SOUTH DEERFIELD — Throughout the first half of Friday’s Western Mass. Class C field hockey semifinal between Frontier and Southwick, it felt like there was a force field around the Rams goal.
The No. 1 Redhawks dominated possession throughout the first half, but didn’t have much to show for it on the scoreboard. Despite outshooting Southwick 9-0 and holding a 10-0 penalty corner advantage over the opening 30 minutes of action, Frontier was only able to tally one goal, holding a 1-0 halftime lead.
The Redhawk offense found more of a rhythm in the second half, scoring three goals to pull away with a 4-0 victory and advance to Monday’s WMass championship game.
“We got out to a slow start in the first and second quarter,” Frontier coach Missy Mahar said. “We were having trouble finishing. In the third and fourth quarter, the intensity in the circle was much better. We just need to finish our opportunities. It’s finishing in the circle and it’s executing and finishing on corners. We have to fine tune things for Monday.”
Standing in the way of a Western Mass. title for the Redhawks is a familiar opponent. Frontier will have to earn a win against second-seeded Greenfield to walk away as champions. It’ll be the third contest of the season between the Redhawks and the Green Wave, and both previous meetings ended in 0-0 draws.
“I expect nothing but the best from both teams,” Mahar said. “Both teams get pumped to play each other. We both bring the intensity. I’m expecting a back-and-forth game that keeps you at the edge of your seat. The third matchup won’t disappoint.”
Frontier opened Friday’s semifinal with four straight corners, but the hosts were unable to produce a goal. After No. 4 Southwick took over in its own circle, Frontier’s Rebecca Wallace-West came up and stole the ball, took a dribble in and fired it into the back of the cage, giving the Redhawks a 1-0 lead. That advantage stood until the halftime whistle despite Frontier dominating possession.
The lack of time of possession caught up with the Rams in the second half. The Redhawks earned a corner, with Hailey Hutkoski retrieving it and sending the ball in to Ashley Taylor, who finished it into the cage for a two-goal cushion.
The Redhawks tacked two goals on in the fourth quarter to run away with the win. Wallace-West scored both of them to finish with a hat trick, the first coming after the ball was deflected multiple times in the circle, with Wallace-West eventually powering it through the Southwick defense and into the goal to make it a 3-0 game. Taylor was credited with an assist.
Wallace-West smashed in the final goal off a dish from Taylor to make it a 4-0 game in the final minutes.
“As a team we’ve been working on finishing in practice,” senior Lila Roche said. “It took us a little bit in the beginning but we got it going in the second half so that was good. We found a rhythm; it just took us longer than we wanted.”
Frontier finished the game with a 21-1 corner advantage and a 19-0 shot edge in the win, as Redhawk goalie Ella Flanders wasn’t called into action in the victory.
Roche said she’s hoping Frontier can get out to a fast start against the Green Wave on Monday, hoping it can carry the momentum gained late on Friday into the finals.
“We’re going to take it to them strong,” Roche said. “We always talk about coming out strong in the first five minutes of the game and that’s what we’ll have to do. It’s always a good game against Greenfield. We’re looking forward to it.”
Mahar said she’s looking to see the Redhawks capitalize on their scoring chances Monday, knowing goals won’t come easy against Greenfield. The two teams have already played 120 minutes against each other this season without either side finding the back of the net.
“To score we have to create opportunities in the circle and be in position to finish,” Mahar said. “We need to execute on corners. Defensively we have to play sound and play as a unit. We have to control and limit their goal-scoring opportunities.”
The championship game is set for Monday night at 7:15 p.m. at Holyoke High School. It will be the second of a doubleheader, following the Class D final between Franklin Tech and Pioneer at 5:30.