The thinking in Anne Arundel County field hockey circles is that the winner of the 4A state championship is likely to come from a pool consisting of top-ranked South River, No.2 Broadneck, No.4 Severna Park and seventh-ranked Chesapeake.

But Broadneck coach Jen Parks says you can't overlook Arundel, which enters today's match with Chesapeake in fifth place in the county.

"You can't discount anyone," Parks said recently. "Any team on any day can win. Chesapeake proved that (against Severna Park) and we did it (two weeks ago) with Severna Park. It's just exciting."

The Wildcats are 9-4 overall and 6-3 in the county standings in their first year under new head coach Alison Grava, who took over this season for longtime coach Clint Gosnell.

"They've really come in strong," said Parks. "They have a new coach and with new coaches, girls, if they buy into your new coach's philosophy, they'll want to play really hard for you. I think the Arundel players are really buying into their philosophy. They're loving playing for her (Grava). That's why they're playing so well."