Credit: Chloe Zilembo

In this year’s fall playoffs, four Wayland teams made it to the competition. WSPN’s Chloe Zilembo recaps each teams’ playoff experience.

Four WHS fall sports teams made playoffs this year. Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) playoffs are a series of tournament games where the loser is eliminated from the chance to win their division. Unlike in the regular season where teams play out of their division, in the playoffs, a school will only play within their own division. If the regulation ends in a tie, teams will go into overtime and possibly a shootout because no ties are allowed.

In order for a team to qualify for playoffs they have to have a certain record. The MIAA uses a power ranking format. If a team loses to a higher ranked team by less than an allotted point total, they will still gain power ranking points. This means that a team with a worse record could rank higher than a team with a better ranking.

Field Hockey:

Last year, field hockey had a record of 5-8-4. With a lot of injuries and the limited number of players to begin with, field hockey ended with a record of 2-13-1 this year.

After the regular season ended, field hockey was the No. 31 seed in Division II. They had to play a preliminary game against the No. 34 seed, South High Community from Worcester. Wayland beat them at home with a score of 2-0, with senior captain Hayley Shaw scoring both goals. In the next round they played Norwood, the No. 2 seed. Wayland lost by a score of 9-0.

Boys Soccer:

Last season, boys soccer had a record of 11-6-3. This year, they digressed from their previous season’s record and finished with a regular season 6-9-2.

Going into the Division II playoffs, boys soccer was the No. 16 seed. They played the No. 17 seed Reading Memorial in the first round. The Warriors got shut out at home with a final score of 2-0.

Volleyball:

Last year, volleyball had a record of 4-16. This year they improved and had a record of 11-8.

Volleyball was the highest seed compared to the other WHS fall sports, coming in at the No. 8 seed in Division III. They also made it the farthest in the playoffs out of all of the fall sports. In the first round they had a home game that was played against Tewksbury. Wayland won with a score of 3-0. The final home game of the year was a sweep. The game was against Shawsheen Tech with Wayland sweeping the game yet again with a score of 3-0. In the third round, the volleyball team headed to Medfield and after a hard fought game, Wayland fell to Medfield with a final score of 3-2.

Football:

Football struggled last year with a record of 1-8. This year, their season improved and their record was 7-3.

Football made it to the Division IV playoffs this season. After boasting a record of 7-3, football became the No. 10 seed. In the first round, Wayland played against the the No. 7 seed, Scituate. The Warriors ultimately lost the game with a final score of 47-36.