Tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m., a whistle will blow at Maurene Polley Area in Malvern, Pa., inside earshot of the Amtrak trains operating alongside The Essential Line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
The sphere hockey recreation, that includes former PIAA subject hockey champions Millersville Penn Manor (Pa.) and Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) is the primary in a 15-game rollercoaster experience, which is able to circulate hither and yon throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over the following fortnight, ending at Chapman Area in Mechanicsburg, Pa. two Saturdays from now.
PIAA subject hockey is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this yr with a bracket within the AAA classification with rivals, traps, snares, and backstories galore. It is likely to be the all-time strongest and most talent-laden postseason bracket I’ve ever seen.
If you break down the 16 groups which certified, solely 4 groups — West Grove Avon Grove (Pa.), Easton (Pa.) Space, Boyertown (Pa.), and Gibsonia Pine-Richland (Pa.) have by no means made the state ultimate. . 9 groups within the bracket have received the championship earlier than: this contains the 1988 title received by Downingtown (Pa.) earlier than the district break up in half in 2003.
And importantly, there are two present state champions on this bracket: Emmaus (Pa.) and Villa Maria, the latter of which moved as much as Class AAA from AA. There are some attention-grabbing parallels with Villa Maria and Emmaus. Thirty years in the past this month, each groups received state championships on the grass pitch at Ursinus Faculty.
However as a result of the Hurricanes and the Hornets are in the identical half of the bracket, solely one among these two sides could make the state ultimate. Certainly, the Villa Maria/Emmaus half of the AAA bracket has lots of historical past and lots of expertise. Take, for instance, what may occur within the quarterfinal spherical. The winner of Villa Maria-Penn Manor must play both final yr’s PIAA AAA finalist Manheim (Pa.) Township, or 2017 PIAA AAA finalist Downingtown (Pa.) West.
In Emmaus’ quarter of the bracket, the second-round recreation could possibly be both 2019 PIAA Class AA champion Plymouth Wyoming Valley West (Pa.), or 1995 PIAA Class AAA champion Fairview Village Methacton (Pa.).
Within the reverse half, Hummelstown Decrease Dauphin (Pa.) will tackle Doylestown Central Bucks West (Pa.) in a first-round recreation which is able to see not solely two of the best youth gamers within the nation, however their extremely achieved moms will likely be on the sidelines. Sophomore Chase Strohm is a defensive midfielder for Decrease Dauphin, and her mom, LD assistant Kylie Kulina Strohm, was capped for the USA U-21 nationwide workforce. On the opposite facet, junior Aida Ierubino is an attacking midfielder for Central Bucks West, and her mom, CB West coach Lori Mastropietro Ierubino, was a midfielder for the USA within the 1994 FIH World Cup.
Factor is, neither Easton nor Boyertown, that are within the Decrease Dauphin/CB West quarter, are pushovers by any means. Easton has performed Emmaus powerful through the years, even getting a aim within the first minute of play final week within the District 11 ultimate.
Within the decrease quadrant of the bracket, you have got 2022 PIAA Class AAA champion Mechanicsburg (Pa.) and 2019 PIAA Class AAA winner West Garden Wilson (Pa.) in a attainable second-round match. However, don’t sleep on Tredyffrin Conestoga (Pa.), which performed Villa Maria to a one-goal recreation final Saturday within the District 1 ultimate.
Now, I acknowledge that there are a variety of states that are additionally crowning champions in subject hockey over the following three weeks. However this bracket — this championship — could possibly be actually particular. The competitors goes to be outstanding. I hope you, pricey readers, are in a position to make it out to a few of these video games.
