High school field hockey tournament capsules
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Division 1
Northampton
Coach: Kathleen Ralls, fourth year
Record: 14-3-1
Last tournament appearance: Lost to Minnechaug 2-1 in 2004 WMass semifinals
Seed/opponent: No. 2/Will play the winner of quarterfinal game between No. 3 Agawam (10-4-3) and No. 6 West Springfield (10-5-3) in semifinals at Mount Holyoke College on Tuesday.
Leaders: Meghan Harrington (25 goals, four assists); Adrienne Pascucci (18, six); Olivia Cotton (six, 15); sweeper Shannon Keefe; goaltender Mary Greco (eight shutouts)
Notable results: Beat West Springfield twice, beat Smith Academy, split with South Hadley and Palmer, lost to Frontier.
Outlook: The Blue Devils are back in the postseason, having gone through a long rebuilding period. Pascucci is the engine in the midfield, while Harrington is a strong closer. The defense is strong with Greco and Keefe anchoring. After being undefeated through their first 14 games, the team went 1-3 in its final four and scored one goal in its three losses.
Other contenders
No. 1 Longmeadow (15-1-2) enters the tournament in its usual position as the top seed and favorite. The Lancers' lone loss came out of state. No. 3 Agawam (10-4-3) took second in the South behind the Lancers. No. 4 Mahar (15-1) is up from Division 2 because it is a mixed gender team. The Senators have avoided the controversy endured by South Hadley last season, but will hope for a similar result to the Tigers' if they meet Longmeadow in the semifinals.
Division 2
Frontier Regional
Coach: Missy Mahar, ninth year
Record: 16-0-2
Last tournament appearance: Lost to Smith Academy 1-0 in 2010 WMass semifinals
Seed/opponent: No. 1/Will play the winner of quarterfinal game between No. 4 Pioneer Regional (13-5) and No. 5 South Hadley (8-7-2) in semifinals at Mount Holyoke College on Monday.
Leaders: Kacey Roberts (20 goals, four assists); Emily Williams (14, nine), Jordan Rowe (13, four), Sydney Judge (eight, nine); defender Brie Cook (one, five), midfielder Taryn Marquis (one, three), goaltender Gwen Thayer (11 shutouts)
Notable results: Beat Smith Academy twice, went 1-0-1 against Mohawk, beat South Hadley, Northampton and Pioneer Regional, tied Longmeadow
Outlook: The Red Hawks rolled through the regular season to earn their first league title since 2004 and have their best team since winning back-to-back WMass championships in 2004-05. The team can score from anywhere with multiple strong finishers up front and Judge is a terrific stick-handler who can help the Red Hawks quickly switch fields.
Smith Academy
Coach: Dena Polverari, first year
Record: 10-6-2
Last tournament appearance: Lost to Mohawk 2-1 in 2010 WMass finals
Seed/opponent: No. 2/Will play No. 3 Mohawk (8-6-4) in semifinals at Mount Holyoke College on Monday.
Leaders: Emiko Barker (10 goals, 10 assists); Danielle Duseau (12, three); Alyssa Woodward (six, three); Kelly Ryan (six, three); defenders Bridget Campbell, Lauren Dymek and Amanda Hebert (six shutouts)
Notable results: Beat South Hadley, went 1-0-1 against Mohawk, tied Agawam, lost twice each to Frontier and Longmeadow.
Outlook: Polverari's first year after taking over for legendary coach Sherry Webb ended with a bang. The Falcons went 4-1-1 in their final six game to earn second place in the North and the No. 2 seed in the WMass tourney. The squad lost just two players from last year's team, which reached the sectional championship.
South Hadley
Coach: Tara Cole, fifth year
Record: 8-7-2
Last tournament appearance: Lost to Algonquin 2-1 in 2010 state Division 1 semifinals
Seed/opponent: No. 5/Will play at No. 4 Pioneer Regional (13-5) in quarterfinals on a date to be determined
Leaders: Merry Kocot (16 goals, five assists), Juliette Chenier (14, three), Olivia Szydziak (nine, six), Dominique Wilkins (seven, two), defender Cassandra McClaflin (three assists), goaltender Liz Menard (five shutouts)
Notable results: Went 1-0-1 against West Springfield, split with Northampton, lost to Longmeadow, Agawam and Frontier.
Outlook: The Tigers are back in Division 2 after winning the D-1 championship last season. They were written off by many after losing a strong nucleus last season, including brothers Ben and Chris Menard, but improved throughout the season to become a team no one wants to play this postseason. McClaflin is one of the top players in the tourney field and Kocot, Chenier, Szydziak and Wilkins have impressed in their takeover of the offense.
Other contenders
No. 3 Mohawk (8-6-4) is the defending WMass champion. The Warriors were one of only two teams to shut out Frontier this season.
