The Skowhegan High School girls field hockey team will be gunning for its 21st consecutive Class A North championship on Wednesday as regional championships will be decided across the state.
Lawrence High of Fairfield will be looking for its first regional Class B title and first-year coach Terri-Jean Wilkinson will try to lead her alma mater, Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield, to a Class C regional crown
The A, B and C North championship games will be held in Gardiner with second seed MCI (12-3-1) taking on top seed Dirigo of Dixfield (13-3) at 3 p.m., top seed Skowhegan (16-0) facing No. 2 Oxford Hills of South Paris (13-2-1) at 5 p.m. and undefeated Lawrence (16-0) battling second seed Belfast (14-1-1) at 7 p.m.
Maine Sports Hall of Fame coach Paula Doughty’s River Hawks beat Oxford Hills in their only regular season match-up, 1-0, on Sept. 24.
Oxford Hills has never won a regional championship.
Skowhegan has captured 16 state A championships over the past 20 years and is interested in a rematch with Cheverus, which beat the River Hawks 4-1 in last year’s state final.
Wilkinson replaced Nancy Hughes, who coached Wilkinson when she played at MCI. Wilkinson then served as Hughes’ assistant for eight seasons.
Hughes guided the Huskies to 135 wins in 14 seasons, four regional championships and two state titles.
MCI last won a state title in 2017 when it was in Class B. It won the C state title in 2015 and lost in the state final in 2016.
Dirigo, which comes in with an eight-game winning streak, is seeking its first regional championship since 1997.
Belfast won its last B regional title in 2016 before losing to York 2-1 in the state final.
Jan Jackson’s Lions enter the contest on a 12-game winning streak. Their only loss was to Lawrence on Sept. 3, 2-1.
The South regional title games will be held in Biddeford, also on Wednesday. Class B’s top seed York (15-1) and No. 3 Freeport (12-3-1) open the day at 3 p.m., followed by No. 1 and defending state champ Winthrop (14-2) taking on No. 2 Lisbon (12-3) meeting in the C final at 5 p.m. and then the A championship game with defending state champ Cheverus of Portland (16-0) facing sixth seed Windham (11-5) at 7 p.m.
The state championship games will be held Saturday at Messalonskee High School in Oakland.