Dani California’s Preseason Top 10 for 2008

[danicalifornia]

With many teams opening up regular season play on Monday, another great season of SE Ohio soccer is upon us. Last season, Marietta ended my 1st ever poll at #1 with a great tournament run after a so-so regular season. We’ll see who ends up at the top this season, especially with so many teams attempting to reload instead of rebuiling.

10. Unioto- Terrible preseason, but great tradition. A couple of key injuries may slow the team during the season as well.
9. Warren- Great 1st 15 games of 2007, but fell apart at the end. Struggled to do much of anything against Waverly, could that be a sign of things to come?
8. Eastern Brown- Seriously, they don’t lose during the regular season. They’ve had multiple 1-2 loss seasons, could this be another one?
7. Wheelersburg- They are just like EB and always win, plus, they get a good transfer from Webster that will only improve this team.
6. Chillicothe- Young team overall, look for them to be a very tough out once the youth matures, they have 2 fantastic players as well.
5. Zane Trace- They play Chillicothe today in a scrimmage, so we’ll see if I’m way off already. They lost multiple 3 year starters, but have a great sophomore class, so we’ll see how they fare early on.
4. Athens- The Division 2 king of recent years in the tournament in now an independent and is a scary opponent like always.
3. Logan- Very impressive against Unioto, biggest school in the District has been on the rise in soccer lately and are looking to build off of a 3rd place SEOAL finish of a year ago.
2. Waverly- Young, fast, and talented. 2 outstanding freshman go along with some very solid upperclassman.
1. Marietta- They are #1 until they are knocked off, they were a young and talented team last season and look for a big season from the Tigers.

Just Missed: South Webster, Minford, Hillsboro, South Point, Jackson

Big Games: Minford faces 2 top 10 teams on the road in Week 1, traveling to Wheelersburg and Unioto.

[Keegan]

I don't think that Athens should be that high on the top 10. I heard from a source that was at the game that Webster didn't play all that well in scrimmage and tied Athens 1-1. This is not an insult to either team, I'm just reporting what I was told because I was NOT there at the match

[Bozo]

ZT got drilled by Chillicothe in that scrimmage.

[Bucknuts]

Dani......you are way off.

[wildeyes7679]

Chillicothe and Zane Trace squared off in the Larry Cox Memorial Cup today played at Zane Trace. The Cavaliers come away with an 8-1 victory with Skowronek scoring 5 goals and Basil dishing out 7 assists. Also scoring for the Cavs were McKeever, Weber, and Buchanan. I'm not much on predictions but I will say that I believe this young Cavalier squad is getting better every time they take the pitch; They are fun and exciting to watch as everyone is making positive contributions! The coaches and kids are to be commended for their hard work! Good luck in the home opener on Thursday vs Gallia Academy!

GO CAVS!!!

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

HECK, I THOUGHT THIS WAS A FOOTBALL POST. FORGIVE ME. CAUSE I KNEW THIS WAS WAY OFF. SOCCER.

[OVClocal]

i think minford will be at worst 1-1 after the first week

[danicalifornia]

Keegan- Athens was that high based on beating Chillicothe in a scrimmage last week.

Bucknuts- Just a little bit, LOL. But, that's why I do this, to at least start some conversation for all of the teams in the district, instead of just going by leagues.

It will definetly be cleaned up after the opening week.

[SVC Sports Nut]

Anybody know anything about the local girls teams ???

[Bucknuts]

Hard to really tell at this point....

Many teams are still tinkering with personnel and formations. Chillicothe has one hurt, one that didn't join the team until the 3rd scrimmage, and an Italian exchange student coming in that supposedly plays soccer. (He could be Del Piero or nothing to speak of, we have no clue)

Just to make a point, Chillicothe's defense was changed considerably following the Athens scrimmage. That scrimmage did its job in that it told the coaches what needed changed. The last two scrimmages have been much better.

Expect a "work-in-progress" through the first 3 games of the season. Still have about 7 solid players competing for the final 3 starting positions. Waiting for some to separate themselves from the pack. Not really a bad position to be in. Should be nailed down by the Unioto game, if not before.

Do a revised "Top Ten" after week 3.

I probably couldn't do 10 now, but if I had to pick I would put Chillicothe, Marietta, Waverly, Logan, Athens, and Warren as the top 6.

[Keegan]

Last word I heard on Cody was he DOES NOT have a broken ankle, just a severe sprain. It will probably limit his playing time for 1-2 weeks I would imagine.

[pcohio]

Warren being sidelined will hurt the Flacons...Don't they face Burg soon? When is that match? The Minford HS Website doesn't have a soccer schedule posted...

Waverly is also struggling with injuries...Several bumps and bruises are slowing players down, but all but Boyer (broken ankle) should be ready for opening day.

They beat Circleville 8-5 in a scrimmage yesterday...Obviously, the offense looked sharp, but the defensive shortcomings make me nervous! The back line should be bolstered with the return of Martin from a groin injury.

Waverly will get the chance to prove they are worth that #2 ranking as they face 4 of your 10 ten teams this season!

[danicalifornia]

pc- That was my biggest fear for Waverly this season was the defense.

Bucknuts- I don't know if I can hold off until the 3rd week, mostly because this is nearly more replies than these got last year, LOL.

[OVClocal]

always love this thread

[danicalifornia]

OVC- Who does SP start out with? Also, the Fletcher boy is back, correct?

[OVClocal]

start out with gallia, yes he is back

[danicalifornia]

OVC- How are the out of state teams that SP plays this year? Because, looking at that schedule, I can see them coming out with double-digit wins even before the out of state teams are factored in.

[OVClocal]

I did a little research, East Carter is somewhere around the same size as South Point, we beat them 3-1 last year, Spring valley has around 1500 kids in the school, greenup is usually weak, and huntington st joe is usually the best team that they play, but i dont know about this year. I think that is all of the out of state teams the pointers play this year. From going to one of the scrimmages i noticed there were only about 14 kids on the team this year for SP.

[Da man]

when is the second poll coming out???