Yesterday, in state playoff action, there were a couple of year-on-year streaks which were on the line.
In Delaware, Delmar (Del.) was looking to keep alive its streak of nine consecutive state titles, which it was able to do with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over Georgetown Sussex Academy (Del.). The Wildcats will therefore take on Wilmington (Del.) Friends School in the final on Saturday to extend its streak of state championships, to tie Shrub Oak Lakeland (N.Y.), Silver Spring Bethesda-Chevy Chase (Md.), and Watertown (Mass.) for the second-longest state champion streak in National Federation history.
Up the coast in Maine, Skowhegan (Maine) Area was looking to win its sectional championship, the MPA North “A” title, for the 23rd consecutive year, leading to a Saturday berth in the state final. However, an inspired Brewer (Maine) side shut out the River Hawks 3-0 to give itself a foothold on the state championship trophy this year.
Each of these team streaks is remarkable in its own way. Delmar’s is impressive because of the depth and quality of the team, as well as the way the team uses the ball to do the work. Most years of the streak, they have proven to be the best team in the state of Delaware, if not the nation. They were the best and most resilient program, in my opinion, during the global pandemic, even winning their 2020 state final in mid-December when most other programs had short seasons or their players transitioned to indoor club hockey.
Skowhegan’s streak is multigenerational, one which saw the team make the state final for not only 22 straight seasons, but 26 in the last 27 years. Head coach Paula Doughty has taken her talented players, including several who went Division I, and formed them into committed teams who did not want to be the ones to end the state final streak.
For me, these two streaks can be considered amongst the all-time most impressive team streaks, alongside the three that we discussed in this blog entry a year ago.
There are also others, such as the fact that Oklahoma City Casady School (Okla.) did not lose a game for 17 seasons, albeit the Cyclones played much shorter seasons than most teams back in the 50s and 60s.
There was also the otherworldly Watertown (Mass.) unbeaten streak of 184 games, as well as the Raiders’ shutout string of 41 matches, the latter of which which ended a year ago this month.
Who do you think has the most impressive team streak in scholastic field hockey’s 115 year history?