Score entry a concern for MIAA

Hopes to publish rankings next week

Reporting is essential. That was the message from MIAA Associate Director Sherry Bryant at Tuesday’s MIAA Field Hockey Committee meeting.

Bryant urged schools to input their scores in a timely manner so the MIAA can accurately roll out its initial power rankings. Bryant said the rankings would be posted at some point in the week of Sept. 27.

Despite pessimism that schools would report scores adequately, Bryant said in discussions with other states using power rankings that if schools aren’t holding up their end of the bargain, it’s going to be obvious when the rankings go public.

The meeting began with Mary Ryan being re-elected as the chairperson of the committee, with Katherine Hennessy of Marlboro nominated to serve as vice chairperson. One concern affecting the commonwealth on a daily basis is a transportation shortfall. Gov. Charlie Baker activated the National Guard to help with the shortage of drivers, but many sub-varsity events are being called off for that very reason.

The majority of postseason field hockey games have a 2:30 p.m. faceoff. Several committee members expressed the need to be flexible with inviolable start times.

As the meeting wound down, committee member Patti Rowe spoke about the recent death of Janice Bruce. In Rowe’s word, Bruce was an essential member of the field hockey community and was a key cog in getting the state tournament started in 1975.

The MIAA Ice Hockey Committee held its meeting and discussed several of the same topics that came up in the field hockey meeting, namely power rankings and the necessity to input scores in a timely manner.

What was discussed was the length of time in a regular season hockey game. Leagues have the option to play 17-minute periods, though many are planning on remaining with 15-minute periods. If the game is tied at the end of regulation, then there will be a five-minute overtime in which both teams play 4-on-4.

In a regular season tournament, should teams play a scoreless overtime and require a shootout to determine a winner, the game would go into the MIAA record book as a tie for record purposes.

Ice Hockey Committee vice chairman David Lezenski, the athletic director at Lowell, said that 42 schools appealed their placement in the new statewide realignment and all but one were approved.