MIAA Announces Reseeded Soccer Fields

The late-night changes to the Western Massachusetts boys and girls soccer tournament pairings impacted several of the Berkshire County teams -- perhaps none more than the Hoosac Valley girls, who went from a No. 5 seed with a first-round home game in the afternoon to a No. 9 seed with a first-round road trip in the evening.

 

That’s in Division 3, where the girls bracket looks nothing like it did when it was first announced on Wednesday afternoon. Later in the afternoon, word began circulating that the MIAA was reevaluating the Walker System power ranking points assigned to the teams in several brackets, and the pairings were pulled from the state association’s website.

 

Other changes of note included the Wahconah girls, who went from No. 4 to No. 6 in D3, and the Pittsfield girls, who went from No. 7 to No. 8 in D1, which means a trip to the tourney’s top seed in the quarter-finals.

 

When all was said and done, the highest-seed team among Berkshire County’s 15 qualified squads is the Lenox boys, who were seeded second in Division 4.

 

A third of the county’s teams are in the 14-team Division 3 girls soccer field.

 

No. 12 Taconic (7-11), which reached the post-season by virtue of finishing second in the Berkshire County South Division, goes on the road to face No. 5 Southwick (8-4-5).

 

All five of the teams in the highly competitive Berkshire North field reached the post-season, and four of them in Division 3.

 

Monument Mountain (10-3-5) is seeded third and hosts No. 14 Putnam (9-8-1) in the first round.

 

Division 3’s other local entrants are No. 6 Wahconah, No. 7 Mount Greylock and No. 9 Hoosac Valley. Wahconah (7-7-4) is home against No. 11 Palmer (7-8-2) while the Mounties (9-6-2) host No. 10 Frontier (12-3-2) in the first round. The Hurricanes (6-5-5) travel to No. 8 Hampshire (8-7-1).

 

The other Berkshire County North girls team in the post-season, Pittsfield (6-9-3) is seeded No. 8 in an eight-team Division 1 field and goes on the road to face No. 1 West Springfield (15-0-3) in the first round. The Generals, like Taconic, reached the tournament based on their league finish.

 

Lenox’s third-seeded girls (10-5-3) enter the Division 4 tournament with a seven-game unbeaten streak. The Millionaires in the quarter-finals will meet either No. 6 Pathfinder (13-3-2) or No. 11 Duggan (9-7-2), who meet in the first round.

 

No. 8 Lee (9-9) starts the D4 girls tournament at home against No. 9 Westfield Tech (9-5-3) for the right to go to top-seed Granby (10-5-3) in the quarters.

 

The D4 boys field features four teams from the county.

 

No. 2 Lenox (10-5-3) awaits the winner of a first-rounder between No. 10 Smith Vocational (7-6-5) and No. 7 Pioneer Valley Christian (12-3-3) in Springfield.

 

Also receiving a bye into the quarters in Division 4 are No. 3 Mount Everett (9-2-3) and No. 4 Drury (11-7). The Blue Devils will host No. 5 Westfield Tech (15-2-1) while the Eagles will see either No. 6 Pioneer (13-2-1) or No. 11 St. Mary’s (5-10-3).

 

The No. 8 McCann Tech boys (9-5-4) host No. 9 Hampden Charter (10-6-2) in the first round for a shot at top seed Hopkins (15-2-1).

 

The Division 3 boys field features just two Berkshire County teams, and they cannot meet until the sectional final.

 

No. 6 Monument Mountain (7-6-3) is home in the first round against No. 11 Hampshire (7-11). 

 

On the other side of the draw, No. 4 Mount Greylock (10-4-2) has a bye into the quarters, where it will play either No. 5 Pope Francis (10-6-2) or No. 12 Franklin Tech (9-6-3).

 

Eleven teams qualified for the Division 1 boys field. The No. 8 Pittsfield boys (9-6-3) are home in the first round to face No. 9 Springfield Central (9-8-1) with the winner moving on to play top-seeded Ludlow (13-1-4).