Pax, Calvert among field hockey's best

Regional high school playoff previews

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

For Thomas Stone sixth-year head coach Melissa Hatch, even this is a new experience when it comes to field hockey. And that's saying something given Hatch and the sport have become synonymous with each other over the years, as she has been instrumental in reviving Stone's program while spearheading the development of players during the offseason to better the product for all Charles County schools.

But, prior to these playoffs, Hatch had never coached in the Class 3A South region, her team's new postseason destination after realignment before the school year dropped Stone (7-7) down from the 4A East. Stone's debut in the 3A South was against J.M. Bennett of Wicomico County.

A win in the quarterfinals would advance Stone to the semifinals round to play either top-seeded Chopticon (8-4) or randomly eighth-seeded Northern (8-7). The last time Chopticon and Northern got together during the regular season, the tight affair came down to penalty strokes. Chopticon prevailed, 3-2.

"I'd have to say communication," Northern head coach Nicole Kerfoot said about what her team needs to improve most in the playoffs. "The girls don't seem to talk on the field. I don't know why, [because] they're always talking at practice. But they need to talk and let [everyone] know where they are so we can make better passes and get more movement up the field."

During the regular season, Stone downed visiting Northern, 2-1, but fell to Chopticon on the road, 3-1.

The other SMAC contenders in what has the look of possibly being a wide-open 3A South bracket are second-seeded Huntingtown (8-4) and third-seeded La Plata (7-5-1). The top four seeds were all within one win of each other in the regular season.

Huntingtown and La Plata seem to be on a collision course to meet each other in the regional semifinals. During their regular season encounter, Huntingtown came out on top, 3-1.

The SMAC also has an array of contenders in the 2A South and 4A East regions.

SMAC champion Patuxent (12-2) is the second seed in the 2A South and positioned in the bottom half of the bracket that also includes county rival Calvert, seeded third. Calvert outdueled Patuxent in a 1-0 win in late September during both teams' regular season clash.

"We will need to work on our defense all over the field, forwards included," Patuxent head coach Lynn Powell said about the team's approach entering the postseason.

Calvert senior Sarah Daman added, "I couldn't be more excited for playoffs. I know the whole team's ready. [The key will be] keeping our heads in it and keeping focused on what we really want, because we know that each game could be our last and we don't want a last game. We want to go all the way."

dcogle@somdnews.com

Staff writer Michael Reid contributed to this story.