SOUTH HADLEY — The South Hadley field hockey team announced its presence in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament playoffs Thursday night.
It was a dominant message to the rest of the field, as the fourth-seeded Tigers beat No. 5 Southwick, 10-0, in their first postseason game on their new turf.
From the very beginning, the Tigers controlled possession and scoring opportunities against the Rams.
“We played well and executed what we were working on in practice,” South Hadley coach Tara Cole said. “We had the home field and we practice on turf every day. We have quickly converted to a turf team.”
Savannah Sudyka scored the game’s first goal and finished with a hat trick. South Hadley advanced to the semifinals to play top-seeded Frontier (13-2-3), at Holyoke High School Monday.
“We will need to bring the energy we brought today,” Sudyka said. “With stick-to-stick passing.”
Frontier sent the Tigers home last year in the semifinals, beating South Hadley 1-0.
“We tend to see them in the semis or the finals,” Cole said. “I don’t think we have beaten them, our current squad.”
Kayla Carleton finished with four goals and two assists, all coming in the second half as the Tigers (10-7-2) pulled away.
Julia Miele’s two quick goals made it 5-0 before the half.
“We came out firing tonight,” Miele said. “We got really excited before the game and played really well.”
Which brings the Tigers to their matchup with Frontier.
“It’s going to take 60 minutes of good hockey and focused hockey,” Cole said. “Hockey that is fully energized. We can’t have any lapses. They will capitalize because they are a skilled team.”
During the regular season South Hadley and Frontier played twice. In South Hadley on Sept. 26, the Red Hawks won 3-0.
“We didn’t have a good game against them the first time,” Miele said. “The second time we played them we had a bad first half. But we got momentum with two goals and if we had more time we could have gotten another.”
When South Hadley traveled to Frontier on Oct. 19 the Tigers played better and played the Red Hawks to a 2-2 tie.
“I am excited to play them again,” Miele said. “I think if we play the way we did tonight we can beat them.”
Sudyka collected a loose ball in front of the net and blasted it past Southwick goalie Clare Stratton to give South Hadley an early 1-0 lead.
The Rams (19-7-2) could not muster much offense as South Hadley’s Brittany Cote made two saves in the shutout.
Emma Rahilly scored South Hadley’s second goal before Isabella Yee found Sudyka to make it 3-0.
Yee’s passing ability led to multiple goals and opportunities for the Tigers. Yee finished with three assists.
Abbie Carey had an assist on Carleton’s third goal that made it 8-0.
