NORTHFIELD — The Pioneer and Belchertown field hockey teams became quite familiar with each other the last two days.
The Panthers and Orioles squared off for the first time of the season on Wednesday night, with Belchertown coming away with a 2-1 victory. The win put the Orioles in the driver’s seat to take home the County League title, needing either a win or a tie over Pioneer on Thursday, though a Panther win would have gave them the league title.
One day later, Belchertown took the early lead and looked to be cruising to a win when the teams met again on Thursday. That changed when Pioneer tied the game in the fourth quarter, but the Orioles held on late to come away with a 1-1 tie, with the tie crowning Belchertown (10-3-3, 10-1-1) as County League champions.
“It’s a great feeling,” Belchertown coach Lindsay Wright said. “We haven’t won it in a couple years but now we have it back. It feels fantastic. We worked really hard and this was a really tough game.”
While falling short of a league title was disappointing, the Panthers (9-2-2, 9-1-2) are turning their focus to the Western Mass. tournament, where they’re looking to get back to the championship game after falling to Franklin Tech in last year’s title-tilt.
“I still feel great about the way the season played out,” Pioneer coach Kerry Baird said. “We’re feeling good going into the postseason. League championship was never part of our goals to start the season. It was Western Mass. and that’s where we’re headed next.”
Belchertown opened the scoring just four minutes into the game, with Bella Cebula blasting in a shot in front off a dish from Molly Mazzaferro to give the Orioles the early lead.
Belchertown kept up the pressure in the first half but neither team was able to produce a goal, with the Orioles taking a 1-0 lead into the half.
The switch flipped for Pioneer in the second half. After Belchertown held a 4-0 corner edge in the first 30 minutes, the Panthers began applying the pressure and keeping the ball in the Oriole end of the field.
Pioneer finished the third quarter with a 4-0 corner edge, but were unable to get a shot past Belchertown goalie Eliza Rothstein, with the Orioles still clinging to a 1-0 lead.
That changed early in the fourth quarter. The Panthers drew a corner with nine minutes to play and the ball got sent out to Lauryn Kalinowski. Kalinowski crossed the ball to Kelseigh Sargent, who in a sea of bodies in front of the goal, was able to tap it past Rothstein and tie the game, 1-1.
The goal brought life to Pioneer, which was still recovering after a late game against Belchertown the night before.
“It was rejuvenating and it gave us energy,” Baird said. “It’s hard playing two games in a row. The game started late and we didn’t get back until after 10 [p.m.]. It’s our fourth game this week but it’s no excuse. We still played well today.”
While Wright knew her team just needed to come away with a tie to take the lead, she made sure not to tell her players to make sure they stayed motivated throughout the contest to try to come away with a win. That allowed them to keep their foot on the gas and not allow the Panthers to take the lead late.
“We didn’t play as well as we played [Wednesday],” Wright said. “We started well but came down a notch. I knew we just needed a tie to win the league but I didn’t tell my players. One goal is not a big lead. It’s holding on. I wasn’t surprised that they scored. They worked really hard in the second half and my team wasn’t with it.”
Wright went into the game expecting there to be more scoring than there was Wednesday night, making adjustments to try to slow down the Pioneer attack.
“We recorded the game from last night and watched it today,” Wright said. “We made some adjustments. Historically we have a tough time on this field so I’m happy with the tie.”
Kelly Baird came up with six big saves for the Panthers, one a diving stop in the third quarter. Rothstein was called into action to make two saves for Belchertown.