Seeds matter when it comes to the new MIAA statewide tournament system.

Field hockey is no different.

At Monday’s virtual MIAA Field Hockey Committee meeting, MIAA associate director Sherry Bryant said the power rankings have resulted in great matchups and the top teams have been getting through to the latter stages of the tournament.

“As we are seeing, the accuracy of the power ratings is working well for the sport of field hockey,” Bryant said. “In Div. 1, the top four seeds reached the semifinals with No. 2 Andover winning. In Div. 2 and 3, it was No. 1, 2, 4 and 6 with No. 4 (Longmeadow) winning in Div. 2 and No. 1 Watertown winning in Div. 3. In Div. 4, the top four seeds were in the semifinals and No. 1 Uxbridge went on to win.”

While the MIAA is relatively pleased with the venues in general, there is the hope that more options are better. Bryant, echoing the sentiments of the Tournament Management Committee, is hoping that each of the nine districts can come up with at least two suitable venues to host the latter rounds of the tournament.

There was one concern over one of the neutral sites. It wasn’t as much as the playing field itself as much as a couple of minor glitches, something the MIAA feels can be corrected.

The tournament format was reviewed and accepted with one revision. The committee agreed unanimously that officials must have at least seven varsity games under their belt in order to officiate postgame contests.

Prior to the start of the meeting, there was a moment of silence for Dennis-Yarmouth principal Paul Funk and longtime Greenfield field hockey coach Donna Woodcock, both of whom recently passed away.