John Jay-Cross River and John Jay-East Fishkill secured the No. 2 seeds in the Section 1 field hockey playoffs released on Wednesday, October 21, setting the stage for a competitive tournament across all three classes. John Jay-Cross River earned the second seed in Class B behind Yorktown, while John Jay-East Fishkill took the second slot in Class A behind Mamaroneck.
Thirty-six teams will compete in the playoffs, which conclude on November 1 at Nyack High School. In Class B, Lakeland, with a 13-2-1 record and a regular-season win over John Jay-Cross River, sits at No. 3. One of John Jay-Cross River’s losses was against a non-Section 1 team, which did not affect their seeding.
Mamaroneck, the No. 1 seed in Class A, swept all Section 1 opponents and only lost once to a Maryland team during a national tournament. The Tigers have reached the Class A state championship game three years in a row, winning titles in 2023 and 2024 and finishing runner-up in 2025.
John Jay-East Fishkill, with an 11-4-1 record, earned the No. 2 seed in Class A. White Plains, with a 12-4 record and a narrow 1-0 victory over the Patriots, took the No. 3 seed. This placement reflects the seeding method that calculates total points earned in Section 1 games divided by the number of Section 1 games played, giving weight to competition against teams with stronger records. Head-to-head results only factor in when point totals are tied.
Yorktown claimed the top seed in Class B after a narrow one-goal win over Lakeland last week. The Class B winner and runner-up will advance to state regionals, as Section 1 holds the at-large bid for the state tournament. In Class A, that at-large bid belongs to Section 8 from Nassau County on Long Island.
Class C seedings produced some unexpected results. Bronxville secured the No. 2 seed behind Pawling, even though Pawling had a slightly better record at 13-3 compared to Bronxville’s 12-4. The tougher schedule faced by Bronxville factored into their seeding despite their earlier 7-1 loss to Pawling during the season.
The playoff schedule begins Friday, October 23, with first-round matches in Class A and Class C. Class B opens with an outbracket game on October 23, followed by the first round on October 24. All games through the semifinals will be held at the higher seed’s venue, while finals for all classes are scheduled for November 1 at Nyack High School.
In Class A, first-round games will see No. 10 Arlington face No. 7 Clarkstown and No. 9 Ossining take on No. 8 Ketcham. The quarterfinals on October 26 will pit the winners against the top seeds, including Mamaroneck and John Jay-East Fishkill.
Class B’s opening matches will feature the No. 17 Croton/Hen Hud winner against No. 16 Nyack on October 23, followed by first-round games on October 24 that include John Jay-Cross River at No. 2 facing No. 15 Fox Lane.
Class C’s first round will have No. 9 Irvington visiting No. 8 Hastings, with quarterfinals on October 26 involving top seed Pawling.
The tournament’s structure and seeding have already sparked debate, particularly regarding the weighting system used to determine seeds, which goes beyond simple win-loss records and head-to-head results.
Nancy Haggerty of The Journal News/lohud provided the seedings and schedule details as the Section 1 field hockey playoffs approach.
According to Yahoo Sports.
