20 poll, which was released earlier this week. DSHA is fifth in the NSCAA Region III rankings, followed by Catholic Memorial at No. 6 and Waukesha West at No. 10.
• The Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association preseason girls state polls are scheduled to be released Monday.
• Here are Tuesday's scheduled matches across the state, from our partners at the Wisconsin Sports Network: Schedule
• The Packerland and Eastern Wisconsin conferences will merge for boys and girls soccer play starting in the 2015-16 school year, the Door County Advocate reported. The initial agreement is for two years, and teams will face each other once per season. For boys soccer, Algoma, Gibraltar-Sevastopol, Green Bay NEW Lutheran, Kewaunee and Sturgeon Bay from the Packerland will combine with Kiel, Manitowoc Roncalli, New Holstein and Sheboygan Falls from the EWC and former independent Peshtigo for a 10-team league. Gibraltar-Sevastopol, Kewaunee, Kiel, Manitowoc Roncalli, New Holstein, Sheboygan Falls, Sturgeon Bay and Valders will make up the eight-team conference for girls soccer. (Read the complete report)
• At its meeting March 6 in Madison, the WIAA Board of Control extended its deal with Select Sport America to be its official soccer ball partner through 2019. The agreement identifies the "Royale" as the WIAA's official ball, the only one that can used in sectional and state tournament matches, and the "Numero 10" as the official practice ball of the WIAA. Here's a look at each ball:

Do you know of other prep coaching changes for the 2015 girls or boys seasons? Let us know at wisconsinsoccercentral@gmail.com