CCL emerging as powerhouse
Not too many people expected this for the Catholic Central League this soon.
It was just two years ago that Bishop Feehan — still a new varsity program — came off a second straight one-win season and began growing frustrated with its lineup of moral victories.
It was just two years ago that St. Mary’s and Austin Prep were club programs getting ready for the leap to varsity in 2020.
It was just two years ago that Bishop Stang missed the playoffs in consecutive years after a run to the Div. 2 South semifinal in 2017, all while Bishop Fenwick notched the No. 2 seed in the Div. 2 North playoffs with a 16-2 record.
The CCL’s creation in 2020 very well could have then — or maybe should have — led to a top-heavy league now that we’re back to 11-on-11, playoff-aspiring field hockey. Just read the receipts.
Yet, here we are about halfway through the regular season, and only Bishop Stang had more than two losses heading into the weekend. With four teams emerging as legitimate playoff threats across all four divisions in the new state tournament format, the CCL is looking pretty competitive.
“(Bishop Fenwick) is always strong, and they still are, but then you have Austin Prep. This is only their second year with the varsity team and they tied Fenwick,” said Bishop Feehan head coach Betsy D’Ambrosia, whose Shamrocks came into the weekend with a 7-0-2 record after also tying the Crusaders earlier this year. “Then St. Mary’s, they’re a newer program … they’ve just improved so much. … And then there’s Stang, and they’re always a competitor.”
Yes, Bishop Fenwick (5-1-2) has been strong. For the Crusaders to beat Div. 1 contender Chelmsford to start off the year isn’t surprising. Neither was a gritty,
2-0 loss last Monday to Div. 2 contender Danvers.
But for Austin Prep to tie them 0-0 before falling to them just 2-1 on Thursday is a bit of a head-turner. For Bishop Feehan to tie Bishop Fenwick at 1-1 is, too. Then factor in the Shamrocks’ nonleague wins over Attleboro and Medfield before beating Austin Prep 3-1.
That level of competition bodes well for Austin Prep (Div. 3) to play Div. 1 Bishop Feehan and Div. 2 Bishop Fenwick twice before reaching its first playoff run. It also bodes well for the latter two that they finally have a league of their own with tough opponents, something Bishop Fenwick head coach
Marybeth Mahoney hasn’t been used to in her 16 years with the program.
“For as long as I’ve been coaching before last season, it’s been such a challenge to get games in our schedule and to put together teams that want to play us and be able to have a balance of good competition and evenly matched games where we could qualify for the tournament,” she said. “Being in a league and being able to win a league title is huge. … If you’re putting together a league schedule, you want it to be competitive and you want to have those teams that can come out and play and really get you ready and push you to compete at a higher level.”
Div. 4 St. Mary’s is in the same boat with its own set of fireworks. Maggie Pierce and
Lily Pregent lead the league in points with 12 goals apiece, and goalie Adrianna Bowker has been outstanding in a 4-1-1 start. The Spartans just haven’t played many games in the league to know where they stack up outside of a 4-0 loss to the Crusaders.
But they’re in a good position to earn a playoff spot and make for a tough opponent.
“I didn’t think in Year 2 that we would be where we
are, and we still have a ways to go, but our numbers are great and I couldn’t be happier with our progress,” said St. Mary’s coach Victoria Ault. “Very grateful that our league is as competitive as it is. … It only makes us better and it helps our girls learn the game in a different aspect.”
Fenwick and Feehan look to be battling for the league title. But if there’s anything this league has shown us so far this year, it’s that we really just don’t know until it all shakes out. What makes it even better is that it’s so sudden.
Power rankings out
The first set of MIAA power ratings were released Friday across all four divisions, mapping out an example of what the new state tournament seeding system looks like when factoring MOV (margin of victory) and strength of schedule. There have been a few concerns, especially with the MOV.
Quite a few teams with winning records rank below those with sub-.500 records, but the field looks mostly accurate thus far as most perennial powers rank within the top-5 of each division. Winchester (4-0-2), Longmeadow (8-0), Watertown (6-0) and Monomoy (6-0-1) took the top spots, while Andover, Franklin, Walpole, Falmouth, Reading, Westwood, Sandwich, Pentucket and Manchester Essex all ranked in the top-5 of their respective divisions. It’s yet to be seen what happens with the eight sub-.500 teams within the four top20s at the end of the year, but variance before the season’s conclusion was to be expected.
A more accurate picture will come then.
Quick Spotlights:
■A lot of the talk about the Northeastern Conference has circled around Maggie Sturgis’ 20 goals entering the weekend for No. 2 Masconomet, but No. 22 Danvers is on a roll too. A 7-1 record with a 2-0 win over No. 17 Bishop Fenwick on Monday and a 1-0 win over Gloucester on Wednesday is nothing to scoff at, especially considering the seven shutouts goalie Megan McGinnity and the defense have accrued along the way. That defensive dominance really came out against the Crusaders when McGinnity posted 10 saves in a true battle, and it’s been huge as the attack has struggled to score.
“I’d definitely say the defensive unit has been really
strong,” said head coach Kristen McCarthy. “They’re really locking it down for us.”
■Only one other team outside of No. 1 Walpole on this side of I-495 hasn’t allowed a goal through its first six games, and that’s No. 4 Watertown. Coach Eileen Donahue’s legendary program is off to yet another dominant start, accruing a 36-0 goal differential while star sophomore Molly Driscoll and All-Scholastic juniors Maggie Driscoll and Lizzie Loftus have dazzled in all facets.
“For now, we haven’t allowed many shots on net,” Donahue said. “What’s good about all three of them (is) they’re sticking with the team plan. They’re willing to give it up as well whether it turns into an assist or not, just to get the ball moving downfield.”