Toll Gate’s girls’ hockey program is as strong as it has been in years. The Titans’ numbers are at an all-time high, they are bringing back last year’s starting lineup almost in its entirety and they have a battle-tested senior class ready to lead the way.

And it might not matter.

Last year Toll Gate played in Division II of the girls’ hockey league, alongside Cranston, Burrillville, North Smithfield and D-II state champion La Salle. Bay View, Mount St. Charles, Barrington and Lincoln all played in Division I. But, with the elimination of the Lincoln program this season, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League realigned the two divisions and, in one swift motion, crushed any sense of parity on the state’s girls’ hockey landscape.

Rather than move La Salle – a team that went 15-2-1 and won the state title last season – up to take Lincoln’s place in Division I, the RIIL went in another direction. Instead of realigning with two even four-team divisions, the RIIL created one eight-team league, marginalizing the Division II programs in the process.

I’ll preface this argument by saying that I’m all for the Warwick co-op girls’ hockey program. I’ve been behind it from the start and I want to see it succeed. But Toll Gate shouldn’t be playing a balanced schedule against Division I competition.

With the exception of the Lincoln team, which finished 0-18 last year, the rest of the Division I teams went 13-1-1 in crossover play against D-II last winter. And La Salle was responsible for the only win and draw that Division II claimed.

That means that Toll Gate, Cranston, Burrillville and North Smithfield were a combined 0-12 against Mount, Bay View and Barrington last year. And with this year’s realignment, every team in the division will play each other twice, rather than just the one head-to-head crossover game that was scheduled last season.

On paper it is considered a balanced schedule; in reality it is anything but.

The realignment puts the former Division II teams at a serious competitive disadvantage. Going by last year’s results, even a D-II team that is perfect against other D-II competition is, at best, going to be about .500 on the season. Add in the fact that Mount, Bay View, La Salle and North Smithfield combined to go 55-7-6 last year. And consider that, despite finishing 7-9-2, Barrington only lost one crossover game last winter. It’s a scary equation for the upcoming season and one that, mathematically, leaves teams like Toll Gate, Cranston and Burrillville fighting an uphill battle before the first puck is ever dropped.

That’s not to say that those teams can’t compete. You can even put a positive spin on it and argue that playing against better competition will force the Division II teams to get better themselves. In time, that could even level the playing field. But those are long-term projections, which don’t do this year’s team many favors.

They don’t help any burgeoning programs in the state either. There aren’t many girls’ hockey programs in Rhode Island as it is. The loss of the Lincoln/PCD co-op dropped the total number to eight, which, for a state that prides itself on hockey tradition, isn’t many. And now with just one competitive division, it doesn’t give any new programs a proving ground to hone their skills. How many more teams like Lincoln will suffer and fold from not being able to compete at that level?

Toll Gate has worked hard to get where it is today. The Titans fought for their right to a co-op team, created one of the most stable feeder systems in the state and have still struggled to hold their own.

Many of Toll Gate’s seniors have been with this program from the start, coming up as IceCats before joining the varsity club. Their tireless effort has yielded continued progress; this year’s team would have been favored to contend for a Division II title. Instead, in their senior season, the Titans will likely be fighting just to keep their heads above water.

In a recent article in the Providence Journal, John Gillooly noted that there will still be two division champions crowned in girls’ hockey, with the top two teams in the league playing for the Division I title and the No. 2-6 seeds in contention for Division II. But in keeping with the theme, even that gives an edge to last year’s D-I teams.

For the sake of argument consider that Bay View and Mount will both compete again for the Division I championship at the end of the season. That means that a team like Barrington, which played D-I last year, would be eligible to win the D-II crown this winter. It’s a ridiculous scenario in which the rich only get richer.

I hope I’m wrong. I hope Toll Gate rises up and shows that it can hang with the elite teams in the state and finds itself chasing a championship in March. But if the state tournament comes and only a few teams have a realistic shot of winning a title, I hope the RIIL realizes it soon enough to change its course. Girls’ hockey is finally beginning to gain a foothold in Rhode Island, especially in Warwick, and it would be a shame to lose it.

Ed Owens is the sports editor for the Warwick Beacon. He can be reached via e-mail at EdO@warwickonline.com.