Two hours after the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 of the season is published, the knockout stage of the season continues with a Class 3A regional semifinal doubleheader at Lyons that begins at 5 p.m..

The IHSA is replicating what it did with the boys tournament last fall, and conducting the Class A, AA and 3A state championships on the same weekend at the same place, North Central College in Naperville.

During the post-pandemic season in 2021, all three of the girls’ state championship games were played at Hoffman Estates, with third place games at satellite campuses.

The trio of title matches will take place June 1. The Class A third place game is Friday, May 31, and the Class AA and 3A third place games are set for Saturday morning and early afternoon on June 1.

Naperville will be the nerve center of girls state soccer in the coming weeks. Fittingly, that area is also a big part of the final Top 25.

A reminder that there will be no polls conducted during the state tournament series.

Following the three state championship games, we will publish our Final 50, an exclusive all-inclusive Chicagoland Soccer final ranking of the top teams in the state, public and private, regardless of class.

In the final Top 25, 24 of the Top 25 teams are Class 3A programs. Class AA Crystal Lake Central is the outlier. 

The state tournament is the ultimate crucible that truly separates the elite programs. All four polls—Top 25, Illinois 10, Class A and AA Super 7—function as strong points of emphasis in how the brackets might play out.

The top-rated Illinois 10 program, O’Fallon, is the defending state champion. The school has produced two of the last three large-school state champions.

The Panthers don’t have that elite individual scorer they’ve had the last three years, but they do have a 65-5 goal differential through 19 games (17-1-1).

“They have a 6-foot-2 centerback, and they are very hard to get around,” Warren coach Ryan McCabe said. The Blue Devils lost 1-0 against O’Fallon in St. Louis in March.

Ranked no. 3 in the Illinois 10, Columbia is the team to beat in Class A. The 2019 state champions have 17 shutouts, punctuated by a 1-0 victory over third-ranked New Trier in April.

The team has the best small-school player in the state in forward Maddie Mauch, a two-time Chicagoland Soccer All-State player who has scored 41 goals and amassed 22 assists through their Saturday regional semifinal.

Crystal Lake Central and Notre Dame (Peoria) are the favorites to reach the championship game in Class AA.

The teams played to a 2-2 draw on May 4.

The Tigers have victories over Deerfield, Wheaton Warrenville South and St. Charles East. They went undefeated in the Fox Valley. They return virtually their entire team from the third place finisher of last year.

Notre Dame (Peoria) lost to Benet 1-0 in a supersectional last year. The Irish are 19-1-1, and have dominated the best competition in central Illinois. The team has posted an 83-7 goal differential, and is undefeated against Illinois competition.

Probably the most interesting part of the field is the lower bracket, where state power Triad is a subsectional top-seed at Freeburg. 

The Knights are 15-1-1 since beginning the season with one-goal losses against O’Fallon, Edwardsville and a top Missouri program.

Their likely opponent in their own supersectional in Pleasant Plains (co-op), which jumped up after finishing third in Class A last year.

The Cardinals have an almost unheard of 117-6 goal differential, and have beaten Springfield, Rochester and defending Class AA state champion Glenwood.

Undefeated Wheaton Academy (14-0-3), ranked second in the final Class AA Super 7 poll, is the team to watch in the other semifinal bracket opposite Crystal Lake Central.

The Warriors have won 13-straight games, and feature an elite talent in all-stater Rebecca Schulenburg.

The Top 25 is also a solid way to measure the strength, depth and level of competition of the different sectionals.

Plainfield North, Hersey and South Elgin each have five ranked teams. New Trier has four, and Hinsdale Central and Huntley have two apiece. The bifurcated Pekin Sectional is the hardest to truly evaluate. Just one team, honorable mention Minooka, is named in a poll among the field of 17 teams. Minooka made it to the sectional championships last season where it fell to O’Fallon.

O’Fallon has beaten Edwardsville twice this year, the first time in a penalty shootout after their conference game ended scoreless. Granite City, ranked in the penultimate Illinois 10 poll a week ago, has also played well.

The Plainfield North Sectional boasts something distinct with three teams in the top seven, and four of the top 11.

Here is the breakdown, by teams mentioned in this edition of the Top 25, by sectional assignments:

Plainfield North: (1, 5, 7, 11, 20, three honorable mention programs)
Hersey: (13, 14, 15, 17, 19, one honorable mention)
South Elgin: (6, 18, 21, 23, 25, three honorable mentions)
New Trier: (3, 10, 12, 24)
Hinsdale Central: (4, 8, two honorable mentions)
Huntley: (2, 23, two honorable mentions)
Joliet Central: (two honorable mentions)

Significantly, the IHSA has also shifted the supersectional assignments.

All the supersectionals are Tuesday, May 28. Here is the breakdown, in bracket order:

Barrington (Hersey vs. Huntley winners)
St. Charles North (Plainfield North vs. South Elgin winners)
Bloomington (Joliet Central vs. Pekin winners)
Dominican University (Hinsdale Central vs. New Trier winners)

It's time to enjoy the big show.

Look out for: Hinsdale Central, South Elgin, Glenbard West, Warren, Oswego, Oswego East, Huntley, Fenwick, Lincoln-Way East, Andrew, Hersey, Minooka, Geneva, Waubonsie Valley, Morton.