The Top 50 American scholastic field hockey teams of 2004
As we said when we made our last quick-and-dirty Top 10, we knew this would be an exceedingly difficult Top 50, especially seeing as there were two instances in which there were three teams which defeated each other throughout the season.
After studying a mountain of results, we have our usual Top 50, plus several "Bear In Mind" teams which should not be forgotten.
As always, to make the compilation of these kinds of surveys easier in the future, I hope to see school athletic directors and state athletic bodies allow field hockey teams to create challenging non-league schedules and to foster more interstate competition.
| School | State | Record | Notes | |
| 1 | Voorhees Eastern | NJ | 24-0 | Unbeaten streak now at 138; now among all-time greats |
| 2 | Mountain Top Crestwood | PA | 26-0 | Fortunate to have gotten by Wyoming Seminary in PIAA AA final |
| 3 | Moorestown | NJ | 22-0 | Late deflected goal gives Group III title win vs. Flanders Mount Olive |
| 4 | Emmaus | PA | 26-1 | Thumped Wilkes-Barre Coughlin 4-0 in AAA final |
| 5 | Camden Caesar Rodney | DE | 19-1 | Left little doubt in 3-0 win over Lewes Cape Henlopen |
| 6 | Lake Forest | IL | 22-0 | Has given up a scant four goals this season |
| 7 | Gahanna Columbus Academy | OH | 21-0 | Took second straight state crown beating Mount Notre Dame |
| 8 | Collingswood | NJ | 21-0-3 | Second-half goal beats North Caldwell West Essex |
| 9 | Walpole | MA | 23-1 | Title returns to The Porker Pen |
| 10 | San Diego Scripps Ranch | CA | 24-1 | Bested Torrey Pines in strokes to win San Diego Division I sectional |
| 11 | Encinitas Torrey Pines | CA | 24-3 | Lost penalty stroke shootout to Scripps Ranch in Division I final |
| 12 | Canton | MA | 22-0-1 | OT stroke goal beat Deerfield Frontier Regional in Division 2 final |
| 13 | Richmond Collegiate | VA | 20-1 | Beat St. Stephen's/St. Agnes in VISL title game |
| 14 | Kingston Wyoming Seminary | PA | 19-5 | 3 losses to Crestwood, including heartbreaking AA title OT loss |
| 15 | Virginia Beach Princess Anne | VA | 20-3 | Defeated Cox in AAA state championship |
| 16 | Mameroneck | NY | 20-0-2 | Beat Saratoga Springs 1-0 in Class A final |
| 17 | Grosse Pointe South | MI | 15-1-2 | Wins title in first year as a full varsity team |
| 18 | Alexandria St. Stephen's/St. Agnes | VA | 17-3-2 | ISL champs came up short against Collegiate in VISL |
| 19 | Bethesda Chevy-Chase | MD | 14-4 | Scored on the expiration of the OT clock to beat Severna Park |
| 20 | Virginia Beach Frank W. Cox | VA | 16-9 | Falcons back in title tilt, but lost to Princess Anne |
| 21 | Severna Park | MD | 19-1 | Speedy team couldn't solve B-CC possession game |
| 22 | East Chapel Hill | NC | 20-3 | Lone losses to Cox and St. Mary's of Johannesburg, S. Africa |
| 23 | Martinsville Pingry School | NJ | 20-3-1 | Beat Plumsted New Egypt (N.J.) for the second straight year |
| 24 | East Rochester | NY | 19-0-3 | 65th-minute deflection beats North Warren in Class C final |
| 25 | Lakeville Hotchkiss School | CT | 15-1-1 | Took down undefeated Greenwich Academy in WNEPSAA final |
| 26 | Baltimore Roland Park | MD | 14-5-3 | Beat Archbishop Spalding 1-0 in IAAM Class A final |
| 27 | Durham Academy | NC | 18-2 | Took down Charlotte (N.C.) Latin 2-1 in OT of NCISAA final |
| 28 | St. Louis Cor Jesu | MO | 16-2 | Edged Nerinx Hall 1-0 in Midwest Athletic Association final |
| 29 | Greenwich Academy | CT | 22-1 | Handled up the opposition until running into Hotchkiss |
| 30 | St. Louis Lafayette | MO | 20-3-1 | The best MWAA public-school team, will be a force in '05 |
| 31 | Louisville Kentucky Country Day School | KY | 20-0 | Beat Louisville Sacred Heart 2-0 in state final |
| 32 | Belfast | ME | 18-0 | Took Class B final with 1-0 win over York |
| 33 | St. Louis Nerinx Hall | MO | 19-5 | Hard luck on penalty corners and a stroke in MWAA final |
| 34 | Maine-Endwell | NY | 17-2 | Edged a very skilled Rye club in double overtime |
| 35 | Fairfield Warde | CT | 16-2 | Beat Greenwich 3-2 in Class L final |
| 36 | North Caldwell West Essex | NJ | 21-2 | Late goal by Collingswood sealed Knights' fate |
| 37 | Skowhegan | ME | 17-1 | Beat Standish Bonny Eagle 3-2 for fourth straight state title |
| 38 | Granby Memorial | CT | 17-1-2 | Beat rival Canton 3-1 in Class S final |
| 39 | Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame | OH | 15-3-2 | Took Columbus Academy down to the wire |
| 40 | Pocomoke City | MD | 15-3 | Warriors bucked three-game swoon at end of regular season |
| 41 | Englewood Kent Denver | CO | 16-1-1 | Beat Colorado Academy 2-0 for second straight title |
| 42 | Souhegan | NH | 18-0 | Yielded more than one goal exactly once this season |
| 43 | Edgewater South River | MD | 17-3 | Corner defense dominated Bethesda Walt Whitman in 4A final |
| 44 | Oklahoma City Casady School | OK | 11-1 | Won ninth SPC title since 1987 over Houston Kincaid (Tex.) 1-0 |
| 45 | Woonsocket | RI | 17-0-1 | Shut out Burrillville 3-0 for Division II title |
| 46 | Severn Archbishop Spalding | MD | 13-7-3 | In first year of playing finals on turf, had trouble |
| 47 | Berlin | NH | 16-0-1 | Beat Tilton Winnisquam 2-1 for Class M title |
| 48 | Hartford | VT | 15-2 | Beat South Burlington 1-0 in Division 1 final |
| 49 | Hereford | MD | 16-2 | Topped Glenelg 2-0 in 2A final |
| 50 | Wilkes-Barre Coughlin | PA | 17-4-1 | Magical ride through playoffs ended with Emmaus game |
AND BEAR IN MIND: The Lawrenceville (N.J.) School 12-2-4, North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake (Calif.) 12-2-3, Branford (Conn.) 18-2, Telstar (Maine) 13-5, Concord (N.H.) 15-3, Stowe (Vt.) 12-3-2, Mount Abraham Union (Vt.) 12-3-1, North Kingstown (R.I.) 10-5-4, Charlotte (N.C.) Latin 13-4, Ambler Wissahickon (Pa.) 23-2, Madison Borough (N.J.) 22-1, Rye (N.Y.) 20-2, Saratoga (Calif.) 14-5-2, San Jose Archbishop Mitty (Calif.) 13-2-4, Hartland Arrowhead Union (Wisc.) 18-2-1