Boys ESR Spring Top 50, April 9
by Sheldon Shealer

TOP STORY: Tournament weekend boded well for South Carolina and Tennessee. Wando (S.C.) won the Palmetto Cup for the second straight year in an event that featured top programs from South Carolina and Tennessee. Meanwhile, Farragut went 2-1 at the Palmetto Cup while Tennessee counterpart Franklin took down Oklahoma's top-ranked Jenks team. The net result is that this week's ESR Top 50 features 12 teams combined from the states of South Carolina and Tennessee.

BIG MOVER: Christian Brothers (Memphis, Tenn.). Christian Brothers, a preseason Top 25 team that fell out of the rankings after a surprise early tie, is back at No. 19 after a 3-1 win over previous Top 25-ranked White House.

NEWCOMERS: No. 17 Franklin (Franklin, Tenn.), No. 44 South Lakes (Reston, Va.), No. 48 Brookwood (Snellville, Ga.) and No. 50 Stadium (Tacoma, Wash.).

NOTES: The spring season includes the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

Rankings through matches played as of April 7, 2013
Rk. School (City, State) Record Prev.

1 Creighton Prep (Omaha, Neb.) 9-0-0 1
Creighton Prep's wins over Millard South and Millard West set up a showdown with No. 13 Omaha South for the Metro Tournament title, a contest that was scheduled to be played Monday evening.

2 Wando (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) 12-0-0 3
Erik Clark, a College of Charleston signee, was named MVP as Wando swept its way to a second straight Palmetto Cup title. In the final, Wando bested host Brookland-Cayce 3-0. The 16-team event featured four teams in the current Top 50.

3 Lassiter (Marietta, Ga.) 14-0-0 2
Lassiter smacked Darlington 10-0 last week in the team's lone match. Lassiter, which has yet to face a Top 50 team this season, swapped spots with Wando (S.C.), which has played a more demanding schedule to date. Lassiter won't see a nationally ranked opponent until the playoffs.

4 Mills Godwin (Henrico, Va.) 4-0-0 4
Mills Godwin was idle last week.

5 Snohomish (Snohomish, Wash.) 9-0-0 5
Uriel Herrera and Tyler Mayer both scored in Snohomish's two wins last week to keep the team perfect as it nears the midway point of the season.

6 Tuscarora (Leesburg, Va.) 4-0-1 8
Tuscarora edged Loudoun Valley 2-1 in the team's only outing last week.

7 McIntosh (Peachtree City, Ga.) 15-0-0 10
McIntosh was idle last week.

8 St. Pius (Atlanta, Ga.) 10-0-2 15
St. Pius was idle last week.

9 Brighton (Salt Lake City, Utah) 7-0-0 11
Ben Perkins converted a PK set up when Matthew Coffey was taken down in the box to lift Brighton to a 1-0 victory over Top 50-ranked Alta. Coffey scored twice in the team's 3-0 win over Fremont earlier in the week.

10 Jefferson Forest (Forest, Va.) 3-0-0 13
Jefferson Forest was idle last week.

11 Blacksburg (Blacksburg, Va.) 2-0-0 14
Colgate signee Geinda Smith scored twice as Blacksburg defeated Christiansburg 4-0. This week, Blacksburg plays host to a four-team event featuring Jefferson Forest and Blacksburg. If the teams win their Friday openers, they will meet in Saturday's final. Regardless, this event will be key to both teams' ranking starting next week.

12 Skyview (Vancouver, Wash.) 8-0-0 17
Skyview was idle last week.

13 Omaha South (Omaha, Neb.) 10-0-0 19
Omaha South ripped Papillion-La Vista and Papillion-La Vista South by a combined 17-1 margin to reach the Metro Tournament final where it was scheduled to meet top-ranked Creighton Prep on Monday.

14 Norman (Norman, Okla.) 7-0-0 25
Norman has won three one-goal contests and three matches by shootout this season. The most recent victory was a shootout win over Putnam City North following a 1-1 contest. Andrew Arledge made one save in the shootout, but that was enough for the victory.

15 Christian Academy of Knoxville (Knoxville, Tenn.) 5-0-0 16
CAK, which hasn't played a match closer than six goals, will get its first test of the season when it travels to a mixer in Memphis this weekend.

16 Dalton (Dalton, Ga.) 12-0-0 29
Dalton was idle last week, but got a jump in the rankings since it twice beat Northwest Whitfield (once 6-1), a team that played a close contest with one of Tennessee's top-ranked squads.

17 Franklin (Franklin, Tenn.) 4-0-1 NR
Franklin's 3-1 victory over previous Top 10-ranked Jenks (Okla.) led to quite a shake-up this week, one that leaves the Southeast states (Alabama, Georgia, S.C. and Tennessee) with 22 teams in this week's rankings as compared to 11 by the Midwest states (Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma).

18 Lake Braddock (Burke, Va.) 3-0-1 22
Lake Braddock's ranking will be put to the test this week with matches against Top 50-ranked T.C. Williams and Oakton, who are a combined 9-0-1.

19 Christian Brothers (Memphis, Tenn.) 4-0-1 46
Christian Brothers' 3-1 win over previous Top 25-ranked White House led to a major jump in this week's rankings for this perennial private school state title challenger.

20 Vestavia Hills (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) 19-1-1 7
Vestavia Hill was knocked from the unbeatens in a loss to Top 25-ranked Oak Mountain, but remains ranked ahead of Oak Mountain based on the fact it has won two of the three meetings this season. The next meeting could be in the playoffs, and the winner there will earn the ultimate bragging rights.

21 Grand Island (Grand Island, Neb.) 9-0-0 28
Grand Island slipped past Lincoln Southwest in PKs to win the conference tournament, and the schedule doesn't get any easier this week. The Islanders are slated to face No. 1 Creighton Prep on Saturday.

22 East Coweta (Sharpsburg, Ga.) 11-0-0 30
East Coweta was idle last week.

23 T.C. Williams (Alexandria, Va.) 4-0-1 24
The only goals allowed this year by T.C. Williams came last week in a 2-2 draw with Edison.

24 Oak Mountain (Birmingham, Ala.) 14-2-0 26
Oak Mountain, which has been on the fringe of the Top 25 the past few weeks, moved up following wins over Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills.

25 Valley (West Des Moines, Iowa) 1-0-0 27
Jordan Lucas scored twice as West Des Moines Valley opened its season with a 5-1 win over Waukee. This week, Valley faces Millard West (Neb.) in a match that will help sort of the ranking order of the Midwest programs from those states.

26 St. Joseph's (Greenville, S.C.) 8-1-0 31

27 J.L. Mann (Greenville, S.C.) 7-1-0 32

28 Pius X (Lincoln, Neb.) 3-1-0 33

29 Forest Park (Woodbridge, Va.) 5-0-0 34

30 Oakton (Vienna, Va.) 5-0-0 34

31 Northwestern (Rock Hill, S.C.) 11-1-0 42

32 Fort Mill (Fort Mill, S.C.) 16-2-0 43

33 Farragut (Knoxville, Tenn.) 8-1-0 20

34 Myrtle Beach (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) 10-2-0 40

35 Redmond (Redmond, Wash.) 8-0-0 41

36 Davis (Kaysville, Utah) 4-1-0 36

37 Alta (Sandy, Utah) 5-1-0 37

38 Greater Atlanta Christian (Atlanta, Ga.) 11-0-2 39

39 White House (White House, Tenn.) 8-1-0 23

40 Jenks (Jenks, Okla.) 8-1-1 6

41 Brentwood (Brentwood, Tenn.) 3-1-2 35

42 Owasso (Owasso, Okla.) 1-0-2 44

43 Bixby (Bixby, Okla.) 5-1-1 45

44 South Lakes (Reston, Va.) 4-1-0 NR

45 Central Gwinnett (Lawrenceville, Ga.) 12-2-0 38

46 Union (Tulsa, Okla.) 3-1-0 49

47 Broken Arrow (Broken Arrow, Okla.) 2-2-0 50

48 Brookwood (Snellville, Ga.) 10-2-1 NR

49 Baylor School (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 7-0-2 9

50 Stadium (Tacoma, Wash.) 5-1-1 NR