Sheldon ShealerTOP STORY: It didn’t take long for a change at the top of the rankings. Preseason No. 1 Santa Margarita lost its opener, falling completely out of the Top 50 for now. Plano West (Plano, Texas) takes over No. 1 and since the team will not play until January, the team will hold the top spot until at least mid-January. Meanwhile, teams behind Plano West will play themselves into a ranking order over the next few weeks, leading up to the start of the Texas season.
BIG MOVER: Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, Calif). The team jumped from No. 48 to No. 4 after winning the Butch Lee Memorial Tournament, which included wins over Corona del Mar and Westview.
NEWCOMERS: No. 18 Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), No. 24 Castro Valley (Castro Valley, Calif.), No. 31 Alta Loma (Alta Loma, Calif.), No. 32 Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.), No. 33 Pinnacle (Phoenix, Ariz.), No. 35 University (Irvine, Calif.), No. 43 Catalina Foothills (Tucson, Ariz.), No. 45 Madison Central (Madison, Miss.), No. 47 Saugus (Santa Clarita, Calif.), No. 49 Gulliver Prep (Miami, Fla.) and No. 50 Palm Beach Central (Wellington, Fla.)
NOTES: The winter season includes the following states: Arizona, California (winter), Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Rankings through matches played Dec. 9, 2012
| Rk. | School (City, State) | Record | Prev. |
| 1 | Plano West (Plano, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| Plano West starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 2 | Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) | 3-0-1 | 3 |
| Aliso Niguel advanced to this week’s Aliso Cup semifinals, which features a number of top Southern Section programs. | |||
| 3 | St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) | 12-0-0 | 5 |
| The Raiders defeated George Jenkins 2-1 in a battle of Top 25 teams this past weekend. | |||
| 4 | Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, Calif.) | 4-0-1 | 48 |
| Cathedral Catholic won the Butch Lee Memorial Tournament, which featured several nationally ranked programs. The team pinned the first loss on No. 10 Corona del Mar in the semifinals before beating No. 12 Westview in the final. | |||
| 5 | San Clemente (San Clemente, Calif.) | 2-0-1 | 4 |
| San Clemente was one of two teams to go undefeated at the Butch Lee Memorial Tournament, however, its draw with Westview was not enough for this power to advance out of the group. | |||
| 6 | Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 7 |
| Marcus starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 7 | Ursuline Academy (Dallas, Texas) | 4-0-0 | 8 |
| Ursuline’s early season wins with a new head coach includes a 3-2 overtime victory over former Top 50-ranked Nolan Catholic. | |||
| 8 | Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 10 |
| Southlake Carroll starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 9 | Coppell (Coppell, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 11 |
| Coppell starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 10 | Corona del Mar (Newport Beach, Calif.) | 4-1-0 | 22 |
| Corona del Mar reached the Butch Lee Memorial Tournament semifinals before losing 1-0 to Cathedral Catholic. | |||
| 11 | La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.) | 0-0-0 | 17 |
| LCC opens regular-season play Tuesday against Mt. Carmel. | |||
| 12 | Westview (San Diego, Calif.) | 3-1-1 | 14 |
| Westview reached the Butch Lee Memorial Tournament final before losing to Cathedral Catholic 1-0. | |||
| 13 | Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.) | 3-0-1 | 18 |
| Dana Hills’ defining result so far is a draw with state-ranked Sunny Hills. | |||
| 14 | American Heritage-Delray (Delray Beach, Fla.) | 13-0-1 | 19 |
| American Heritage-Delray and George Jenkins closed out the Timberwolf Classic by playing to a tie in a meeting of Top 25 teams. | |||
| 15 | San Ramon Valley (Danville, Calif.) | 2-0-0 | 20 |
| San Ramon Valley likely will not face any ranked teams until playing in the Tri-Valley Classic later this month. | |||
| 16 | Flower Mound (Flower Mound, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 21 |
| Flower Mound starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 17 | Flintridge-Sacred Heart (La Canada, Calif.) | 2-0-0 | 27 |
| Hailey James has scored four goals this season, including the winner in a 1-0 decision over Crescenta Valley in the Davitt Cup match. | |||
| 18 | Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) | 3-0-1 | NR |
| While several of the preseason favorites took losses last week, Mira Costa’s undefeated start was enough to earn a ranking this week. The team’s key result is a win over former Top 10-ranked Harvard-Westlake. | |||
| 19 | George Jenkins (Lakeland, Fla.) | 11-1-1 | 16 |
| The only blemishes on George Jenkins’ record is a loss to No. 3 Aquinas and a draw No. 14 American Heritage-Delray. | |||
| 20 | Monte Vista (Danville, Calif.) | 1-0-1 | 15 |
| An early tie results in a slight slide in this week’s rankings for the team figured to challenge San Ramon Valley for the district title. | |||
| 21 | Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) | 3-0-0 | 23 |
| On a team that features national recruit Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, its been Stephanie Zuniga adding the offensive punch lately. | |||
| 22 | Boca Raton (Boca Raton, Fla.) | 11-0-1 | 25 |
| Boca Raton is one of three South Florida schools with boys and girls programs in the Top 50s — joining St. Thomas Aquinas and American Heritage-Delray. | |||
| 23 | Kingwood (Humble, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 28 |
| Kingwood starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 24 | Castro Valley (Castro Valley, Calif.) | 5-0-0 | NR |
| The return of a successful coach — Paul McCallion — has helped Castro Valley back into the national spotlight. | |||
| 25 | Douglas (Parkland, Fla.) | 12-0-0 | 34 |
| Douglas’ perfect start leaps this team into the Top 25 with a chance to inch higher in the upcoming weeks. | |||
| 26 | Kamehameha (Honolulu, Hawaii) | 1-0-0 | 29 |
| 27 | Klein Oak (Spring, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 30 |
| 28 | Ida Baker (Cape Coral, Fla.) | 15-0-1 | 31 |
| 29 | Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) | 1-1-1 | 6 |
| 30 | Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, Calif.) | 2-0-3 | 46 |
| 31 | Alta Loma (Alta Loma, Calif.) | 4-0-0 | NR |
| 32 | Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) | 4-1-0 | NR |
| 33 | Pinnacle (Phoenix, Ariz.) | 3-0-0 | NR |
| 34 | American Heritage-Plantation (Plantation, Fla.) | 8-1-0 | 42 |
| 35 | University (Irvine, Calif.) | 3-1-0 | NR |
| 36 | Los Osos (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) | 3-1-1 | 9 |
| 37 | Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) | 3-1-1 | 41 |
| 38 | Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) | 2-0-1 | 37 |
| 39 | Carondelet (Concord, Calif.) | 1-0-0 | 39 |
| 40 | Vero Beach (Vero Beach, Fla.) | 12-0-0 | 44 |
| 41 | Presentation (San Jose, Calif.) | 5-0-0 | 47 |
| 42 | Mansfield (Mansfield, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 43 |
| 43 | Catalina Foothills (Tucson, Ariz.) | 9-1-2 | NR |
| 44 | Xavier Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) | 3-1-0 | 13 |
| 45 | Madison Central (Madison, Miss.) | 7-0-1 | NR |
| 46 | Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) | 3-2-0 | 40 |
| 47 | Saugus (Santa Clarita, Calif.) | 3-0-0 | NR |
| 48 | McKinney Boyd (McKinney, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 50 |
| 49 | Gulliver Prep (Miami, Fla.) | 11-0-2 | NR |
| 50 | Palm Beach Central (Wellington, Fla.) | 10-0-0 | NR |
