The Mid-Atlantic has long been considered the most dominant region in Div. III field hockey, and with good reason. Since the inception of the NCAA Tournament in 1981, programs like The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), which boasts a record nine championships, and Salisbury, which earned three consecutive titles between 2003 and 2005, have solidified their region's reputation.
"They've got a great history," Tufts coach Tina McDavitt said. "They've been really good. If you go through and look at who's won the national championship for the last 20 years, they've won a lot ... These teams, I think, deserve the recognition they're getting, and they have the kind of longevity to back it up."
But over the past few years, the Mid-Atlantic giants have been shuffling aside to make room at the top for a new bastion of field hockey power: New England, or more specifically, the NESCAC. And with conference titan Bowdoin winning its second straight national title this season, it's beginning to look like the tides have turned.
"I think that our region is getting more recognition for how much it's improved," Tufts junior forward Amanda Russo said. "The Northeastern region is really challenging the Mid-Atlantic as the traditional powerhouse in field hockey ... You can't ignore the fact that the NESCAC is one of the most dominant leagues in field hockey right now."
"Now, it's not just a fluke that we're there," Trinity coach Anne Parmenter said. "I definitely think that people are sitting up and taking notice, that's for sure."
After Bowdoin and conference foe Middlebury squared off in the national title game last season, heads began to turn in the NESCAC's direction. This year, while the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll failed to rank the Jumbos -- who were undefeated through its first 16 contests this fall -- at No. 1 at any time during the regular season, even slotting a Mid-Atlantic Ursinus team with two losses above them at one point, McDavitt insists that the poll is not a reflection of the respect the team has commanded this season.
"It's so political," she said. "What happens is you sign up for NFHCA, and you get to vote every year. There are 159 coaches, and I doubt that even half of them vote ... It's all based on, say, only two NESCAC coaches voted and every single Mid-Atlantic coach voted ... Nobody's trying to scam us."
And although the NFHCA poll may not have recognized the conference's strength this year, the NCAA selection committee's granting of three at-large berths for NESCAC teams to the NCAA Tournament in addition to conference champion Bowdoin's automatic bid proved that the higher field hockey powers were taking note of the NESCAC's accomplishments on the field.
"Four teams getting an NCAA bid -- it's the first time ever for our conference," Parmenter said. "That was truly amazing. What you're seeing right now is just a real strength in the NESCAC conference."
"I think the NCAA is definitely recognizing the fact that the NESCAC is one of the most competitive leagues," Russo said. "The coaches poll ... may not recognize it, but the people who have to make those important decisions at the end do."
Still, the Jumbos may have surprised a couple of their Mid-Atlantic counterparts during the NCAA Tournament, posting commanding 2-1 and 5-2 wins over No. 5 TCNJ and No. 1 Messiah, respectively.
"Messiah was ranked first, and we were ranked fourth," Russo said. "I think they totally underestimated us, so it was awesome to prove to them how wrong they were."
Shortly after the Jumbos took down the Falcons, Bowdoin posted a win of its own, knocking host Ursinus -- the lone remaining Mid-Atlantic team -- out of contention and eventually becoming the first NESCAC team to win back-to-back championships in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
Whether the NESCAC will be able to sustain the same kind of success the Mid-Atlantic teams have enjoyed for almost three decades remains to be seen. But with the possibility of redemption on the national stage now driving teams like recent newcomers Tufts and Trinity in addition to the established Middlebury Panthers and Bowdoin Polar Bears, it doesn't look like the NESCAC teams will be leaving the ranks of the nation's elite any time soon.
"I think what's happened now is that once you get there, you get a taste of it, and your athletes get a taste of it," Parmenter said. "They know what it's all about once they've been exposed to that. The players coming in now are sort of looking beyond just playing in a NESCAC Tournament."
