Mass. Girls D1 Top 10
The final week of the truncated 2020-2021 season is upon us, and will be dominated by league post-season tournament action, put in place with the state tournaments shelved for this winter.
This week’s HNIB News Massachusetts Girls Division 1 Top 10 features two new members. The majority of clubs took care of business this past week to keep their spots in the rankings.
#1 St. Mary’s (12-2-3) and #2 Austin Prep (7-1-2) will meet for the fourth time this season in a Catholic Central League semifinal Wednesday. The Spartans dispatched Archbishop Williams in a Saturday quarterfinal, while Cougars advanced as well when their expected matchup with Bishop Feehan was called off as the Shamrocks were unable to play.
#3 Arlington (7-0-2) and #4 Woburn (7-1-1) are expected to be the top two seeds in the upcoming Middlesex League post-season tournament. The Spy Ponders beat Belmont Saturday (4-1) and face the Marauders again Monday in the regular season finale. The Tanners doubled up Winchester (6-3) and get their rival again Monday. A third meeting between these two powers looms.
#5 Duxbury opened up Patriot Cup play with a 4-0 shutout win over Quincy/North Quincy. A semifinal date with the winner of Monday’s Hingham-Cohasset/Hanover game is scheduled for Wednesday.
#6 Billerica/Chelmsford (8-1-0) knocked off Andover and HPNA this week, finishes its regular season Monday with a return match with HPNA, then will play either Andover or Methuen/Tewskbury in the MVC Tournament final this weeked at Tsongas Arena.
#7 Waltham (5-0-1) is still unbeaten and will face Concord-Carlisle in Monday’s Dual County League Divsion 1 championship game. Fellow DCL member #8 Lincoln-Sudbury (7-1-2) is all done for the year after a solid campaign.
This week’s first newcomer is Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading (8-1-0) at #9. PLNR avenged its only loss to date with a mid-week win over Winthrop. With no post-season tournament in the Northeastern Hockey League, it will be a busy week of regular season action for PLNR, starting with Beverly/Danvers Monday, as they strive for a third straight league crown.
Also new this week is Shrewsbury (6-1-2), which tied up unbeaten Algonquin, 2-2, on Sunday night. The teams meet two more times this week as well.
TEAMS TO WATCH: Needham, Andover, Methuen/Tewksbury, Winthrop, Acton-Boxboro