No. 1 Staples finishes regular season at 16-0; Avon contending for CCC South title

Avon and No. 4 Hall remain in contention for their respective CCC divisional championships.

Staples, which posted its first-ever undefeated, untied regular season, remains the unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in the voting by state coaches in the top 10 field hockey poll. The Wreckers (16-0) ran the table with 16 wins, closing out the regular season with a 1-0 win over Ridgefield last week.

Staples, which has won 20 consecutive games, has given up just five goals this year and will be the top seed in the eight-team FCIAC Tournament that begins this weekend.

Cheshire (16-0) also completed an undefeated season and remains No. 2. The Rams, who begin play in the SCC Tournament this weekend, have given up just one goal all season. Their last loss came in a 2-1 loss to Staples in last year’s Class L quarterfinals.

Granby, which won their fifth straight North Central Connecticut Conference, moved up to No. 3 – their highest ranking of the season. The Bears (12-1, 8-0 NCCC) close out the season with a game at Conard on Thursday night at 6 p.m. before hosting South Windsor (9-1-1-1) next Monday on the turf in Granby at 4 p.m. The Bears have won 26 straight NCCC games since October 2015.

Hall (12-1, 3-0-1 CCC North) moved up four spots to No. 4 – their highest ranking of the season. The Warriors remain in contention for the CCC North title with Conard (9-3, 4-1) and Enfield (9-1-2, 3-0-1). Hall has CCC North games remaining with Conard (Oct. 30) and E.O. Smith (Oct. 25).

Suffield (12-1-0-1, 6-1-0-1 NCCC) joined the top 10 for the first time this century at No. 9. The Wildcats last came close, getting as high as No. 11 early in the 2013 season but never cracked the top 10.

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Avon (9-2, 5-0) is in position to play for the CCC South championship. The Falcons, who beat Conard on Tuesday at Ethel Walker in Simsbury, have won six of their last seven games. The only blemish in that run was a 3-0 loss to No. 10 Stonington on Saturday on the road.

Avon has a big CCC South contest with South Windsor (9-1-1-1, 5-0 CCC South) on the road Thursday at 3:45 p.m. in South Windsor. The Falcons, who have to play five games in the next seven days, close out the CCC South campaign by hosting Southington on October 31.

Avon’s last league title came in 2014 when they shared the NCCC title with Granby. The best finish for the Falcons in the CCC came in 2016 when they were second in the CCC South with a 6-1 record.

After facing South Windsor on Thursday, Avon travels to Thomaston on Saturday. Avon travels to Simsbury on Monday, Oct. 29 for a night game at Holden Field (6 p.m.) and hosts Enfield on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at Ethel Walker in Simsbury.

Avon was originally scheduled to play Simsbury (Oct. 2) and Enfield (Oct. 11) earlier this month but rain washed out the contests.

The most recent state high school field hockey coaches poll with first place votes in parentheses. Compiled by Janet Dickey, Westbrook High