Tonight at 6:00, the field hockey team will kick off the
team portion of the playoffs against Dighton-Rehoboth at “the turf.” Of course,
there have already been individuals in tournament play this fall, but field hockey
is the first of four fall sports at MHS to go as a team. Football, girls soccer,
and volleyball all start tournament play a little later.
Field hockey comes into this game with a 12-4-2 record, good
for the 12th seed in the South Regional. Dighton-Rehoboth is 7-7-2,
the 21st seed in the South. DR is the second lowest seed in the region
to only Plymouth South at 22.
The first round is technically not called “round one,” but
rather “the play-in round.” The top nine seeds are awarded a bye and there are
six play-in games to get the 22-team field down to a more traditional 16-team
bracket.
How They Compare
Just going off of records, Medfield should have the upper hand,
but of course there is a lot more to it than just wins and losses. The two
teams have no common opponents, which makes comparing the two rather difficult.
DR did play two fewer games than Medfield and only faced two teams that
qualified in the South. They lost to 16th
seeded Case 3-0 and 1-0. The other team they played in the South Bracket is 4th
seeded Somerset-Berkley, losing 3-1 and 1-0.
Medfield, on the other hand, has only played one team in the
South: 15th seeded Westwood. The Warriors split with Westwood,
winning the first meeting 3-2 and dropping the second contest 4-2.
It’s also difficult to compare these teams because there are
no stats on either of the two squads. Anyway, a quick look at the win/loss column
will give us the goal differentials for both schools. Medfield had found the
back of the net 32 times this fall and only allowed 15 goals in 18 games. DR
has notched 29 goals and allowed 18 in 16 games played.
Looking Back
Last year, Medfield was bounced in opening round 1-0 at
Dover-Sherborn.
