Minnechaug Regional High School spread the wealth Wednesday and Mahar Regional School was unable to match the balance.
Five players for the Division I Falcons found the back of the net — four of them in the first half — and their defense allowed just three shots on goal in a 5-1 independent field hockey win over the Senators Wednesday afternoon at the Woodward Complex in Orange.
“It was a tough day,” admitted Mahar head coach Laurie Saisa. “We just couldn’t keep possession, and I’m not sure if we were we ready for their (offensive) firepower.”
Mahar (5-7-0) had entered the game having won three straight and four of its last five, the only loss coming against once-beaten Division I foe Longmeadow High School.
Minnechaug (7-1-5) extended its unbeaten streak to seven games (3-0-4); coincidentally, its only loss was to once-beaten Longmeadow High School.
Karalyn Jones smacked home a pass from Sarah Caltabiano 5 minutes, 19 seconds into the first half to put Minnechaug up 1-0.
It remained a one-goal game until Hannah Garvey struck at 19:27 and Mary Kate Moriarty found the net at 23:50 to extend the Falcons’ lead to 3-0.
Kadie Jillson got one back for Mahar with 3:47 left in the half, but Minnechaug’s Kayla Anderson got a critical goal with 5 seconds left in the half to make it 4-1 at the break.
Jen Kovarik had the only second-half tally for the Falcons, while Samantha Falcone made 2 saves in goal.
Hannah Birch had 7 stops for Mahar.
Both teams were awarded 8 penalty corners.
Greenfield 3, Smith Academy 0 — Greenfield High School’s offense has been difficult to slow down lately.
Smith Academy tried its best to do that Wednesday afternoon, but the Green Wave pounced early and was never seriously threatened as it cruised to a 3-0 PVIAC Northern Division field hockey victory in Hatfield.
Olivia Joy scored the opening goal for the Green Wave (11-0-2, 5-0-0 North) just 3:35 into the contest after Teagan Cavanaugh had rejected shots from Raegan Hickey and Grace Kennedy before Joy knocked it home. Kennedy was credited with the assist.
Audrey Bresciano continued her torrid offensive stretch by finishing off a feed from Hickey at 11:27 to make it 2-0 Greenfield.
Bresciano netted her second goal of the match from Kennedy at the 10:22 mark off a corner to close out the scoring.
“Our offensive game is really strong,” said Greenfield head coach Erin Thayer, whose squad has scored 40 goals in the past six games. “Our passing and spacing is great. We have some things to work on defensively, but we’re working on our weaknesses and capitalizing on our strengths.”
Greenfield outshot Smith Academy 16-11. Samantha Smith played one of her best games of the season, making 11 saves to earn her fifth shutout.
Cavanaugh turned aside 13 shots for the Falcons (3-7-2, 2-3-0 North), who dropped to 1-5-1 in their last seven games — six of them against independent opponents.
Each team finished with 6 corners.
Greenfield travels to Mahar Friday at 4:45 p.m.
Holyoke 5, Athol 0 — Holyoke High School extended its PVIAC Western Division lead to five points after its 5-0 victory against Athol High School Wednesday in Holyoke.
The Purple Knights (9-2-1, 8-0-0 West) have a seemingly comfortable lead over idle Turners Falls High School (5-5-1, 5-1-1), which still has a game in hand. The teams are scheduled to meet Oct. 19 in Holyoke at 6 p.m.
Kassidy Lawrence led Holyoke with a pair of goals, while Katie Keane and Bella Courchesne each had a goal and an assist. Sarah Healy also scored, while Maddy Duggan notched an assist.
Hudson Carlson played a stellar game in net for Athol (2-10-0, 2-6-0 West), rejecting 40 of the 45 shots he faced.