When final standings for Eastern Maine Classes B and C field hockey were released Friday, it was clear there has been a changing of the guard.

In Class C, teams such as Dexter, Hall-Dale of Farmingdale, and Central of Corinth made the playoffs but are no longer at the top, while Piscataquis of Guilford, Stearns of Millinocket, and Orono have had excellent seasons.

And Class B will be without perennial playoff power Winslow High. The Black Raiders, who had appeared in the last seven Class B state finals, lost to Camden Hills Saturday in a preliminary game. Belfast, a traditionally strong team, took the top seed, but squads such as Rockland and Nokomis of Newport made big moves up.

Quarterfinal action is today and Wednesday.

“It could be everyone’s game on any day,” said coach Trisha Moulton, whose Piscataquis team went 12-2 for the No. 1 seed in EM Class C. “No one’s standing out right now like Dexter did last year. And that’s kind of neat to see, because coming into the postseason it can be anybody’s game. It just depends on who’s playing well, I think.”

Indeed, it seems as if any team can beat any other team based on the regular season.

Piscataquis’ two losses came back-to-back against Central (4-8-2) and Stearns (10-4).

The biggest turnarounds this year belong to Stearns and Orono.

The Minutemen were 7-7 last fall, but had a 10-4 turnaround for the No. 4 seed this year. Last season the Red Riots were 5-7-2; this year Orono is 10-3-1 and ranked fifth.

“Central definitely got some points from us, which is neat because before I think they were worried about not making [the playoffs],” Moulton said. “Both games with Orono were one goal, and Orono and Stearns are both tough teams. Defensively they’re very tough. They’re hard to score on.”

Dexter didn’t exactly have a down season as the Tigers went 9-4-1 for the No. 3 spot and senior Meagan Fogarty set the state scoring record earlier this fall. But the five-time defending state champs had their consecutive win streak snapped at 62 games in a season-opening loss to Nokomis and also fell to PCHS twice and again to the Warriors later in the season.

Mattanawcook of Lincoln, the No. 7 seed, is dangerous, too. The 5-7-2 Lynx have 1-1 ties against Orono and John Bapst, and close losses to Bapst and Stearns.

The one traditional Class C power back is Winthrop. The Ramblers were 12-2 last year; this year they’re 12-0-2.

Orono coach Samantha Runco said she thinks one of the reasons the league has achieved such parity is that coaching turnover has gone down. She has coached the Riots for five years, and Dean Libbey (MA), Diane Rollins (Central) and Moulton have also stuck with their squads. Sheila Truman is new as the Dexter head coach, but she was once an assistant to former coach Margaret Veazie.

“It helps build the program when you have the same person there,” Runco said.

Winslow’s loss paves the way for a new Class B regional champ, and there are a number of new contenders.

Camden Hills’ prelim win in Class B sets up a quarterfinal showdown against No. 1 Belfast – that’s Lions’ coach Allen Holmes going up against his daughter, Windjammers skipper Jan Holmes-Jackson.

Belfast went 14-0 this year. Rockland, which was 7-5-2 last season, has the No. 2 seed for the 2004 playoffs thanks to a 13-1 record. Waterville was strong again this year and earned the No. 3 spot with an 8-3-3 mark, but Nokomis, 4-8-2 last year, jumped way up to No. 4 with a 9-4-1 record.

Camden Hills also made a big move, going from 5-8-1 to 8-5-1 this year.

Class A is the only division in which the favorite is back. Skowhegan, which has won three straight titles, is 13-1 and the No. 1 seed for the EM playoffs.

KVAC game canceled

Saturday’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A field hockey championship game was canceled, but Skowhegan still walked away with the league title.

That’s because the Indians are the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Maine Class A playoffs, while Gardiner is No. 2. So the conference decided to give the crown to Skowhegan, which had a 42-point edge in Heal Points on the Tigers.

The Indians open defense of their three-year state title streak against No. 8 Lawrence of Fairfield today. Gardiner takes on No. 7 Mt. Blue of Farmington Wednesday.

Viking sets sights on career mark

Now that the Searsport single-season scoring record is out of the way, Vikings striker Nori Francis-Mezger has her eye on the next step: the school’s career record.

“That’s my next goal,” said the junior, who scored her 25th goal against Piscataquis of Guilford in a 7-0 win last week.

Searsport coach Mike Garcelon, who has been with the team since its inception in 1988, said the career record of 72 goals is currently held by Amber Howard, who graduated in 1992.

Francis-Mezger has 49 goals so far.

“She’s definitely within reach, especially if she has decent playoff [this year] and then next year she’s got a good chance to catch it,” Garcelon said. “It’ll be good for her because there won’t be any boredom going into next year. That’ll push her.”

Garcelon said the previous single-season record of 24 goals was held by Howard, Lasha Keller, Jessica Wilson, and Chandra Robert.

Francis-Mezger and the Vikings, who earned the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Maine Class C playoffs, will get their first scoring chance when they host the winner of a preliminary game between No. 8 Piscataquis and No. 9 Woodland.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.