Hockomock League Pilot Schedule Program Explained

By HockomockSports.com Staff

As the calendar turns to October, if you’re a field hockey or soccer team in the Hock, you’ll notice a couple of blanks in the schedule.

The Hockomock League launched a pilot schedule program for those two sports this fall that aligns with the current MIAA ranking system for the state tournament. Both field hockey and soccer are limited to 18 games by the MIAA, and under the previous format, nearly 90% of that was reserved for league games (16 out of 18).

“This program gives schools more flexibility,” said Foxboro athletic director Joe Cusack, who serves on the league’s scheduling committee. “With the state ratings, it doesn’t always make sense for certain teams to play each other twice. Instead of predetermined matchups for these games, we’re using real time data to put two teams against each other that makes the most sense right now.”

In this program this fall, soccer and field hockey teams will play each league opponent once — 11 games — for the league standings. Two additional non-league games, which have no bearing on the division standings, will be scheduled against Hock teams, based on MIAA rankings

The league will use ratings, regardless of division (Division 1, Division 2, etc.), and sort the teams from highest to lowest by overall rating. Field hockey will use the ratings released by the MIAA on October 7th while soccer will use the ones dropped on October 21st to determine the opponents for these games.

The first game will have teams in the same division (Davenport/Kelley-Rex) play one another, and the second will be a crossover game against the opposite division.

“Before the rating system, you had to be at least 0.500 to qualify,” Cusack said. “Now you can also get in based on rating, which includes your own rating and your opponents’ rating. With up to five non-league games now, which is more than double than before, there is a lot more flexibility for teams.”

Every team is guaranteed at least one home game under this format. Here is an example of how the matchups will look:

Field Hockey (10/9) & Soccer (10/23)

Field Hockey (10/14) & Soccer (10/27)