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Serving the scholastic field hockey and lacrosse community since 1998September 25, 2025 — The power of contrast in the story
I’ve always loved telling the stories of field hockey where there are significant differences between the schools from which the two teams draw their students.
The easy ones are cross-town rivals or those who are from the same school district. Put a “West” at the end of one school name and an “East” on the end of the other? Boom, instant story.
Over the course of years, you get school districts splitting off from school districts like cell mitosis. Take, for instance, what has happened to the school district of Princeton (N.J.). The school district, in the early 1970s, stretched clear across several municipalities in Mercer County which would eventually have their own public high schools. Princeton, in essence, begat Princeton Junction West Windsor-Plainsboro South (N.J.), Plainsboro West Windsor-Plainsboro North (N.J.), and Robbinsville (N.J.).
A few hundred miles south, Stafford County, Va. had just two high schools in 1998, when this site started. Next year, with the opening of Stafford Hartwood (Va.), there will be six high schools.
You can find some great matchups through proximity. Virginia Beach Frank W. Cox (Va.) and Virginia Beach First Colonial (Va.) are only about a mile apart along the Mill Dam Creek. Lawrence (N.J.) and Lawrence Notre Dame (N.J.) are only about 1.2 miles apart along Princeton Pike.
One thing I also love seeing are games between two schools which are, seemingly, the complete opposite of each other. I covered a game played in the mid-1990s between Princeton (N.J.) Day School, a small private school, and nearby Flemington Hunterdon Central (N.J.) an enormous public school. It was a Saturday afternoon contest, and, thanks to great team defenses curbing the Division I-caliber athletes on the opposition, the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
And then, of course, there was my affinity for the series of games between Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.) and Voorhees Eastern (N.J.), a game we started calling The Garden State Firm because, even though it wasnt technically a rivalry game, it was one of contrast between the two elite scholastic field hockey programs.
Last weekend, at the National High School Invitational, we also got to see one of the oldest field hockey varsities play against one of the newest, as Arlington Bishop O’Connell (Va.), a team which started in 2012, beat Moorestown (N.J.), a team which started in 1909.
But when it comes right down to it, every field hockey game, no matter how large or small the school, has one simple principle — your 11 vs. my 11. And isn’t that the way it should be?
BULLETIN: September 24, 2025 — A university field hockey program shuts down
This afternoon, an announcement on social media from the Athletics and Recreation office of Queens College in Kingston, Ontario said the following:
The Women’s Field Hockey Team will not compete until further notice. An internal review process is underway following a report of non-academic misconduct. We recognize the disappointment this may cause among student-athletes, families, opponents, and fans, and we appreciate their understanding.
At Queen’s and within Athletics & Recreation (A&R), the safety and well-being of all participants is our highest priority. The values of fair play, respect, and safe sport are foundational to the department. We are committed to ensuring all student athletes comply with safe sport policies and expectations, as well as national, provincial and Queen’s student codes of conduct, and ethics. Ensuring a safe and respectful environment for all participants, on and off the field of play is paramount, and we continue to work to uphold the highest standards of integrity in university sport.
This is extraordinary.
Since this site began, we have seen only one occasion where misconduct on the part of a field hockey team (hazing which was filmed and became viral) resulted in a season being suspended.
But it isn’t the rarity of the event that has gotten my attention. Queens University is one of only 17 teams competing in the Canadian U Sports system. Losing just one of them, for whatever reason, is a major event which gives one pause for how sustainable the sport will be going forward.
This event could also present a challenge to how safe sport policies are going to be enforced in the wake of a multi-year scandal in pro hockey, where five players from the 2018 junior national team were acquitted July 24th of all charges stemming from a single count of sexual assault after a gala event celebrating the team’s gold-medal performance.
Whatever the “non-academic misconduct” was in this instance, this does not look good at all.
September 24, 2025 — The in-season tournament season gets some more entries
Scholastic field hockey has its share of league games, intersectional matchups, and the rumble that is the postseason.
But sprinkled throughout the country are in-season single-elimination tournaments of various lengths. These F.A. Cup-type tournaments feature rivalries, unanswered questions, and games which always seem to go down to the final minute with the result in the balance. Some of the best games you will see will be in these in-season tournaments.
After all, the United States season begins with — what else? — an in-season tournament, the Apple Tournament in Louisville, Ky. The first of many county tournaments occurs soon thereafter in Perry County, Pa., with the Laurie Berger Invitational in mid-September, and a raft of county tournaments in New Jersey, and one of the more important harbingers for the postseason, the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Council championship just before the Connecticut playoffs.
All are prestigious in their own way. They also let teams try different tactics and ways of playing in a single-elimination pressure situation.
Entering the fabric of play this year, however, are two tournaments about 3,000 miles from each other. One is the West Coast Classic, a tournament which features teams from the CIF San Diego Section as well as guest teams from other areas of the country, such as the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s a two-day tournament with two matches each day, and this year, it was San Diego Scripps Ranch (Calif.) winning the title match 2-1 over the host, San Diego Torrey Pines (Calif.).
Later this year, a long-awaited tournament will take place. It is a tournament which has been organized by eight field hockey teams in the southern half of New Jersey, and parallels the long-time South Jersey Coaches’ Tournaments which have been played for decades by soccer teams of both genders.
We’re not exactly sure of the schedule or the matchwindows for this tournament, but we think it is going to occupy some open dates between the cutoff date for state tournament qualification on October 25 and the first round of the state tournament on November 3.
For many in the cradle of scholastic field hockey in America, the tournament represents an “It’s About Time” moment. I think Bess Taylor would approve.
BULLETIN: September 23, 2025 — Watertown’s win streak ends at 103
The Watertown (Mass.) field hockey program has engineered some remarkable feats since Eileen Donahue took over the head coaching position in 1986.
The numerous league championships and state titles, over the course of more than 750 wins since, speak for themselves. But in terms of consistency over long periods of time, the Raiders stand alone in this respect: they are the only scholastic field hockey program to have two 100-game winning streaks.
That is, for 100 games (about five complete seasons in Massachusetts) to come away with something other than a loss or a draw.
The first streak was a 124-game winning streak from 2011 to 2017. That was part of a record 184-game unbeaten streak from 2009-2017. More recently, the Raiders put together a 103-game streak which, today, ranks as the longest current win streak in all of scholastic sports, according to MaxPreps:
That is, until Julie Pacheco of Somerset-Berkley Regional (Mass.), the sitting Division 2 champions, scored the telling fourth-quarter goal this afternoon at Victory Field to beat the sitting Division 3 champs from Watertown by a score of 4-3.
This ends the current streak at 103, but, of course, allows Watertown to start a new one.
In terms of streaks, however, the one that may be the most impressive of The Eileen Donahue Era may be the fact that, from 2021-2023, Watertown shut out every opponent for 41 straight matches. That’s right; no goals allowed. And that streak was a subset of the streak that ended today about eight miles west of Boston.
September 23, 2025 — Top 10 for the week of September 22
The last six iterations of the National High School Invitational have played out a bit like a wedding in a soap opera. After the wedding, alliances and romances change radically and the storylines change to match, and there are plenty of surprises throughout.
This year’s NHSI resulted in a number of interesting and dramatic results involving members of our Top 10. But, as we have also seen, a number of the NHSI teams have scheduled each other outside of the weekend of games, and several matches this weekend were games borne from the Invitational. This should be a delicious week.
This week’s RightToRightIsRight.com honorary No. 11 Team of the Week is the women’s field hockey team representing the Amsterdam Hockey & Bandy Club. Amsterdam started its women’s Hoofdeklasse season with a 2-1 win over Den Bosch over the weekend. Scoring the opener for Amsterdam was a 16-year-old American whom you might have heard of: Reese D’Ariano, the homeschooled wunderkind who is in the U.S. women’s national team pool.
1. Emmaus (Pa.) 11-0
The Hornets have been getting great play from sophomore Riley Povalaitis, who has 19 goals thus far this season; the team’s next prominent non-conference game is this Saturday against Millersville Penn Manor (Pa.)
2. Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) 8-0
The Irish had a couple of big wins at the National High School Invitational, but I think the key game from last week was a 4-1 win over Newtown Square Episcopal Academy (Pa.). Irish face Villa Maria today and Camden Catholic tomorrow
3. Uxbridge (Mass.) 6-0
The Spartans sent an enormous message over the weekend with an 8-1 win over Somerset-Berkley Regional (Mass.), a team which won the Division 2 state final last fall
4. Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) 7-0
The Hurricanes go from the frying pan (the NHSI) into the fire with today’s game against Academy of Notre Dame; this should be a titanic matchup
5. Louisville Sacred Heart (Ky.) 13-0
Might this be the best SHA team since the mid-2000s? The Valkyries beat two sitting state champions in Mullica Hill Clearview (N.J.) and Tredyffrin Conestoga (Pa.) at the NHSI
6. Glenbrook (Ill.) North 9-0
The Spartans, featuring age-group national teamers like Ella Beach and Reese Anetsberger, will get a tough challenge next Weekend as they visit Worthington Thomas Worthington (Ohio)
7. Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.) 6-1
The Royals got wins over Lititz Warwick (Pa.) and Houston Kinkaid (Tex.) at the NHSI last weekend, but will have an enormous match against PAISAA titleist Hill tomorrow
8. Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.) 4-1
The Irish got an overtime win over Palmyra (Pa.) at the NHSI, and will have to come up with that same effort tomorrow against Academy of Notre Dame, Moorestown, and Oak Knoll in a four-day period
9. Newtown Square Episcopal Academy (Pa.) 7-1
The Churchwomen dropped a 4-1 defeat to Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.), but impressed with two NHSI wins
10. Yorktown Tabb (Va.) 8-0
A win today over rival Yorktown Grafton (Va.) would stretch the Tigers’ winning streak to 99 games
11. Amsterdam Hockey & Bandy Club 1-0
Pulled out a win thanks to a 48th-minute goal to start the season successfully against Den Bosch, one of the Tigers’ main rivals and winners of 23 of the last 27 Hoofdeklasse titles on offer
Who’s out: Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) 3-2 loss to Winnetka New Trier (Ill.); Lititz Warwick (Pa.) 2-1 loss to Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.)
And bear in mind: San Diego Scripps Ranch (Calif.) 9-2, Westport Staples (Conn.) 8-0, Smyrna (Del.) 6-0, Baltimore Bryn Mawr (Md.) 3-1, Watertown (Mass.) 6-0, Mullica Hill Clearview (N.J.) 6-1, Mamaroneck (N.Y.) 8-1, Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) 2-2, Lititz Warwick (Pa.) 10-1, Rosemont Agnes Irwin (Pa.) 7-1
September 22, 2025 — Hope for the future in a pair of “shirtseys”
Yesterday, during the last day of the National High School Invitational in Conshohocken, Pa., my eyes drifted from the game in front of me during the halftime interval. A young family was traversing the pathway from the Villanova University varsity game to one of the outer pitches at The Proving Grounds.
Accompanying the parents were two young boys, no older than six or seven years of age. Each of them was wearing a black shirt with the words “Wildcats” on the front.
Hmm. Behind me was the game between Villanova and Northwestern, so these had to be Northwestern supporters.
And as the family walked past me, I saw what was on the back: a big purple number 3, and the hyphenated nameplate “BENT-COLE.”
Let that sink in for a second: two young boys who were wearing hero shirts for a field hockey player.
That’s amazing, and it shows the crossover appeal of the U.S. national teamer amongst people of different ages, genders, and even races.
That’s really cool.
September 19-21, 2025 — At the NHSI, 2025
Hi, all. As usual, we take a break from the blog as the National High School Invitational goes into its sixth edition, but our reporting goes on.
Please go to our social media channels (you will see the handles at the top of this webpage), and give our videos a like and share.
We’re on everything from YouTube to Twitter to Mastodon and Spill, so enjoy our interviews and/or unfiltered thoughts over the course of the weekend.
September 19, 2025 — Inside the NHSI, Part 3
Our look at the National High School Invitational concludes with games taking place in the last four match windows. Some of these are going to have incredible players who deserve your attention.
7 p.m. Saturday
Game to watch: Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) vs. Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.), Villanova Field
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the individual attacking stars of these two teams — Sophia Stazi of Camden Catholic and Caitlin Connell of Villa Maria — are going to be wearing red, white, and blue for a major tournament sometime in the future. However, there are other players on both these sides who are likely to impact who is going to win this fixture. Villa Maria’s Jack Shaw, for example, is an incredible athlete and an impact player in both field hockey and lacrosse, and has committed to North Carolina for field hockey. Camden Catholic’s Bella Moore is also a fine hockey athlete and will be attending Virginia next year.
9 a.m. Sunday
Game to watch: Montclair (N.J.) vs. St. Louis John Burroughs (Mo.) Field 3
This game features two teams which underwent recent coaching changes. This is the first year in more than three decades that Mary Pat Mercuro is not going to be on the sidelines for the Montclair Mounties. The team was one win short of a state tile, losing 2-1 to Woolwich Kingsway (N.J.). John Burroughs saw the departure of head coach Meredith Thorpe after the Bombers lost the Missouri state final to St. Louis Villa Duchesne (Mo.).
11 a.m. Sunday
Game to watch: Palmyra (Pa.) vs. Cherry Hill Camden Catholic (N.J.), Field 1
There are good players on the pitch for both teams, but Kent Harshman and Mark Vittese are two of the most accomplished male coaches in scholastic field hockey. The two programs have had an amazingly consistent record of making state final matches in recent years. Harshman has steered the Cougars to five state finals in the last seven years. Vittese had guided Camden Catholic to every state non-public final (except the COVID season of 2020) since 2019.
1 p.m. Sunday
Game to watch: Smyrna (Del.) vs. Shrub Oak Lakeland (N.Y.) Field 3
The final window features a pair of title contenders. Smyrna has been to a DIAA Division I state final every year since the end of the global pandemic, and has the talent to challenge for the title again this fall. Lakeland made last year’s NYSPHSAA final but could not add to the Hornets’ total of 13 state championships.
September 18, 2025 — Inside the NHSI, Part 2
Today, we’ll look at the middle four match windows at the National High School Invitational, which begins tomorrow in Conshohocken, Pa. This is going to be the heart of the competition, with games which bear watching for compelling storylines:
11 a.m. Saturday
Game to watch: Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) vs. The Christian Academy of Louisville (Ky.), Field 3
Both of these sides have been in the headwaters of their respective terminal championships the last few years. Notre Dame and CAL last won their state tournaments in 2023, and are looking for a return to past glory. Notre Dame is particularly keen on winning their matches here in Conshohocken, having had an enormous win on Tuesday against Episcopal Academy.
1 p.m. Saturday
Game to watch: North Caldwell West Essex (N.J.) vs. Hummelstown Lower Dauphin (Pa.), Field 1
When this site started in 1998, the concept of bringing these two championship programs for an intersectional game seemed to be incredibly far-fetched. But the legacies of Linda Alimi and Linda Kreiser are alive and well in the current teams — and so are the legacies of alumnae who have played for them. West Essex features Adelaide Minnella, the daughter of head coach Jill Cosse. Lower Dauphin features Chase Strohm, daughter of assistant coach Kylie Strohm. This might be the best game of the weekend.
3 p.m. Saturday
Game to watch: Virginia Beach First Colonial (Va.) vs. Palmyra (Pa.), Villanova Field
This is a game of true contenders for state honors. First Colonial fell one rung short of the VHSL Class 5A state final in losing to Suffolk Nansemond River (Va.) one year ago. Palmyra’s season ended with a loss to eventual PIAA Class AA state champion Lititz Warwick (Pa.). Both of these teams are going to contend again for state honors, and this will be an interesting clash.
5 p.m. Saturday
Game to watch: Arlington Bishop O’Connell (Va.) vs. Moorestown (N.J.) Field 1
This is a match between one of the oldest varsity field hockey teams in the United States (Moorestown having organized in 1909) and one of the youngest (O’Connell played its first season in 2011). Moorestown is coming off a season where it lost to rival Medford Lakes Shawnee (N.J.) in the NJSIAA Group III South semifinal. O’Connell fell one win short of the VISAA Division I championship with a loss to Norfolk (Va.) Academy.
September 17, 2025 — Inside the NHSI, Part 1
Starting in a couple of days, the sixth National High School Invitational begins at The Proving Grounds in Conshohocken, Pa. This multistate and multitalented field hockey tournament will feature 64 teams from 12 states playing 70 games over the course of the weekend.
There are 12 match windows over the course of the weekend, and we’ll try to pick out games to watch for every one of these windows if you are able to go to and see the tournament — which you should do. Of course, if you’re a parent, or alumnus, you’re not likely to have an interest in some of these games, but the point of this exercise is to give you a reason to pay attention to some of these games. The first two match windows on Friday afternoon will have some particular firecrackers:
3 p.m. Friday
Game to watch: Villanova Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) vs. Houston Kinkaid (Tex.), Field 1
Yesterday, Academy of Notre Dame beat Newtown Square Episcopal Academy (Pa.); EA had beaten Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) earlier this season. The Irish will take on Kinkaid, who has put together some remarkable results in the recent past in the NHSI. The Falcons are 4-0 on the season, including two wins over rival St. John’s.
Game to watch: Manheim (Pa.) Township vs. Houston St. John’s (Tex.), Field 2
Manheim Township has built a program which has qualified for the PIAA Class AAA Tournament the last three seasons, and has fallen just short of bringing home state honors. The Streaks have played extremely well at the NHSI the last few seasons. And so has St. John’s, which had a famous victory over Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) in 2023.
5 p.m. Friday
Game to watch: Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) vs. North Caldwell West Essex (N.J.), Field 1
Villa Maria was your PIAA Class AA winners two years ago. They might have been the favorite before they were reclassified to play in PIAA Class AAA last fall. The Hurricanes almost won the state title last year, and it took a legendary effort to beat them. VMA returns Caitlin Connell, who led the nation in goals a year ago with 67. West Essex has played some of the best teams in the nation even-up the last few seasons, and the Knights have an equally tough schedule this season.
Game to watch: Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.) vs. Lititz Warwick (Pa.), Field 2
Oak Knoll, a mainstay in the Non-Public Division, has always given the best in the country its best effort. This time around, the opponent is Warwick, who won last year’s PIAA Class AA final only about five days after legendary head coach Bob Derr passed away.
7 p.m. Friday
Game to watch: Pottstown Hill School (Pa.) vs. Baltimore Bryn Mawr (Md.), Villanova Field
Get a good look: Hill, the best team in the nation the last couple of years, is only playing two matches at the NHSI this weekend. The opponent for this match is Baltimore Bryn Mawr (Md.), your defending IAAM Conference A champions. The Mawrtians are coached by former U.S. national teamer Carey Fetting-Smith. an alumna of the school.
9 a.m. Saturday
Game to watch: Tredyffrin Conestoga (Pa.) vs. Louisville Sacred Heart (Ky.), Field 2
Conestoga is the defending PIAA Class AAA champion, but have graduated a significant piece of their offense in Shae Wozniak. Sacred Heart, recently winners of the season-opening Apple Tournament, are looking to bounce back from losing the inaugural KHSAA field hockey tournament to The Christian Academy of Louisville (Ky.)
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