Boys' Soccer 2012 - Teams To Watch

CEDAR RAPIDS XAVIER - As always, the Saints lost a lot of good players to graduation but return a lot of good players. Coach Amir Hadzic's team attempts to three-peat in Class 2A after finishing 17-2-1 in 2011. The top player is senior midfielder Chad Gilmer, a versatile player who scored 14 goals in the regular season. Look for junior forward Isaac Frisch to have a big scoring season. Other guys with starting experience include Josh Steffensmeier, Alex Haag and Tom Bales. Still the team to beat in 2A.

IOWA CITY WEST - Unanimous No. 1 pick in Class 3A in Iowa High School Soccer Coaches Association preseason poll. Trojans have won five state titles since spring tournament was put in place in 1995, though they placed third last season, losing to West Des Moines Valley in the semifinals. Top players include Drake signee Alex Troester at midfield, forward Paris Martins and defender Mueng Sunday. Martins had a team-best 10 regular-season goals in 2011 as a sophomore. Starting keeper Ryan Holte also returns.

IOWA CITY HIGH - Preseason No. 2 in 3A. Went 15-3 last season, losing in substate final to Bettendorf, 5-2. Midfielder/forward Tyler Chavez was a first-team all-stater in Class 3A last season and midfielder/forward Fernando Pacheco a second-team pick. That's a good pair to build around. Coach Jose Fajardo's Little Hawks are just a year removed from making it to the 3A state championship game. Can they get back there?

IOWA CITY REGINA - The Regals look to score four in Class 1A. They went 19-2-1 en route to their third straight 1A championship last season, but graduation losses include top players Johnny Rummelhart and Daniel Larew. Returnees include first-team all-state midfielder Ryan Lynch and senior forward Chris Nott, who notched 10 regular-season goals last season. Junior forward Aaron Schmitz scored seven times in 2011 and also is back.

CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON - Should compete for title of best team in the Metro. Ranked sixth preseason by the Iowa High School Soccer Coaches Association. Coach J.P. Graham does have some holes to fill, including trying to replace all-everything midfielder Brandon Besong. But he does have forward firepower in juniors Jack Sundermann and Austin Bergstrom. They combined for 15 goals last season, as Wash qualified for state a second consecutive year.

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY, DECORAH, POSTVILLE - There are mega questions surrounding the first two, both of who are ranked third preseason. Kennedy lost its top two players in brothers Garet and Gabe Christianson. State player of the year Gabe had another year of eligibility but graduated early and enrolled at Northern Illinois. Decorah won its first 16 games last season but lost to Dubuque Wahlert in a shootout in the substate finals. The Vikings graduated their top five scorers. Experienced goalkeepers are pluses for the two squads, however, with seniors Ben Feltes and Blaise Schaeffer returning, respectively. Postville has all kinds of experience back from a 1A team that lost in a substate final, including leading scorers Absalon Cordero and Abdeel Hernandez.