It’s been a weird week of field hockey. I mean, when was the last time the University of North Carolina, Middlebury College, Watertown (Mass.), and Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) have lost games in the same week?
The unpredictability of this game is why we watch, and why we love this game. There will be a number of top matches this coming week involving our Top 10. Pay particular attention to Villa Maria’s game on Thursday and the Champions Trace Invitational in Louisville this weekend.
This week’s RightToRightIsRight.com honorary No. 11 Team of the Week is the new field hockey program combining two high schools in Birmingham, Mich. The side, known as Birmingham United, combines students from Birmingham Ernest Seaholm (Mich.) and Birmingham Wylie Groves (Mich.). Given what we have seen in the recent history of Michigan scholastic field hockey with co-op teams feeding successful varsity teams in Grosse Pointe, Chelsea, and Dexter, the potential for greatness is there.
1. Emmaus (Pa.) 14-0
The Hornets’ Saturday home game will be a celebration of head coach Susan Butz-Stavin’s 50 years as head coach. The opponent will be a good Downingtown (Pa.) West team
2. Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) 11-0
Academy of Notre Dame got a air of enormous wins last week with a 4-2 win over Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) and a 2-0 win over Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.); however, it does not get any easier as the team travels to Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) tomorrow
3. Uxbridge (Mass.) 8-0
The Spartans posted 8-0 wins over Sutton (Mass.) and Doherty (Mass.) Memorial. Uxbridge hosts Walpole (Mass.) on Friday, a game which will go a long way to establish this crafty team’s bona fides
4. Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) 8-1
The Hurricanes take on Episcopal Academy on Thursday and Hill on Saturday; this week will go a long way to establish whether the team is a threat for state title honors
5. Louisville Sacred Heart (Ky.) 16-0
The Valkyries had an important result Sunday with an 8-2 win over Louisville Assumption (Ky). The team faces a major challenge Saturday at the Champions Trace Invitational, facing St. Louis Villa Duchesne (Mo.), St. Louis Mary Institute-Country Day School (Mo.). and Glenbrook (Ill.) North at the weekend
6. Glenbrook (Ill.) North 12-0
North took down Worthington Thomas Worthington (Ohio) last weekend, but will have Louisville (Ky.) Collegiate, Louisville (Ky.) Assumption, and Louisville Sacred Heart (Ky.) this weekend at the Champions Trace Invitational
7. Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.) 8-1
The Royals derailed Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) and Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.) last week, solidifying its grip as the best team in the Garden State
8. Newtown Square Episcopal Academy (Pa.) 8-1
The Churchwomen take on Smyrna (Del.) today and will host Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) on Thursday
9. Yorktown Tabb (Va.) 10-0
The Tigers have not given up a goal since the opening weekend of the season at the South County Stickoff. They have scored 73 goals in their last eight games, all shutouts. They played Yorktown York (Va.) yesterday to extend their win streak to 102 games
10. Rosemont Agnes Irwin (Pa.) 9-1
The Owls have played almost entire season on the road thus far, including games in Boston and at the NHSI, but will be returning home in mid-October to a Carter Field redone in Paris GT Zero turf. It will be one of only eight water-based turf pitches at an American secondary school and the first in Pennsylvania
11. Birmingham (Mich.) United 0-8-1
The team started small last spring, but local interest and the player pool have grown enough so that the program now has both a varsity and a junior varsity in its first season
Who’s out: Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.) 2-1 loss to Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.)
And bear in mind: La Jolla Bishop’s School (Calif.) 11-2, San Diego Canyon Hills (Calif.) 12-2, Greenwich Sacred Heart (Conn.) 7-1-1. Westport Staples (Conn.) 9-0, Smyrna (Del.) 8-0, Baltimore Bryn Mawr (Md.) 5-1, Watertown (Mass.) 7-1, Mullica Hill Clearview (N.J.) 7-1, Mamaroneck (N.Y.) 9-1, Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) 4-3, Mountain Top Crestwood (Pa.) 9-0-1
