The goal for all 137 teams seeded into MIAA field hockey tournaments Tuesday morning: to play in one of the four state finals scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 15, at Burlington High School.
The journey will start as early as Wednesday afternoon with preliminary-round play.
Two-time defending champion Walpole (16-1-1) headlines the Division 1 bracket, earning a straight shot to the Round of 32. No. 2 Franklin (13-2) and No. 3 Wellesley (17-1) round out the top three, with the Raiders celebrating their highest MIAA power ranking ever, a six-point jump from last season. Wellesley and No. 6 Belmont are poised for a clash of heavy offensive hitters. Last year’s runner-up, Andover (15-1-2), is seeded eighth. Unlike the last four years, Walpole and Andover cannot meet in the title game.
After leading the Division 2 power rankings the entire season, Hingham takes the top seed for the first time with a 4.04 rating. The Harborwomen (16-1-1) have the possibility of facing No. 4 Canton, No. 5 King Philip, or No. 9 Reading in pursuit of the final. Nashoba Regional follows at No. 2 with a 3.41 rating, and could face No. 6 Longmeadow in the postseason for the first time since 2022. But Longmeadow would have to defeat defending champion Somerset Berkley, whichs is seeded third with a 3.4 rating. The two teams could meet in the Round of 8.
After winning four straight Division 4 titles, Uxbridge moves up and takes the top seed in the D3 tournament with a 5.33 rating, the highest across all four divisions. The undefeated newcomers will play the winner of No. 32 Apponequet and No. 33 Saugus.
No. 2 Sandwich finished the regular season with a 4.44 rating, and will face either No. 31 Blackstone Valley RVT or No. 34 St. Bernard’s. Dover-Sherborn rounds out the top three with a 3.81 rating and could face a quarterfinal rematch against Sandwich. Defending champion Watertown falls to No. 4.
Monomoy (12-5-1) is the No. 1 seed in Division 4, a fitting place for a team that has played a robust nonleague schedule, including No. 2 Dennis-Yarmouth. Even with that slate, Monomoy’s path back to the title game would not include a single team it has faced this season.
Unlike Monomoy, Dennis-Yarmouth’s (13-5-0) path to a title game would include a league foe: No. 10 St. John Paul II, which it defeated twice this season. D-Y is in D4 for the first time after dropping from Division 3. Longtime power Cohasset (12-3-1) is the third seed.
All games will be at the home site of the higher seed through the Round of 8. The MIAA will provide neutral sites for semifinals and finals, as defined by TMC site policy.
Kat Cornetta can be reached at sportsgirlkat@gmail.com.