I find it interesting that, over the last few weeks of this Top 10, there hare been two words absent from the descriptions located herein. Those words: “Season complete.”
Since starting these weekly back-of-the-envelope Top 10s, I do not remember ever going this late in the season with every single team still playing. But that will come to a halt this weekend. Numerous state and regional championships are on the line and, because Thanksgiving is so late in the month this year, there are not going to be a lot of championships taking place the weekend before the National Festival/Shooting Star phase of the club season.
This week’s RightToRightIsRight.com honorary No. 11 Team of the Week is Westfield State University, which won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference title with a 2-1 win over Bridgewater State last Saturday. The win gives the Owls the automatic berth from the conference into the NCAA Division III field hockey tournament.
But this team has achieved something historic with that berth. Westfield State qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 43 years. The 1981 Division III championship was actually hosted by Westfield State, but the Owls lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Trenton State College. Trenton State (now The College of New Jersey) would win 11 national championships, Westfield’s postseason success was limited to the Massachusetts Association of Interscholastic Athletics for Women postseason tournament, which the Owls won in 1995 and 1996.
1. Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) 21-0
After clinching the MAPL title last week, the Rams go for the league-cup double this afternoon at 7 p.m. with the PAISAA final at Ursinus College
2. Mamaroneck (N.Y.) 20-0
Sophomore Lily Brickman, who has had a remarkable season, had a hat trick for the Tigers in a 9-0 win Kingston (N.Y.) in the NYSPHSAA Class A quarterfinals; Mamaroneck takes on Rome (N.Y.) Free Academy this Saturday in the state semifinal round
3. Emmaus (Pa.) 24-1
The Hornets draw Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) this evening at 6 p.m. at Reading Exeter (Pa.) in what is the closet thing the PIAA will ever have to a Tournament of Champions: Emmaus is the current Class AAA champ, and Villa Maria holds the AA title. It’s a shame that this game is in the semifinal round
4. Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) 18-2-1
The Irish are prepping for another classic matchup against Hill this evening at Ursinus College; the last few encounters have been 1-0 scores, and I have a feeling that scoreline will win today’s game. It all depends on who makes the breakthrough
5. Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) 20-1
The Hurricanes take on Emmaus (Pa.) in the Class AAA semifinal today at Reading Exeter (Pa.). Hurricanes, the class AA champions, have a female enrollment which is a quarter of Emmaus’ total
6. Watertown (Mass.) 20-0
Raiders have a 5 p.m. encounter with Dennis-Yarmouth in the MIAA Division 3 semifinals; a berth in the state final and an extension of their current 95-game win streak are at stake
7. Westport Staples (Conn.) 18-1
The Wreckers are, true to their nickname, wrecking the competition in the CIAC Class L tournament, outscoring their first two opponents 19-1. Today, Staples takes on Fairfield Roger Ludlowe (Conn.) for a berth in Saturday’s state final
8. Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.) 16-2-1
Irish took on Tinton Falls Trinity Hall (N.J.) in the semifinal of the NJSIAA Non-Public tournament for a berth in Saturday’s championship game
9. Elliottsburg West Perry (Pa.) 22-2
The Mustangs have gotten top-bins performance from Jordan Byers in the postseason, and will meet a hungry Newport (Pa.) side which has already lost twice to West Perry; will the Jim Davis First Law apply here?
10. Andover Phillips Academy (Mass.) 16-0
The Big Blue take on Milton (Mass.) Academy in the quarterfinal round of the NEPSAC Class A Tournament tomorrow
11. Westfield State Univeristy 13-8
Will take on Shenandoah University tomorrow in the NCAA Division III opening round
Who’s out: Hummelstown Lower Dauphin (Pa.) 3-2 OT loss to Doylestown Central Bucks West (Pa.)
And bear in mind: La Jolla Bishop’s School (Calif.) 22-1, La Jolla (Calif.) 14-5, La Verne Bonita (Calif.) 15-6-2, San Francisco St. Ignatius (Calif.) 16-4-1, Englewood Kent Denver (Colo.) 12-6, Darien (Conn.) 19-2, Lewes Cape Henlopen (Del.) 17-2, Delmar (Del.) 18-1, Washington Georgetown Visitation (D.C.) 14-2-1, Winnetka New Trier (Ill.) 24-1-1, Louisville Assumption (Ky.) 20-6-3, Portland Cheverus (Maine) 18-0, Baltimore Bryn Mawr (Md.) 18-2-1, Chelsea (Mich.) 15-3-1, Ann Arbor Pioneer (Mich.) 17-1-1, St. Louis Villa Duchesne (Mo.) 23-2, Keene (N.H.) 18-0-1, West Long Branch Shore Regional (N.J.) 22-2, North Caldwell West Essex (N.J.) 19-3, Cary (N.C.) Christian 16-0, Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.) 15-3, 17-3, Worthington Thomas Worthington (Ohio) 17-5-1, Manheim (Pa.) Township 20-4, Lititz Warwick (Pa.) 24-2, Exeter Wyoming Area (Pa.) 21-0, Hummelstown Lower Dauphin (Pa.) 21-1, Doylestown Central Bucks West (Pa.) 21-4, Providence Moses Brown (R.I.) 15-0, Burlington Rice Memorial (Vt.) 14-0-1, Norfolk (Va) Academy 18-3, Yorktown Tabb (Va.) 19-0, Hartland Arrowhead (Wisc.) 12-2-2
