NORTHAMPTON — To get past West Springfield in the Division 1 Western Massachusetts Tournament, the Northampton field hockey team needed to capitalize on offensive opportunities.
The Blue Devils tied the Terriers twice during the regular season, but in Thursday’s quarterfinal match, Northampton netted 100 percent of its chances and won 2-0 at Smith College.
Megan McCarthy had two shots off penalty corners in the first half and both were goals for Hamp.
“Earlier in the season we weren’t great executing corners,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been practicing them and were able to convert.”
McCarthy’s shots were the only attempts for the Blue Devils in the game. On both plays, McCarthy settled and fired against West Side goalie Chloe Pastore. Hazel Ethier assisted on the first goal for the Blue Devils.
“I was able to get behind the ball,” McCarthy said. “I had enough time to look up and place it.”
Fourth-seeded Northampton (11-5-3) advanced to play No. 1 Longmeadow (16-2-0), which hasn’t lost in the Western Mass. tournament since 2010. The semifinal will be held at West Springfield High on Wednesday. A time has not been determined.
“They are a great team,” McCarthy said. “But we have a lot of skill. We’re the underdog. We’ll see how it goes.”
Hamp lost to the Lancers in last year’s sectional finals.
“We always run into them this time of year,” Northampton coach Sarah Williams said. “We lost to them earlier this year but we’ve come further since then. We’re excited about the challenge.”
With a 2-0 lead, the Blue Devils withstood seemingly endless pressure from the Terriers (7-3-9) during the second half.
“We expected it,” Williams said. “They did very well putting more pressure on us than in the first half. Fortunately we were able to shut it down.”
Hamp’s defense and goalie Danielle Parent thwarted West Side’s pressure and kept the Terriers off the scoreboard.
“There was a lot of pressure,” Parent said. “But you have to trust your team to get it out.”
Parent made six saves to notch her first playoff shutout for Northampton.
“She’s a gamer man,” Williams said. “She comes to play. She had a lot of great saves and read the plays. She knew when to let the ball out and when to play it.”
West Side’s Haley Dover had a semi-breakaway that Parent kicked away in the first half. During the second half, West Side had seven penalty corners.
