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Frontier’s Nora Sloan (18) knocks a shot past Mahar goalie Zoey Woodard during the top-seeded Redhawks’ 7-0 victory in the Class C semifinal round in South Deerfield on Friday. -
Mahar’s Taylor Paluk, left, and Frontier’s Whitney Campbell compete for the ball in South Deerfield on Friday. -
Frontier’s Ashlie Galenski shoots on goal against Mahar in South Deerfield on Friday. -
Multiple Frontier players vie for the ball in front of the Mahar goal in South Deerfield on Friday. -
The Frontier field hockey team celebrates after scoring a goal to open the game against Mahar in South Deerfield on Friday.
SOUTH DEERFIELD — Make it three Western Mass. title-game appearances in a row for the Frontier field hockey team.
The Redhawks, which earned the No. 1 seed in the Class C tournament, got off to a blistering start in their semifinal game against No. 4 Mahar on Friday, scoring a trio of goals in the opening five minutes before taking a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Frontier tallied twice more in the first half and scored again in the third quarter to cruise into the finals with a 7-0 victory.
The Redhawks advanced to face No. 2 Greenfield in the finals, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday at Holyoke High School. It’ll be the third straight Frontier-Green Wave final, and it will mark the fourth meeting of the season between the two rivals (Greenfield leads 2-1).
“It’s a testament to the athletes here, the effort they put into the program and their belief in the program,” Frontier coach Missy Mahar said on her team reaching three straight finals. “It’s a credit to them that they’re here for the third year in a row. I’m very proud of them for that. One of their goals was to get back there so I’m excited for them to have that opportunity. Hopefully we bring our best.”
The loss means it’s the end of the road for Mahar (6-11), though Senators coach Laurie Saisa noted all the strides and improvements her team made this season, going from one win a season ago to six this year while qualifying for the sectional tourney.
“We started this season without enough girls to step on the field,” Saisa said. “We ended up with 13 girls and we never expected to be here. I told the girls that they need to look at the success of the season. We won six games and we beat Westfield. Walking away with small accomplishments and personal goals is great. We only have two seniors. Numbers are so low. Overall I’m proud of the girls for coming out and working hard every day. It’s all I can ask for.
“It was huge for them to see and play in a game like this,” Saisa added “It’s great for them to say they played in the Western Mass. tournament.”
It was Ashley Taylor who opened the scoring for the Redhawks (8-6-4), rocketing in a shot off a dish from Macy DeMaio just 37 seconds into the game. Three minutes later Frontier regained possession, drove it into the circle where Taylor slid a pass across the crease to Kate Walker, who smashed it home to give the Redhawks a 2-0 lead.
One minute after Walker’s goal, with 10 minutes to play in the opening quarter, Frontier added to its lead after Rowan Reilly tapped in a shot on the left post that was passed in to her from DeMaio.
With four minutes to go in the quarter the Redhawks put a shot on goal that was saved by Senators goalie Zoey Woodard (nine saves), but Nora Sloan was there to collect the rebound and fire it home to give Frontier a 4-0 lead.
“We talked about playing with a sense of urgency within the 25 [yard line] and sending balls toward the cage and hope to create a goal, a corner, some opportunity,” Mahar said. “We’ve been diving in and focusing on that. To win these postseason games, you have to score. We’ve been working on that sense of urgency at practice beneath the 25.”
Bryanna Fahey knocked in a goal midway through the second quarter off an assist from Elsa Brown before Hailey Hutkoski smashed a shot into the circle that was deflected into goal by Bella Orrell to put the Redhawks up 6-0 at the half.
Orrell scored her second goal of the game in the third quarter off an assist from Reilly to close out the scoring.
With the game in hand, Frontier was able to get its younger players on the field to gain experience in case they’re called upon moving forward.
“I’ve said all season I wish I could play all 22 of my players,” Mahar said. “The effort they bring to practice every day is amazing. I’m grateful that they work as hard as they do. I recognize that and I wish I could play all of them but there’s a time and a place for that. I was happy to see other girls get on the board today and get that game experience. They deserve it.”