It’s been a game of musical chairs at the top of the Region 4 boys’ soccer standings with a different District 14 school leading the way each of the last three seasons.

Bowling Green rode the region title to a state Final Four finish in 2015. South Warren made it to the state quarterfinals in 2016, while Warren Central had the best finish in program history last year – parlaying a region title into a trip to the state Final Four.

“If you look at the state and you look at Bowling Green, we have a lot of quality players for such a small population,” Warren Central coach Aaron Ray said. “That in turn creates four or five good teams in the area that are going to battle it out. Again, we are going to be in the position where the competition for the top spot, even more so than last year, will be competitive – probably the most competitive year.”

The Dragons are looking to continue last year’s success, when Warren Central finished 23-2 and allowed 14 goals all season – six in a season-ending loss to St. Xavier in the state semifinals.

“I think last year set the bar high for our younger kids and the community,” Ray said. “The kids that are coming back, they saw something they can possibly do again. They have been working hard in the offseason and are really trying to get back to that level to show it wasn’t a one-time thing.”

Warren Central brings back some key pieces from last season’s run – defender Wilondja Ramazani and the top two goal scorers Fahrudin Alic and James Khual – but will have to replace goal keeper Kemal Esmic. Ray said he will look to fill his spot with depth, with six or seven guys battling to replace him.

“We’ve got a good little competition going right now,” Ray said. “Whoever is the best by October, that is the one that is going to get the district start.”

South Warren will try to bounce back from a loss to Glasgow in the region semifinals.

“We hated the way our season ended last year,” coach Tom Alexander said. “We still think about that and we want to make sure something like that never happens again.”

Alexander said he had a young team that learned under fire last season and that the experience – and depth – will be a strength this year.

The returning forwards include seniors Orlando Gil and Anatoli Emina as well as sophomore Eldin Velic, who was the team’s leading goal scorer last year. Luie Kogetsu and Thang Khual are among the returning players in the midfield with the defense also returning plenty of experience.

“Our goal as a team is the same we have every year – to get out of district and then win the region and from there go and make a run at the state,” Alexander said. “We have one of the toughest districts in the state. It’s going to be tough. If we can get out of it, I think we have a really good chance at some special things.”

Bowling Green brings back 19 juniors, including leading scorer Byamungu Amisi, from a team that played South Warren and Warren Central close last year, but was eliminated by the Spartans in the district semifinals.

Greenwood also had a lot of close calls last season with three district losses by penalty kicks and two more by one goal.

With seven seniors and 12 juniors returning, Greenwood coach Luis Llontop said he expects big things from his team this season.

“We are coming together,” Llontop said. “It usually takes a couple of years to get the kids adjusted to your type of play. I have a lot of these seniors for four years and some of these juniors since they started playing soccer in high school and I believe this year we will be a very strong team. I think this year is going to be a good year for us.”

Luke Overmohle and keeper Drew Loiars are among the returning players for the Gators as well as Hunter Hawkins, who led the team in scoring as a sophomore last season.

“All those teams are great teams,” Llontop said. “You can’t take anyone for granted, but I know my kids are very focused this year. They really want to play for each other and they are working very hard.”

New Warren East coach Zachary Young inherits a team that returns four seniors and one junior. The Raiders were 8-3-1 outside district play, but lost all nine district games – scoring nine total goals. Warren East has lost 58 straight district games and hasn’t beaten a school from Bowling Green/Warren County since 2004.