2025 PIAA field hockey championships: what we know

The 2025 PIAA state championships are Saturday, Nov. 15 at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field.

Each of the Pennsylvania high school field hockey teams vying for the state title have a style of play that they have adhered to all season.

Entering the final game of the season, they may have made a few iterations to throw off their opponents.

The teams that have made it to the end are studious and have very competitive athletes on their squads all with one goal in mind - the gold medal.

Here are a few insights to the 2025 PIAA championships.

All games are played at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field, 6746 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg. Tickets must be purchased online.

Class 1A

District 3 No. 1 Boiling Springs vs District 3 No. 3 Susquenita

11 a.m.

The Boiling Springs Bubblers have a gold medal and state trophy to brag about from 2022.

The current seniors know what it takes to go all the way and have proven that by winning the District 3 Class 1A gold.

They weren’t the No. 1 seed in the District 3 bracket, but they were able to defeat the No. 1 seed, which was Susquenita.

The Blackhawks have neither been to nor won a state championship. In recent years, field hockey has been played on a multipurpose field. Susquenita, suddenly, became a competitive, organized team.

Susquenita has always been aggressive. They are not known for being timid and they fight — clean, scrappy, in twos — for the ball. When they switch up their speed, they are difficult to stop.

Their defense is equally as strong. The Blackhawks backline do the right things. They release the ball as quickly as possible when under pressure and they don’t hold onto the ball for too long.

For Boiling Springs to beat them again — Boiling Springs won in shootouts in the District 3 Class 1A semifinals — the Bubblers will have to perfect their attack penalty corners. Both squads have very fast flyers on defensive penalty corners that disrupt the first shot.

Class 2A

District 3 No. 1 Palmyra vs District 3 No. 2 Warwick

1 p.m.

Palmyra and Warwick also recently danced.

The Cougars came out on top 5-0. Despite the score, Warwick could have altered their playbook before the main event.

The Warriors are defending state champs. They are the only team in recent history to make it to the state finale two years in a row.

Regardless of their shut out loss to Palmyra in the 2025 District 3 Class 2A championship, the Warriors are a reloading team, especially after having lost a lot of their defensive unit from last year’s state squad.

The Cougars have no mercy on anyone, so they will continue to pursue as many attack penalty corners as possible. But, Warwick, now having been pushed around a little, won’t take the beating lightly.

If Warwick can protect the middle and stop Palmyra from both their flats and throughs, generally taking an extra step left or right and having low sticks, they could intercept, read their passing game, and prevent the powerful attack that the Cougars have developed.

Class 3A

District 11 No. 1 Emmaus vs District 1 No. 2 Central Bucks West

3 p.m.

It’s been a minute since Central Bucks West have won a gold medal in the Class 3A state field hockey tournament. The last time was 1981.

Since then, a few things have changed. And, the team has evolved to high-level hockey throughout those changes, too.

The 2025 West edition have seniors on the team who have come close to deep postseason runs but have also been bumped out in round one, or as the case of 2024, they made it even deeper in the brackets, only to be knocked out by the state winners — Conestoga — in the semifinals.

This year the Class 3A finale will feature Emmaus, no stranger to the finish line, and West.

West have fast thinkers. They move quickly and shoot often.

And, it’s going to take perfect execution of both quickness and taking as many shots as possible to break Emmaus’ concentration.

The Green Hornets recently won a state championship in 2023. They will look for any weakness in each of West’s lines and capitalize on them.

Emmaus usually travels the field two-by-two. They can set up diamonds, triangles, and move the ball using one or two touch passes.

What to watch:

A new fan or a lifelong one, an observer may notice the way that teams work the ball differently. Here are a few ways the teams could try to up their competitor:

attack penalty corners - an offensive advantage when a defensive foul has occurred inside the circle. Officials will be watching for multiple infractions including a defender leaving the cage too early on the insert, the offense jumping the circle before the insert, and whether the first shot on goal (with a backswing) is 18 inches high or higher (the height of the backboard). The shot is considered dangerous, and regardless of whether the ball is sent into a crowd of athletes or not, the ball is turned over to the defense. The umpire is making calls for safety and they are tasked with trying to stop players from continuing any of those habits to try to prevent injuries.

3D moves are used to change direction, evade an opponent, or disrupt momentum.

Three-dimensional - players with 3D skills lift the ball or carry the ball on their sticks to get it beyond a defensive player or players. They can pop or lift the ball over a stick, and change directions to maintain possession.

Receptions - field hockey players may intentionally receive a ball with an open blade to give it some air. A skilled player can use it to set up a play, shot, or pass that gives them an advantage. When a ball is received and immediately lifted, the athlete isn’t creating danger if they are in control of it. It is a tactic to confuse an opponent’s anticipation.

Aerials - lobbed balls lifted over all the players are called aerials. They can be thrown from one side of the field to the other using the player’s stick.

Tipping is intentionally trying to get a touch on a fast paced ball passed toward the cage.

Tipping - a player intentionally places their stick in front of the goalie, near the stroke mark, or near the post anticipating a hard drive to that location. Unless anticipated by the keeper, the redirect is meant to disrupt the backline to score.

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