DEERFIELD — Like she’s done thousands of times in her backyard since she was just a young field hockey player, Makena Valentine delivered.
The Smith Academy senior buried the game-winning goal on a penalty stroke with just 6 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in regulation of Wednesday’s Western Mass. Class B semifinal against top-seeded Frontier. The tally held up despite a late flurry from the Redhawks, and the fourth-seeded Falcons punched their first championship-game ticket since winning the title in 2013 behind a 1-0 victory in a game played on the turf at Deerfield Academy.
Smith Academy (14-3-1) will play either No. 2 South Hadley or No. 3 Greenfield in the Class B final Thursday night at 7 p.m. on the turf at Holyoke High School.
Locked in a scoreless game midway through the fourth quarter, the Falcons won a corner that ultimately set up their go-ahead goal. Valentine uncorked a blast from distance on the play, and her shot had eyes for the far corner of the Frontier goal. The ball struck Frontier defender Lily Markey, who was standing on the goal line, on the foot, and the official immediately whistled for a penalty stroke.
Valentine calmly buried a shot to her left, giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead with 6:50 to play.
“Immediately when I saw him call the stroke I thought, ‘OK, this is what we’re doing now,’” recalled Valentine. “I’ve taken all of our strokes this season and I’ve gotten pretty good at them. I’ve been practicing in my backyard since I was like 10. I am confident enough in my strokes where I’m calm when I’m doing it. I wasn’t under too much pressure. It was just a matter of, ‘this is what it is, go do it.’”
Smith Academy head coach Judy Strong said she had complete confidence in Valentine’s ability to ring the back of the cage in that important moment.
“Her mentality is bring it on, I want it. I love that about her,” Strong said. “She knew what was on the line, and a lot of people can’t handle that but she just rose to the occasion. So happy for her and the whole team, to get a chance to play in a Western Mass. final. You can’t ask for a better way for this group to go out.”
To Frontier’s credit, the top-seeded side didn’t go away after falling behind. The Redhawks (10-6-1) put the pressure on the Smith Academy defense over the final five minutes, ultimately earning a dangerous penalty corner with no time remaining in regulation. The Falcons were able to clear the zone however, and punch their ticket to Thursday’s title game.
“When they scored, that’s when we came alive,” Frontier coach Missy Mahar said. “But we needed to play with that intensity for the full 60 minutes. We didn’t do that. Smith played a great game. Hopefully we can learn from this for the state tournament.”
The Falcons picked up their game in the second half, something that has been a consistent theme for the program throughout the fall season. After failing to draw a penalty corner for the entire first half, Smith won six in the second half to put the Redhawks on their heels.
“Our favorite thing is the third quarter. It’s our thing. The pace of the game just switches,” Valentine said. “I think people can tell that on the field, the difference from the first to the second half. We go full out in the second half. It’s a lot of chaos, but chaos in a good way.”
Strong echoed her senior’s sentiments about the third quarter improvements.
“All I can say is for some reason this season, when we hit the third quarter we are a different team,” the coach offered. “Who knows what makes a team tick? They bought into the adjustments and that’s what a veteran team will do. That opened up more opportunities for us to score, which led to the stroke.”
Frontier held a 6-0 edge in corners during the first half, but Mahar admitted her side wasn’t able to keep up with the Falcons at times over the final 30 minutes.
“I think Smith settled in and stepped up, and we didn’t make the necessary adjustments,” Mahar explained. “We didn’t match it.”
After an eight-year absence, the Falcons are back in the sectional final and looking to bring a title back to Hatfield for a loaded 10-member senior class. The state tournament awaits both teams next week, but for now, Strong and her team are focused on Thursday’s final.
“They have been playing Frontier for many years and they haven’t been able to compete with Frontier because they’re always a very strong, well-coached program,” began Strong. “This year when we played them on Senior Day (a 1-0 loss), I think they saw they could play with them. I think they saw they could hang with a program with that kind of tradition. It gave them the confidence that we belong.”
Smith Academy goalie Hadley Szynal stopped all six shots she faced, while Frontier’s Ella Flanders made a pair of saves.