Bre Feeney, left, of Winthrop and Cloey Ledesma of Mountain Valley battle for the ball during last week’s game in Rumford. The Ramblers and Falcons are the top seeds in Class C North and South, respectively. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Over the last few years Winthrop has steadily inched closer and closer to a Class C state championship in field hockey. For this year’s seniors, that climb began with a regional quarterfinal berth as freshmen, a regional final berth as sophomores, and a loss in last year’s state final.
The Ramblers have positioned themselves to get back to the state title game this year with a Class C-best 13-1 record.
That one loss came in their regular-season finale against Mountain Valley, which finished as the No. 1 seed in C South. The two teams split their regular-season series, though the Ramblers won a rubber-match in the exhibition MVC Championship — their third MVC title in a row.
A fourth meeting could take place in the Class C state final, should seeds hold.
Here is a look at each classification heading into the postseason, which starts Tuesday:
CLASS C
The playoff bracket is set up for a second-consecutive all-area state final. Winthrop is the North’s top seed, while the Falcons lead a local-heavy South region. After the Falcons in the top spot, the second-through-sixth seeds are: Spruce Mountain, Dirigo, 2016 state champ Oak Hill, reigning champ St. Dominic Academy and Lisbon.
Both the No. 2 Phoenix (who lost last year’s South final to St. Dom’s) and No. 3 Cougars handed the 11-3 Falcons losses this year. The No. 5 Saints are a bit of an unknown for the rest of the top six because they play in the Western Maine Conference.
Winthrop will also be facing an unknown path through the North region, with only No. 8 Boothbay (the Ramblers’ first playoff opponent) a conference foe that it faced during the regular season. No. 2 Dexter (last year’s North runner-up) plays in the PVC, along with No. 4 Piscataquis and No. 5 Orono, while No. 3 Mount View is a member of the KVAC. Mount View played Dexter out of conference twice, winning both times.
CLASS B
Poland is looking for a return trip to the Class B South final, though the Knights will be a bit more of a Cinderella if they make it again. After posting 10 wins last year and capturing the No. 3 seed, Poland went .500 this season and enters the playoffs as the sixth seed in the South. The Knights will face a third-seeded Freeport squad that won the teams’ only regular-season matchup 4-0. Poland can find confidence in its regular-season win over No. 1 seeded York, last year’s regional champ.
Like Poland, Leavitt also finished with a 7-7 record, and claimed the No. 7 seed. The Hornets, the only non-WMC team in the South field, are matched up against No. 2 Fryeburg.
The B North field is headlined by No. 1 Gardiner, which went 13-1 and is looking to take the next step after losing in last year’s regional final to eventual state champ Maine Central Institute. Foxcroft Academy also went 13-1 and is the No. 2 seed. MCI enters this year’s playoffs as the No. 5 seed.
CLASS A
Will this be the first time in more than 20 years that a school that doesn’t start with “S” win the Class A state championship? Skowhegan has been the standard-bearer the past two decades, winning 16 state titles, while Sanford won back-to-back in 1999 and 2000 and Scarborough’s two titles are the only thing stopping the Indians’ run since then. Bonny Eagle in 1997 was the last non-S school to win in Class A.
Biddeford, this year’s South top seed and last year’s regional runner-up, might have the best shot to unseat The Indians, who are No. 1 in the North. The Tigers went 13-0-1, and only a tie against No. 4 Falmouth put a blemish on their record. Defending regional champ Westbrook is the No. 2 seed, and Scarborough is No. 3.
If 14-0 Skowhegan is to get to another state final, it will have to go through the rest of the North pack, led by No. 2 Mt. Blue. Two of the Cougars’ three losses came against the Indians, both by 4-2 scores. The other was against No. 8 Edward Little, which gets the first crack at Skowhegan. If Mt. Blue can get past No. 7 Bangor, the Cougars will face either No. 3 Cony or No. 6 Oxford Hills.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
