Weekly Ratings Watch – 10/27/14

Four-straight wins has Notre Dame-West Haven moving up the class L rankings. MaxPreps photo by Bill Berg.

We come to the end of the regular edition of Weekly Ratings Watch for the fall season. With the exception of football, the regular seasons conclude in our other ratings sports later this week, and then we have selection Friday when the rankings become seeding. It’s been a stellar regular season with lots of exciting twists and turns which have been reflected in the shifting in the rankings, although by this time of year the movement tends to be just a spot or two. Enjoy this final look at the rankings, and get set for what will surely be a thrilling postseason.

Girls Soccer:

One of the biggest climbers in any sport the past week comes in class S of girls soccer where Housatonic Regional jumped from sixth to second on the strength of a 2-0 week. Old Lyme matched their big climb by going from seventh to third thanks also to a pair of wins. Coginchaug also debuted in the top-10.
Woodland was ninth in class M two Mondays ago, and now they reside in third place with a 13-3 record after moving up two spots this week. Haddam-Killingworth remains in the top-10 but slid from sixth to ninth.
Very little movement in L over the past seven days, with RHAM and Guilford swapping spots at four and five as one of the few changes. RHAM now holds the fourth spot, while Mercy also pushed its way into the top-10 at ninth after ranking outside the top-10 last week.
The middle of the top-10 is where the movement took place in LL as South Windsor moved up two spots to fifth. Fairfield Warde dropped from second to sixth which then had several teams move up one spot, and Wilton is a new addition to the top-10 at nine.

Field Hockey:

A two-victory week helped Avon ascend to the top spot in class M rising up from the number-two position. Wilton dropped from first to third, which also pushed Daniel Hand up one spot to second. Also moving in M were Nonnewaug and Pomperaug which traded spots in the middle of the top-10 with Nonnewaug now ranked fifth.
Hall posted a pair of wins this past week which vaulted them back into the top-10 in LL after falling out a week ago. The team is now in sixth place with a 10-3 record, and is just one spot behind Cheshire which moved up two spots on the strength of two victories.
Killingly and Stonington both moved up one position in class S to now sit at second and third respectively. Also making a move in the class was Westbrook which won a pair of matches and jumped from 10th to seventh.

Two wins last week helped improve Hall’s position in the rankings. MaxPreps photo by David Newman.

Boys Soccer:

There were not any major shifts in class M but there was a lot of smaller shuffling for the teams already in the top-10. Lewis Mills moved up one spot to sit atop the rankings, and Bullard Havens Tech climbed from fifth to third. Waterford and Northwestern each enjoyed one-position rises and are now in fifth and seventh respectively.
Class S also has a new team in the top spot as Griswold won two matches to vault from third to first. Valley Regional won twice but also suffered a loss which pushed then down to fifth place after ranking second. Holy Cross slid up to eighth from 10th which could be a valuable move as top-8 seeds earn home quarterfinal matches if they advance in the championships.
Fairfield Ludlowe and West Haven both made positive moves in LL. West Haven jumped from eighth to fourth on the strength of two wins while Ludlowe is now second after ranking fourth previously. Simsbury remained in the top-10 despite two losses but fell from third to eighth.
Class L was generally quite static with Maloney coming from outside the top-10 into the eighth spot as the largest move of the week. Daniel Hand had a two-position rise from eighth to sixth and Middletown dropped out of the top-10 from the fifth position.

Girls Volleyball:

Class S has a three-way tie in terms of record at the top of the rankings, which provided some position shifting. Haddam-Killingworth, Morgan and Seymour are all 19-1 and shifted into position with Haddam-Killingworth and Morgan each moving up one spot to first and second respectively, while Seymour now sits in third. Wolcott Tech and Coventry each moved up one position and are now in fourth and fifth respectively.
There was no change to the top-six spots in the class M rankings and some minor shifting in the lower part of the rankings. Waterford, Brookfield and Bullard Havens Tech all moved up one spot to seventh, eighth, and ninth respectively while Sheehan dropped from seventh to 10th.
Three wins helped Fairfield Ludlowe move to third in LL, rising from fifth last week. Southington moved up two spots to eighth position and South Windsor rose one spot to fifth.
Joel Barlow and Masuk each had two-spot changes in class L as the two teams traded spots. Joel Barlow is now fourth, while Masuk swapped to the sixth spot. E.O. Smith moved its way into the top-10 at ninth after sitting outside last week.

Football:

Some big moves at the top of L highlighted the football week in the rankings. New Canaan and Windsor both moved up two spots and are now first and second in the class respectively. Notre Dame West Haven is now ninth in the top-10 rankings after ranking outside the top-10 last week.
The top team in the M rankings suffered a loss, allowing three teams near the top to all move up one spot. Ledyard assumed the top position, Berlin moved to second and St. Joseph moved to third as all three teams climbed one position. Near the lower portions of the top-10 Wolcott and Cheney Tech traded positions as Wolcott is now seventh and Cheney Tech is eighth.
Wins over other top-10 teams helped a pair of teams earn two-spot rises this week. Fairfield Prep jumped from eighth to sixth after handing Cheshire its first loss, and New Britain is now in eighth position thanks to a win over Hall. Xavier fell from second to fourth after its first loss but is still holding in the top half of the top-10.
Derby in class S made one of the biggest moves of the week in the football rankings. The team was in 10th last week and vaulted up to fifth on the strength of a win, while Capital/Achievement moved up to third from fifth place. After one week outside the top-10, Ansonia returned in ninth place.