SOUTH DEERFIELD — A pair of league leaders squared off Monday morning when Frontier field hockey hosted Belchertown and the Redhawks bested the Orioles, 3-0, scoring all three goals in the second half.
For almost three quarters, Belchertown goalkeeper Lila Roy was the difference in keeping the scored tied at zero. The senior stopped every Redhawks attack. She swatted line drives, kicked shots off rebounds and covered the ball when there was traffic in front of the goal.
But with less than two minutes left in the third quarter, Frontier head coach Missy Mahar switched up her team’s corner play and ran a different set for the first time in the game.
Senior Amelia Bouchard received the pass at the top of the circle and quickly made a pass to eighth-grader Michaela Sloan. She wasted no time to take a flick at the net. Her shot ricocheted off a Belchertown defender and into the goal for the lead.
“That came such at an appropriate time,” Mahar said. “To see her come up as an eighth grader and execute and get that goal gave the team the momentum swing that it need to say, ‘Okay, we can score on this goalie.'”
The Redhawks added two more goals by Addie Harrington and Isabella Orrell the fourth quarter to improve to 12-0.
“I think our team is just great,” Harrington said. “We all work so well together and we all move as a unit.”
Roy tested a Redhawks offense used to finding the back of the net more often than not. She made an eye-catching 30 saves. She often made multiple saves in the same possession.
“She’s tough,” Belchertown head coach Dina Brunetti said. “I knew from the beginning of the game she was locked in and having an incredible day.”
Though they were never behind, it felt like Frontier had its work cut out if it was going to break through.
Sloan’s goal turned the tide for Frontier and allowed the team to keep up the pressure on offense. It was her second goal of the season.
“She’s got great game sense as a eighth grader,” Mahar said. “She always transition with her head up looking for the next best play. So I’m fully confident in giving her the ball in that scenario.
Harrington gave the Redhawks some breathing room midway through the fourth quarter. On another penalty corner play, Rowen Reilly received the ball off a save from Roy. Rather that throw another shot, she crossed the ball to Harrington who finished the play.
After failing to connect on crosses earlier in the day, the senior was relieved to finally get a shot in.
“It was definitely one of the tougher games we had, and we had to adapt,” Harrington said. “It took us a minute, but we overall executed well.”
As the game entered the final five minutes, the Redhawks generated four more corner penalties. Orrell scored her 10th goal of the season under one minute left to cap off the win.
“One thing that strikes me with this team is that they have a lot of grit,” Mahar said. “I know they weren’t down at any point, but they were creating opportunities and not capitalizing. They didn’t just turn over. They held strong.”
After holding a team that has multiple eight-goal games to just one through three quarters, Brunetti knows the talent is there to win a big game.
“We played like a different team. A 1-0 game, I would have walked away happy,” Brunetti said. “In the fourth quarter we crumbled. We did not transition well. We’d have an opportunity, then lose it, and were constantly trying to regroup.”
Monday was the second time in three games the Orioles failed to scored.
The team turns around quickly for a Wednesday meeting against South Hadley, who sits in second in the Valley League
On, Tuesday Frontier begins a four-game stretch where it will face league opponents for the second time. First up is 9-2-1 East Longmeadow.
