There is a new top team in Class 2A girls soccer, and it’s the Mishawaka Marian Knights.
The Indiana Soccer Coaches Association released its fourth poll of the 2025 season on Tuesday, Sept. 2, and Marian clocked in as 2A’s No. 1 for the first time since September 9, 2024.
The Knights are 5-0-1, with their only non-win coming in a 0-0 draw against Class 3A No. 10 Fort Wayne Carroll. They’ve also beaten previously ranked Class 3A Northridge and current Class 2A No. 7 Bellmont.
Right behind Marian is the South Bend Saint Joseph Huskies as Class 2A’s No. 2 team. Their highest previous ranking this season was No. 2 last week, yet the Huskies reigned as 2A’s best squad for nearly a month last season with the Knights trailing in second.
That was until Marian beat Saint Joseph in a sectional championship match. The two teams will meet for the first time since that October afternoon in a 7 p.m. contest next Wednesday, Sept. 10 at St. Joe High School’s Northfield Athletic Complex in South Bend.
The Huskies are 2-2 this season, but their two losses have come to Class 3A No. 11 Penn and No. 13 Lake Central. Saint Joseph also has a win against Class 3A No. 15 Evansville Memorial, a program that was ranked fifth in its class at the time of defeat.
Also impressing in the ISCA’s Sept. 2 poll is the Bremen Lions, who come in as the sixth-best team in Class 1A. They’re 4-0 to start the season, with another area team right behind them in No. 7 Elkhart Christian Academy.
Rounding out South Bend area teams in the ISCA girls rankings is the 4-1 LaVille Lancers at No. 16 in Class 1A.
Elkhart County boys soccer reigns supreme
The Concord Minutemen are the top-ranked boys soccer team in the area, coming in at Class 3A No. 7 in the ISCA Sept. 2 poll. They haven’t had an easy road to 4-0 this season, beating Class 1A No. 5 Westview and Class 3A No. 16 Penn (5-1) to earn their spot.
Within the next week, Concord faces Class 3A No. 17 Warsaw and No. 8 Goshen. The latter is a cross-county match on the road on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 6:45 p.m. The RedHawks closely trail the Minutemen in the rankings at No. 8 thanks to a 4-0 start, with wins against Class 3A No. 9 Fort Wayne Carroll and Westview.
Next week’s Concord-Goshen showdown will be the first time the programs have met since the Minutemen ended the RedHawks’ 2024 season with a 2-0 sectional win in overtime.
Bethany Christian is upholding Elkhart County’s strong boys soccer scene with a Class 2A No. 15 ranking. The Bruins are 4-1 this season, losing 4-0 to Mishawaka Marian in the season opener but winning four straight since.
Bethany Christian gets back-to-back tests in Class 2A No. 12 Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger Sept. 4 and Elkhart Christian Sept. 9. Both games are on the road at 7 p.m.
The last ranked area team in the boys poll is South Bend Saint Joseph at Class 2A No. 18. The Huskies are 1-4, losers in four consecutive games, although three of those came to ranked opponents in Penn, Warsaw and Class 3A No. 14 Lake Central.
The next ranked opponent Saint Joseph faces is a home match against Class 2A No. 16 Culver Academies Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.
Girls golf “Big 3” stay ranked
The Penn Kingsmen continue their run as the top-ranked South Bend area girls golf team, slotting in as the ninth-best team in the state in this week’s Indiana Golf Coaches Association poll. That’s one spot below last week’s ranking, but the Kingsmen have a chance to regain ground with two big meets within the next week.
The first is a Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) Championship invite Sept. 5, a meet that will pit Penn against No. 10-ranked South Bend Saint Joseph. The Huskies moved up from 14 to crack the top 10 after beating Penn 170-171 in a 9-hole match last week, and that NIC Championship invite will be a proving ground for each program with less than two weeks before sectionals.
Penn also faces No. 13-ranked Fort Wayne Carroll and No. 14 Northridge in a nine-hole match Sept. 9, which may be an even bigger test for the Raiders who have more to prove after moving up just one spot since last week’s rankings.
Kyle Smedley is a high school sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email atksmedley@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Who leads the way in statewide high school soccer, girls golf polls from South Bend area?
Reporting by Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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