2020 Herald hockey tournament preview and predictions

One thing you could always count on when it came to MIAA tournaments was the fickle nature of how the draw might fall. With this being the last school year before the MaxPreps ratings system is implemented, we get one final winter to embrace the randomness.

While the Division 1 seedings were still being sorted out by Sunday’s Super 8 play-in games, the rest of the brackets were unveiled Friday morning, with action getting underway Monday. Here is a taste of what to expect.

One surprise to come out of the Super 8 meeting was a pair of Div. 2 teams, Canton and Lincoln-Sudbury, making it through the first round of voting. The reigning state champion Bulldogs remain the team to beat in the South, but Norwood leads a quintet of Tri-Valley League squads that could make noise, while Plymouth North has been turning heads all year as the titlist in the Patriot Keenan.

The Warriors made a statement as the team to end Canton’s unbeaten streak after 43 straight, but will have to deal with MVC/DCL leaguemates Boston Latin and Tewksbury, who met in last year’s final, to get out of the North.

Div. 3 North projects as a dogfight between a quartet of MVC/DCL programs. Top-seeded Bedford won both matchups with second-seed Cambridge, but Lowell and Newton South could present problems for either in the quarters.

You would be hard-pressed to find a team in any bracket that was more impressive this year than Hopkinton, which steamrolled to 19 wins in defense of their Div. 3 South crown. Chief competition on the Hillers side of the bracket should come from Dartmouth, with Norwell, Hanover and upstart St. John Paul II looming on the other side.

The Div. 1 girls bracket is loaded, headlined by the MIAA’s last unbeaten team of either gender, HPNA, as well as Catholic Central powers Austin Prep and St. Mary’s (L) and a high-powered Braintree squad out of the Bay State Conference.

And speaking of the BSC, two-time defending Div. 2 state champion Wellesley rode a dominant regular season to the top seed this winter, outscoring foes 90-12 on the year. Among those hoping to end the Raiders’ run are a Norwell team that led Div. 2 in goals this season with 103, and always-dangerous Canton, which has made two of the last three finals.

DIVISION 2 NORTH BOYS

Winner: Lincoln-Sudbury

Runner-up: Boston Latin

Sleeper: Wilmington

Best opener: Gloucester vs. Wakefield

Possible upset: Wilmington over Marblehead

DIVISION 3 NORTH BOYS

Winner: Cambridge

Runner-up: Bedford

Sleeper: Watertown

Best opener: Latin Academy vs. Northeast

Possible upset: Swampscott over Essex Tech

DIVISION 2 SOUTH BOYS

Winner: Canton

Runner-up: Plymouth North

Sleeper: Scituate

Best opener: Norwood vs. Westwood

Possible upset: Medfield over D-R/Seekonk

DIVISION 3 SOUTH BOYS

Winner: Hopkinton

Runner-up: Hanover

Sleeper: Foxboro

Best opener: Hanover vs. North Quincy

Possible upset: Martha’s Vineyard over Somerset Berkley

DIVISION 1 GIRLS

State champion: Austin Prep

State runner-up: Woburn

Sleeper: Needham

Best opener: Methuen/Tewksbury vs. Longmeadow

Possible upset: Reading over Wayland/Weston

DIVISION 2 GIRLS

State champion: Wellesley

State runner-up: Canton

Sleeper: Falmouth

Best opener: Westwood vs. Algonquin/Hudson

Possible upset: Burlington over Cohasset/Hanover

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2uo5Y74