This all would have been made easier were it not for the rain that was dumped on us Wednesday, because the Fallston and Patterson Mill field hockey teams were supposed to meet, but wet weather caused the game to be postponed until Thursday, and I'm writing this before the conclusion of that contest. You see, I had it in my head that the Cougars vs. Huskies matchup would be the Chesapeake (upper) Division's deciding game, and was prepared to write one of the final field hockey power polls with the knowledge of its result. I'll forge ahead without that information though. Here's how I see things breaking down:
1. Fallston – The game will have been played by the time you read this, but a victory against Patterson Mill would all but clinch the Cougars another Chesapeake Division crown, and allow them the pleasure of bumping off the upstarts who dethroned them last year. After that, all Fallston has in the way of division opponents are Bo Manor and North East, who the Cougars will most likely beat without much fuss, and then it's on to the conference final where they will probably meet Rising Sun, and I'm interested to see that matchup. Of course, they have to beat Patterson Mill first.
2. C. Milton Wright – The Mustangs only loss of the season thus far was a 1-0 overtime defeat at the hands of Fallston two weeks ago. They ascended to the second spot by virtue of their convincing 5-3 victory over Patterson Mill last Wednesday. They have an outside chance of grabbing the upper division title, but it would mean winning all their remaining games, while Fallston loses two of its final three Chesapeake matchups. Stranger things have happened.
3. Patterson Mill – Numero Uno at the beginning of the 2011 campaign, the Huskies descended to the third spot with the aforementioned 5-3 loss to CMW. To grab a second straight Chesapeake title, and become the first team to repeat as upper division winners in its first two years following promotion from the Susquehanna, they have to top Fallston, which certainly will not be easy.
4. North Harford – The Hawks don't have a shot at the upper division crown, but they definitely tested Fallston's mettle two weeks ago, taking the Cougars to double overtime before losing 2-1. They're coming off three straight victories, including a division win over Bel Air, and still have matchup with CMW this afternoon, which should be interesting.
5. Bel Air – The Bobcats still have a chance to play spoiler in the Chesapeake, as they play CMW and Patterson Mill before the regular season wraps up.
6. Aberdeen – The Eagles have quietly put together a fine season, the high point of which, in my opinion, was a 1-0 victory over the Chesapeake Division's Bo Manor team back on Sept. 19. But, hey, they still have three Susquehanna Division contests left before the campaign is over, and if they can win all three of those, the last of which is a season-ending matchup with Rising Sun, they'll most likely have won a spot in the UCBAC championship game, and a promotion to the Chesapeake. Excuse me for using the same cliche twice in the same column, but stranger things have happened.
7. Harford Tech – The Cobras had a three-game win streak ended on Wednesday with an 8-1 thumping at the hands of Susquehanna front-runner Rising Sun.
8. Edgewood – The Rams' last game, as of this writing, ended with a brutal 11-0 loss to Perryville. They still have contests left with Aberdeen and Elkton before the season wraps up.
9. Joppatowne – The Mariners followed a shutout loss to John Carroll with back-to-back victories over Elkton and Havre de Grace.
10. Havre de Grace – The Warriors have two shots left at avoiding another winless season, tonight's matchup with Harford Tech, and Tuesday's game against Harford Christian.