This Friday, the fifth National High School Invitational will take place at The Proving Grounds in Conshohocken, Pa. And like a wedding storyline in an 80s soap opera, the NHIS will scramble the storylines of the 73 teams which have been invited to the competition. And it will be scrambling the rankings which have already been in flux since Labor Day.
Credit the athletic directors of the schools involved for scheduling teams outside of their own spheres of influence. Even in non-NHSI games the last couple of weeks, there have been some great games throughout the scholastic field hockey calendar.
And there are more to come.
Our RightToRightIsRight.com honorary No. 11 Team of the Week is Chelsea (Mich.). Last Wednesday, the Bulldogs got a 2-1 win over defending Division I state champion Ann Arbor Pioneer (Mich.). It was the first time Chelsea had a win in this fixture since 2015.
1. Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) 3-0
Rams beat Newtown Square Episcopal Academy (Pa.) 5-1 last week; they will have Houston Kinkaid (Tex.) to begin their NHSI campaign on Friday, followed by a Saturday afternoon tilt with Virginia Beach First Colonial (Va.)
2. Mamaroneck (N.Y.) 5-0
Tigers dominated Scarsdale (N.Y.) and Wappingers Falls Kecham (N.Y.) last week; at the NHSI, they will play Worthington Thomas Worthington (Ohio) Saturday afternoon, then closes the weekend playing Oley (Pa.) Valley
3. Hummelstown Lower Dauphin (Pa.) 6-0
The Falcons’ 6-0 win over Cumberland Valley (Pa.) was the highlight of the week; their NHSI fixtures are Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.) Saturday afternoon and Flourtown Mount St. Joseph Academy (Pa.) on Sunday morning
4. Emmaus (Pa.) 9-0
The Hornets bested Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.) 2-0 on Saturday; the team has gotten outstanding play up and down its lineup and will be very difficult to beat
5. Watertown (Mass.) 4-0
The Raiders took on Wilmington (Mass.) yesterday to try to run their winning streak to 80 games
6. Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) 6-0
The Hurricanes have outscored their last five opponents 62-1; the PIAA Class A state champions will open the NHSI on the turf against Houston St. John’s (Tex.) and meet Ashburn Independence (Va.) Saturday morning
7. Norfolk (Va.) Academy 4-0
Tuesday’s win over Virginia Beach Frank W. Cox (Va.) highlighted the week; at the NHSI, NA will meet Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) on Friday afternoon, then will meet Winnetka New Trier (Ill.) on Saturday morning
8. Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.) 3-0
Irish bested Moorestown (N.J.) 5-0 on National Field Hockey team; at the NHSI they will meet Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.) on Saturday and close the tournament on Sunday afternoon against Westport Staples (Conn.)
9. Lititz Warwick (Pa.) 9-0
Warwick had an impressive 2-1 win last Friday against Millersville Penn Manor (Pa.)
10. Elliottsburg West Perry (Pa.) 9-0
Jordan Byers is one of the better individual players in the country, and is making the entire West Perry team better; witness their wins over Palmyra (Pa.) and Millersville Penn Manor (Pa.) two weekends ago. A team to watch
11. Chelsea (Mich.) 7-0-1
Jikke Kerstens’ third-quarter goal was the difference in a win over Ann Arbor Pioneer (MIch.)
Who’s out: Manheim (Pa.) Township, lost 5-3 to Lititz Warwick (Pa.); Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.) 2-0 loss to Emmaus (Pa.)
And bear in mind: San Diego Canyon Hills (Calif.) 6-0, San Jose Archbishop Mitty (Calif.) 4-0, Denver Colorado Academy (Colo.) 6-0, Darien (Conn.) 3-0, Westport Staples (Conn.) 4-0, Delmar (Del.) 4-0, Winnetka New Trier (Ill.) 7-0-1, Louisville Assumption (Ky.) 8-2-1, Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.) 2-1, Cary (N.C.) Christian 8-0, Chapel Hill (N.C.) 7-0, Raleigh Cardinal Gibson (N.C.) 4-1, Upper Arlington (Ohio) 9-0, Worthington Thomas Worthington (Ohio) 6-1, Manheim (Pa.) Township 7-1, Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) 3-1, Exeter Wyoming Area (Pa.) 6-0, Trinity Episcopal (Va.) 5-0, Houston St. John’s (Tex.) 4-0, Houston Kinkaid (Tex.) 2-1, Yorktown Tabb (Va.) 5-0, Ashburn Independence (Va.) 2-1, Vienna James Madison (Va.) 6-1,
