The Skyline High School and Dexter field hockey teams share the same goal: Winning the Division 4 state championship.

But after playing to a 1-1 draw Wednesday night at Skyline High School -- the second time in three days the two teams have battled to the same result -- each team's quest now gets more complicated.

The eventual Division 4 champion, which is decided based on regular season records against D4 opponents, will move up to Division 3 next season. Dexter and Skyline are likely the top two contenders for the championship. Warren Regina is also a strong candidate, but Skyline took care of them 5-1 a week ago.

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Now halfway through the eight-game Division 4 schedule, Dexter and Skyline both sit at 2-0-2 in division play. Dexter is now 4-2-2 overall; Skyline is 2-2-3.

But when Megan Flocken scored for Dexter with 12 minutes, 9 seconds left in Wednesday night's game, it looked as though the Dreadnaughts might take a big step towards securing the division crown. Flocken received a corner pass just inside the top of the circle, used a nifty bit of stickhandling to bring the ball outside the circle, then fired a shot that found its way to the back of the net.

Dexter had been pressuring the Skyline net for most of the second half, and Skyline had been able to generate few scoring opportunities, but immediately after the Dexter goal, Skyline coach Jennifer Darga called a timeout.

"I told them it's not over," said Darga, who reminded her team of their ultimate goal.

For each game that Skyline plays, each Eagles player writes "D4C" on her arm -- Division 4 Championship.

The Eagles came out of the timeout and put renewed pressure on the Dexter goal. It appeared that Skyline had found an equalizer just four minutes later when a shot from Jordan Stirling found its way into the net, but officials ruled that the ball had been last touched by a Dexter defender, negating the goal.

Skyline continued its pressure, however, and with 6:49 left in the game, Katie Davis found the ball amidst a scramble in front of the Dexter net, and knocked it in to tie the game.

With Wednesday night's game ending in another draw, that makes 120 minutes of field hockey between the two teams in three nights, and the two teams couldn't be more even.

"It was a well-played game on both sides," said Dexter coach Craig Flocken. "Just like it was on Monday."

Dexter and Skyline won't face one another again in the regular season, so the tiebreaker between the two teams -- should they finish the season tied atop the Division 4 standings -- would be goals allowed against D4 opponents.

It makes each minute of each remaining division game of utmost importance to both teams.

"Every goal is important from here on out," Flocken said.

The Dreadnaughts are in their first season as a varsity team, though some of their players have previous varsity experience with the Washtenaw Whippets. Even with a new team, Dexter also had a state title as its goal from the start of the season.

"That was our goal from the very get-go," said Flocken, who is encouraged with how his team has fared with so little prior experience.

"We have a lot more to learn and a lot more to work on," he added, "but for a program in which two-thirds of the team has only been playing with the ball and stick for five weeks, I'm pleased."

Darga's team is in a similar situation. This is the third season that Skyline has had a varsity field hockey team, but the school still does not have a senior class. Darga said her juniors have stepped into leadership roles on the team, but the Eagles are still undersized against teams with older players.

"We have to play a quicker game and rely less on strength and brute force," Darga said.

With both of their regular season meetings now complete, Dexter and Skyline have shown to be evenly matched on the field. But now, in a way, they will be playing against one another for the rest of the season, as they compete to see not only who will win more games, but which team can hold their opponents to fewer goals.