Which teams made the boys' soccer Mean 15 for Sept. 27?

John A. Lewis

Burlington County Times

So what do you do if the top 15 teams in South Jersey combine to lose 12 games in a week?

You turn the list over, of course. Rancocas Valley, Ocean City and Middle Township -- all undefeated squads -- were big climbers this week, which is as it should be; they're all undefeated. The Red Devils, who jumped all the way from 11th to third in the poll, have conceded just one goal in seven games this season, and are still going to be hard-pressed to keep that lofty position. Second-ranked Cherokee, No. 6 Shawnee and No. 9 Haddonfield are all lurking on their schedule in the next two weeks.

Cherokee climbed to No. 2 with a pair of one-goal wins and has taken five in a row since a 1-1 draw with Cherry Hill West on opening day.

Sterling, Clearview and Cherry Hill West fell out this week. Clearview rode the coal chute all the way down from No. 3, with losses to a pair of unranked teams. West had a loss to Shawnee and a scoreless draw with crosstown rival Cherry Hill East on the docket this week. The Lions have some business to take care of in the Olympic National this week, but they'll get a chance to play themselves back into the rankings when they host Cinnaminson on Oct. 17.

1. Cinnaminson (5-0-1, No. 1 last week) Idle this week.

NEXT: hosts Shawnee Tuesday, at Pennsauken Wednesday, hosts Delran Friday and Palmyra Monday.

Pereira's overtime strike lifts Cinnaminson to 4-0

2. Cherokee (5-0-1, No. 7 last week) beat Cherry Hill East, 2-1 and Washington Township, 2-1. Senior forward Miguel Graterol has five goals in as many games.

3. Rancocas Valley (7-0, No. 11 last week) beat Moorestown, 6-0, Eastern, 2-1 and West Deptford, 1-0. Senior forward Eddy Rivera has six goals in six games.

NEXT: hosts Cherry Hill East, Thursday, at Cherokee Saturday.

4. St. Augustine (6-1-1, No. 2 last week) beat Vineland, 5-3, lost to Millville, 1-0. The Hermits allowed three total goals in wins against three ranked teams, and three against the Fighting Clan.

5. Delran (3-2-2, No. 4 last week) beat Burlington Township, 2-1 and Moorestown, 3-0. The Bears have won 11 straight from Burlington Township, whose last goal in the series came from Hunter Klosinski in 2019.

NEXT: at Paul VI Tuesday, at Cinnaminson Friday, at Kearny Saturday, at Clearview Monday.

6. Shawnee (3-1-2, No. 8 last week) beat Cherry Hill West, 1-0; lost to Moorestown, 1-0. Shawnee hadn't played Moorestown in 20 years and hadn't lost to them since 2000 -- David Carvahlo scored the lone goal in a 1-0 Quakers' win in a Coaches Tournament semifinal on Nov. 5 of that year. Shawnee coach Ryan Franks played in that game.

NEXT: at Cinnaminson Tuesday; hosts Eastern Thursday.

7. Ocean City (6-0-1, No. 15 last week) beat Absegami, 4-0; tied Oakcrest, 1-1. Ocean City has won its first six games in each of the last three seasons, but gone 0-2-1 in the seventh.

NEXT: at Pleasantville Wednesday; hosts Cedar Creek Friday; at Lower Cape May Monday.

8. Middle Township (8-0, No. 14 last week) beat Wildwood Catholic, 7-1, Atlantic City, 5-2 and Buena, 1-0. Township's last 8-0 start came in 2016, when the Panthers won their first 10 games.

NEXT: hosts Lower Cape May Wednesday, at St. Joseph's Hammonton Thursday.

9. Haddonfield (4-3, No. 10 last week) beat Haddon Heights, 3-0 and Lindenwold, 7-0. Andrew Guveiyian had three goals in those two games and has five for the season.

Haddonfield holds off West Deptford

10. Hammonton (5-2-2, not ranked last week) beat Millville, 2-1, Seneca, 2-1 and Egg Harbor, 3-1. John Waddell scored in all three of those games and has five goals in his last four.

NEXT: at Bridgeton Friday; hosts St. Augustine Monday.

Quick-starting Hammonton gets by Egg Harbor Township

11. Egg Harbor Township (6-2, No. 6 last week) beat Atlantic Tech, 6-1 and Lenape, 4-1; lost to Hammonton, 3-1. The Eagles had won five in a row and conceded just three goals in the process before Monday's loss.

NEXT: hosts Bridgeton Wednesday; at St. Augustine Friday; hosts Kingsway Saturday and Vineland Monday.

12. Millville (3-2, not ranked last week) lost to Hammonton, 2-1, beat Bridgeton, 2-0 and St. Augustine, 1-0. Shaun McCarthy's goal against St. Augustine was Millville's first against the Hermits in nine games, going back to 2016. St. Augustine had won 12 straight from the Thunderbolts by a combined 35-3 score.

NEXT: hosts Vineland Wednesday, at Williamstown Friday, hosts Atlantic Tech Monday.

Vineland's DeLeon gets a leg up with different approach to goalkeeping

13. Florence (7-0-1, not ranked last week) beat Holy Cross, 5-1 and Northern Burlington, 3-2. Florence has scored 30 goals in its first eight games. Chris Krall has eight of them.

NEXT: at Bordentown Thursday.

14. Paul VI (2-2-1, No. 13 last week) beat Winslow, 11-2, lost to Seneca, 2-1 and Holy Ghost Prep, 2-1. Nine different players scored in the win over Winslow. The last time that happened was in a playoff win over Wildwood Catholic in 2020. Two Eagles -- Landon Sentak and Jared Hollis, both juniors -- scored in both of those games.

15. Kingsway (3-2, No. 5 last week) lost to Gloucester Tech, 3-2. Dean Martin's four goals lead the Dragons.

NEXT: hosts Clearview Tuesday, at Salesianum (Delaware) Thursday, at Egg Harbor Township Saturday, hosts Williamstown Monday.

Kingsway's Hidric favors Highway 1 as he launches counterattacks from his own end

The next three: Clearview (3-2-2, No. 3 last week) Haddon Township (6-1, not ranked last week) and Washington Township (3-3, not ranked last week)

John A. Lewis is a sports writer for the Burlington County Times, the Courier Post and the Vineland Daily Journal. E-mail him at jlewis@thebct.com. Please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription.