EMass Boys Division 3 Top 15
Hopkinton or Dartmouth? Dartmouth or Hopkinton?
Both teams have stayed at the top of the HNIB News Eastern Mass. Division 3 rankings for most of the season, with Hopkinton enjoying a long stay at No. 1. However, the Hillers finally suffered their first loss of the season Saturday, falling to Westwood, 2-1.
Dartmouth didn’t sail through the last week, battling Bridgewater-Raynham to a tie. The Indians have suffered both blemishes this season vs. B-R, a Div. 1 team. For that, let’s go with Dartmouth this week at No. 1, followed by Hopkinton.
Bedford is an easy choice for No. 3 after a pair of wins, including a season sweep of Cambridge. But Hanover is creeping up on the outside, moving up to No. 4 with Cambridge now at 5.
Norwell and Lowell are charging hard and slot in at 6 and 7, respectively.
The bottom half of this week’s rankings undergoes a big overhaul, with four new teams in the rankings this week: in order, Foxboro, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Newton South.
Two teams – Newton South and Martha’s Vineyard – have a pair of matchups against fellow ranked teams this week. Newton South hosts Lowell on Wednesday (7, Ryan) and Bedford on Saturday (2:15), while Vineyard welcomes No. 9 Bishop Stang on Friday (4:30), then goes island hopping to visit Nantucket on Saturday (5:15).
Hopkinton also faces a tough challenge at home Saturday vs. Norwood (1, NE Sports Center), and Lowell also treks to Lincoln-Sudbury on Monday (8, NESC).