High School Field Hockey
STATE TOURNAMENT
Oct. 20, 2006
New playoff format should reveal the best
By NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
Expect to see Kentucky’s two best high school field hockey teams on the Trager Stadium turf when the state championship game concludes the 2006 season next Thursday.
The third tournament format in as many years offers the best guarantee of such a scenario, and that seems to be a welcome change for those involved.
The sport’s 18 teams, all based in the Louisville area, were divided into districts for the first time this season. The winner and runner-up from each of this week’s four district tournaments qualified for the state tournament, and a draw was held at Assumption High School on Thursday evening to determine the pairings for the quarterfinals that will be played on Saturday.
“I think it’s the fairest way to do it,” Ballard coach Kelly Logsdon said. “I like the fact that we’re going in the direction of other sports. This is the most positive tournament I’ve seen, especially after last year.”
She was referring to the short-lived tournament format that was introduced last season and then abandoned. All of the 16 teams were seeded in a blind draw.
As it turned out, Ballard benefited most from that format, as the Lady Bruins shut out overmatched opponents like Atherton, Holy Cross and Mercy in successive rounds to get to the state final. But Assumption, which had to survive a bracket that included powers like Sacred Heart and Kentucky Country Day, then overmatched the Lady Bruins and won the title easily with a 5-0 rout.
“That was a way to try to get teams into the state tournament that typically don’t get into it,” Assumption coach Debbie Judd said. “I disagree with that. I think the best teams deserve to be in the state tournament.”
So Judd is pleased that the new format has made that possible. The pairings are detailed below.
STATE TOURNAMENT
(All games at University of Louisville's Trager Stadium)
Saturday
Quarterfinals: Kentucky Country Day vs.
Mercy, 10 a.m.; Assumption vs. Eastern, 11:30 a.m.; Sacred Heart vs.
Collegiate, 1 p.m.; Manual vs. Ballard, 2:30 p.m.
Monday
Semifinal: Kentucky Country Day-Mercy
winner vs. Assumption-Eastern winner, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Semifinal: Sacred Heart-Collegiate winner
vs. Manual-Ballard winner, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday
Final, 6:30 p.m.
“All of the teams here are good contenders,” Judd said. “Honestly, I’m glad we’re not in the same bracket as Sacred Heart again. That’s the only team that’s beaten us. But all the teams are peaking. They’re all worthy opponents.”
Who wouldn’t like that?