Who is the best in the north

[Soccer123]

Magnet beat Loyola then Shreve beat Magnet and Airline looks good also. And St. Freds is looking good as well . So what do you guys think

[soccaplaya10]

dont forget that loyola got beat by st.freds 4-0

[norla]

I have seen Shreve and Magnet play a couple of times, including once against each other and Shreve seems to be the better team now. They are solid at goalkeeper and defense, especially for the offensive schemes they face up here. Their midfield is better than Magnets, hands down. Magnet has better forwards, but they won't get the ball anywhere near the box against really good teams, until their midfield play improves. Against Shreve their forwards were having to come back into their defensive end of the field to touch the ball. No way they can penetrate effectively like that. Shreve has a solid starting eleven-no liabilities. Shreve will go unchallenged up here. How good they are overall will be revealed when they go to the Showcase Tournament. I hope for the best but fear the worst. Shreve plays a "sweeper" defense now, and I think they will be overwhelmed if they use it against Lafayette or Bishop Noland. Their 4 defenders are all good players, but that scheme allows too much space for a good attacking offense to work in. They don't have a real creative midfielder or forward, although they are certainly capable players. Their midfielders will also be required to help out a lot more on defense than they are accustomed to. As much as Travis Wimer has been dissed in this forum, he will help them alot when he returns in the 2nd semester, if his head is screwed on straight.

I saw Loyola play in the Bossier Tournament and I was impressed. I thought they were supposed to be down this year. I haven't seen St Fred's yet.

[1nwlafan]

I would like to see St. Fred's play. I watched Loyola in the Bossier Tournament and thought they were impressive. Any team that can hold Loyola scoreless and also score 4 at the same time needs some recognition.

[#19]

As a N. La player, I have to express my opinion on this one.

Number one clearly comes b/w Magnet and Shreve. I haven't seen them play, but Shreve beat Magnet in the Bossier Tourny so...

Numbers three through five are between Loyola, Parkway, and Airline. Airline and Parkway have played, with a 0-0 tie. Loyola is good, but they only beat a weaker than average Neville team 2-0? But then agan, they took Magnet into overtime. So I would rank N. La like this...

1. Shreve
2. Magnet
3. Parkway
Loyola
5. Airline
6. Byrd

[boston]

How can you not rate st. frederick? To beat Loyola and hold them scoreless? Give credit where credit is due.

[chsweeper]

loyola
and
St. Fred. would not be on the list.

[boston]

So your saying that Shervport is better that Monroe? Well if you really looked at the facts you would realize that Shev does not want to play anyone but each other. I would stack Sf, WM and Neville all stars against Shrev teams anytime.

[1nwlafan]

I would rank as follows:

1. Shreve
2. Magnet
3. St. Fred's
4. Loyola
5. tie between Airline and Parkway

I have not seen St. Fred's play and do not know much about their team. I also have not heard much about their victory over Loyola (other than the score) , but they deserve some credit.

[tweetyD]

St. freds really doesn't have any standout players but as a team they are very good.

[chsweeper]

i agree with you tweetyD. Crowville was missing a few players that could have help some again st fred.

[Soccer123]

Just so you know boston shreve beat westmonroe in the pineville tournament and st freds was there also and the were not in the finals with shreve nor in the semis . And shreve beat neville last year when they had mario. and they had some other key players. Do we even want to know what shreve would do to them now.

[really]

i believe the best teams in the north right now are the following:
1. shreve
2. magnet
3. st freds
4. loyola
5. airline
6. neville

[DREDG03]

Whats the wild card situation in Div. I. I know that caddo and shreve will probably get automatic playoff bids but what about southwood, airline, byrd, and nat. central. I went to see the southwood vs. nat central game and it was rather boring. both teams could have easily finished the other off at any time but failed to see the third attacker. both coaches could have also did a better job. neither seemed to know what to do with the game at hand. southwood 2- nc 0 was the result however central did hit the cross bar exactly 4 times. NC may have the best pure talent goalie north of alexandria. Its a tough race but if he had a team in front of him it would be different. He should play college ball. I know because i did. he could whip many a keeper in the D 2 level.

[CoPlRef]

In the end, Shreve and Magnet will most likely lock up the 1 and 2 seeds in the district. Both are good teams, and the games between them should be close and physical. I look for them to split the season series. The key here will be how they do against Airline and Byrd, and then away at Natchitoches and Evangel, both bad places to play, where even good teams lose once in a while. Southwood is way down, and Natchitoches has some talent, though it hasn't been on the field their last two games against Southwood and Airline. Natchitoches looked awful last night, they had one shot on goal and were totally dominated. The 3rd and 4th place teams will most likely get in from this district, because of the number of teams in it, the record of the 4th place team will be better than the record of most other 4th place team. Essentially, all the Wildcard situation has done is to make sure Oauchita doesn't make the playoffs every year as the third place team. So, look for home games to Shreve and Magnet, and for Airline and Byrd to travel in the first round of the playoffs.

[DREDG03]

does central have a chance. obviously they would have to beat southwood in shreveport. And what about the evangel games being postponed? They should have to field a team. There are no execptions for cross country runners in state that must then join a team late. nchs is bad because of the field, evangel because of the attitude.

[tweetyD]

I would have to go with.

Shreve
Magnet
St. freds
Loyola
parkway
(I know its a shocker, but neville just hasn't got it like they usually do. Sure they can beat teams like ruston, wm, ocs, and crowville. But not teams like st.freds or shreve)

[DREDG03]

after seeing airline they could be top three in the north or maybe even knock off caddo. shreve will have to wait. prediction is that depending on the playoff draw airline may pull an upset in the first round but not much after that. central needs direction with the young kids. coaches aren't doing there jobs. from what i hear they've played four games with one practice and it was just a crimmage. the talent wil lbe there for years with possibly a wild card to come in the next three but as far as beating them this year. just come focused. maybe NC will get its act together but not before the holidays

[CoPlRef]

All games with Evangel have been postponed because they had only 5 players that were not football players. The reason this is important is I believe there is a rule in place about forfeiting games from the LHSAA. If Evangel had been forced to forfeit the games already missed on the schedule, I believe it is 5 or 6 by now, they wouldn't be allowed to field a team next year. What that means for them though is they will most likely have to play three games every week for the rest of the season, and with practice only really beginning this week, this could be a very bloody year to go to Evangel and play. They are dangerous and dirty..... and that is when they practice. At least on a bigger field, there are plenty of places to move. On their home field, well, there could be a lot of red cards flying.

[NB]

i have to agree with TweetyD on his standings but not with his opinion of Neville. They are extremely weak this year. Ruston has already beat them twice this year, last Saturday and today at the tournament.