The story of the 2009 St. Thomas Aquinas boys soccer team will surely be retold over the years for future classes of players, coach Craig Ewing says.

And what a story it is.

In addition to finishing 21-0 for the second undefeated season in the storied history of the program and winning its seventh consecutive state championship, this Saints team will also finish the season ranked No. 1 in two national high school soccer polls.

The latest ESPN Rise Fab 50 rankings were released Tuesday, showing Aquinas had moved one spot to No. 1 ahead of St. Ignatius (Ohio), which lost in its state finals game on Friday. It is not the final poll, but the Saints’ position is secure.

Meanwhile, the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas poll was released Tuesday, showing the Saints had moved from No. 4 last week to No. 1.

“We’re very fortunate, you know, because the stars and all that have to align,” Ewing said. “But what it tells me is a group of kids in Kansas who worked their butts off and are coachable can achieve something. It’s really a neat symbol, I think.”

Aquinas earned a 2-0 victory against Bishop Miege in the Kansas 5A state championship game Nov. 7 in Topeka, completing its first undefeated season since 1994, when it finished ranked first in a national poll sponsored by Umbro and USA Today, Ewing said.

That ‘94 team had seven players go on to compete for Division I college programs. The Saints’ heralded 2005 team had eight future Division I soccer players and went 19-2.

This team, Ewing said, currently has only one such player — senior defender Sean Latz is headed to Drake.

It was a collective effort that carried the Saints through a challenging schedule that included Kansas 6A state champion Washburn Rural as well as strong out-of-state competition.

Word of a No. 1 ranking started to spread Friday as some players followed St. Ignatius’ final game online. The rankings were officially announced to Aquinas students Tuesday at school over the intercom.

“Right now, it’s probably the best feeling in the world,” Latz said Tuesday evening.

One the players and coaches won’t soon forget.

“When I look back,” Ewing said, “this will be a special team because of knowing what they were able to accomplish just by stuff like hard work and being coachable and kind of selling out for the team over the individual — all that good stuff that you want sports to be about.”

| Ryan Young, ryoung@kcstar.com