It wasn’t pretty, but a win’s a win.
Frontier Regional School was able to battle its way through a physical but inferior Easthampton High School squad en route to a 3-0 Schmid Division boys’ soccer victory during the season opener for both schools Thursday in Easthampton.
“It was kind of an ugly game,” said Red Hawks head coach Dale Totman. “I thought Easthampton did a really good job of making it ugly. They played real physical and did a good job of limiting us.
“I wasn’t overly happy with the performance, and that’s a credit to them.”
One of the highlights for Frontier was sophomore goalkeeper Peter Bronke, who made 4 saves to earn the shutout in his varsity debut.
“He played well,” said Totman. “I liked his command of the (18-yard) box for a sophomore. He did a great job of coming out when he needed to and he communicated well with the defense.”
Tyler Mayrand opened the scoring in the 16th minute, assisted by Ethan LaFleur. Dan Bronke upped the lead to 2-0 with his tally from Zach Hamilton in the 28th minute.
It remained that way until the 68th minute, when Ian Newman broke through and scored the final goal. Hamilton was credited with the assist.
Frontier held a 21-7 advantage in shots. Drew Caires made 9 saves for the Eagles.
“I thought Zach and Dan were great today. Zach controlled the game in their midfield and Dan in the back,” said Totman.
Frontier (1-0-0) hosts Sabis International Charter School Monday at 3:30 p.m. at Herlihy Park in Whately.
Hopkins 1, Athol 1 — Hopkins Academy and Athol High School traded first-half goals en route to a 1-1 Schmid Division boys’ soccer draw Thursday night at O’Brien Field in Athol.
The Golden Hawks struck first when Vance Cannella chipped a ball from over 30 yards out over the head of Athol goalie Colby Mason nine minutes into the game.
Athol came right back to tie the game four minutes later after a Hopkins defender threw a hand up in the box to block a shot, giving the Red Raiders a penalty kick, which Justin Blake converted past Hopkins goalie Jack Feltovic.
That was all the scoring on the day. Hopkins outshot the Red Raiders 13-7, but Athol actually had a couple of chances to score. Feltovic turned aside one chance from 10 yards out late in the first half, and Anthony Negron had a chance with three minutes left in the game when he outraced Feltovic to a ball in the box but missed the empty net.
“Hopkins was much more physical,” Athol coach Dave King said. “They were more aggressive, they were more determined, and they put a lot more pressure on us than we did on them.”
Feltovic finished with 4 saves. Mason stopped 6.
Drury 5, Greenfield 1 — John Boland scored one goal and added two assists as Drury High School downed Greenfield High School, 5-1, in an independent boys’ soccer match Thursday in North Adams.
Connor Clark and Boland scored two minutes apart in the first half to help the Blue Devils take a 2-0 lead by intermission.
Max Dougherty, Reece Racette and Jacob Brayman booted home second-half tallies.
Andrew Kang’s unassisted goal in the 76th minute accounted for the Green Wave offense.
Drury outshot Greenfield 26-5. Hunter Campbell turned aside 21 shots for the Wave, which had just 11 players available for the contest.
FC Tech 0, PV Christian 0 — Franklin County Technical School played Pioneer Valley Christian School to a standstill and earned a scoreless draw in independent boys’ soccer play Thursday in Springfield.
PV Christian held a 10-6 edge in shots.
Franklin Tech goalkeeper Grayson Funk and PV Christian keeper Matt Porter were each credited with 3 saves.
Four Rivers 13, White Oak 0 — Milou Rigollaud registered three goals and one assist to lead Four Rivers Charter School over White Oak School, 13-0, in a River Valley Athletic League boys’ soccer match Thursday in Greenfield.
Barnabus Yu and Evan Leaf also recorded hat tricks for the Otters, while Josh Gibson netted a pair of goals and Jake Duda notched a goal and three assists.
The Otters’ next match is Wednesday at defending league champion Putney (Vt.) School at 2:45 p.m.
Four Rivers 2, BART 0 — Kin Wildman-Hanlon and Lyra Macek each scored goals in the Four Rivers Charter School girls’ soccer debut and the Otters opened the season with a 2-0 win over Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter School in a River Valley Athletic League game at Williams College.
Wildman-Hanlon opened the scoring five minutes into the game with an unassisted tally, and the Otters took a 1-0 lead into the break thanks to goalie Teagan Cardaropoli’s three saves in the opening frame. Macek then scored a breakaway goal in the second half, and Cardaropoli stopped all five shots to she faced to complete the shutout.
Jaden Lebreux made her debut at stopper for the Otters and was credited for her strong job holding together the defensive line.