SOUTH HADLEY — Sometimes the best shot is a pass. Frontier Regional sophomore Devin Niles was aiming for Dante Ruggiano on a second-half corner kick against South Hadley on Wednesday.
He curled the ball enough that it contacted Tigers keeper Tyler Evans and skipped out of his hands across the goal line.
“I was just trying to get someone in the box and get somebody on it, and it ended up working out,” Niles said.
The goal with 23 minutes remaining cemented a 2-0 Redhawks road win to open the season. It followed two minutes after Frontier’s opening goal. Senior Tyler Dubreuil turned on a ball in the box and laced it to the bottom right corner, breaking 55 scoreless minutes. Cairn Bright assisted the tally.
“We had a ton of chances, and it was one we capitalized on,” Dubreuil said. “We were pumped. The energy totally changed, and we were ready to go after that.”
It took the first half for Frontier (1-0, 1-0 Moriarty) to establish its system and run it to a strong effect. Though the Redhawks controlled much of the possession, they didn’t threaten the South Hadley net much. Playing on turf for the first time all season in the first game also didn’t help. The pressure eventually took its toll over the game’s final 30 minutes when Frontier scored both goals and discombobulated the Tigers’ passing.
“I thought the second half was definitely more who we are,” Frontier coach Evan Horton said.
Evans caused some of that first-half identity crisis. He regularly came off his line to wrangle long balls or snatch crosses and free kicks out of the air before they became problems and finished with five saves.
“He should be an All-State candidate this year. He’s had enough experience back there seeing how everything plays out in front of him, as an outfielder, he just sees everything,” South Hadley coach Eric Castonguay said of his keeper. “It’s a nice asset to have.”
The Tigers struggled to connect play from Evans and the back line through the midfield to their forwards. They missed midfielder Charlie Anischik, who couldn’t play due to an injury. His absence hampered South Hadley’s ball distribution and hurt its passing.
“I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal, but it turned out it was a big deal,” Castonguay said. “We just didn’t quite have the connections.”
Frontier overcame the absence of starting center back Jack Storm, who was ruled out with a back injury on the way over and starting keeper Nico Lorantos, who has a cast on one of his hands. David Gray stepped into the defensive backfield, and Dylan Martin took over between the pipes.
“Our center backs are, in my opinion, two of the best center backs in this division in the state. We’re young, and we play really well together,” Horton said. “Always happy to get a clean sheet. We’ve been making a lot of adjustments defensively, so to come out and get a shutout like that it’s awesome for us. It’s definitely something to build off of.”
A strong start would give the Redhawks a leg up in the Moriarty League. They start the season with four games in the first seven days, including a Saturday morning trip to Mount Greylock.
“I think to come out and have this and be able to learn about what we need to work on but also learn how we can break down other teams is really important,” Horton said. “I was looking for three wins to start the week, so I’m hoping we can build on it.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.