Play it again, Sam.
Since the preseason began in late August, two area teams seemed destined to meet in the WMass Division II field hockey finals and both teams made good on that expectation as Greenfield High School and Frontier Regional School will meet today at 3 p.m. at Clark Field at West Springfield High School with a western Mass. title hanging in the balance.
The game marks a repeat of last year’s championship game that saw the then top-seeded Red Hawks knock off an up-and-coming Green Wave team, 3-1, to earn the school’s second consecutive title.
Frontier (14-1-4) graduated a number of players from that team but had enough holdovers and plenty of talented newcomers to get right back into title consideration heading into this season. Now the Hawks are looking to three-peat.
Greenfield (16-0-3), meanwhile, brought back much of last year’s runner-up team, including talented forwards Raegan Hickey and Audrey Bresciano, and those two snipers have helped Greenfield remain unbeaten thus far. The Green Wave already unseated the Red Hawks as North Division champions, and now have a chance to earn the school’s first WMass field hockey title since 2006.
“It was one of our goals and here we are,” Greenfield coach Erin Thayer said. “They are pumped, excited and ready to go.”
This actually marks the third straight season that the two squads have squared off in the tournament, after Frontier beat Greenfield, 2-1, in overtime in the 2014 semifinals en route to the Red Hawks’ first title during its current run. Frontier went on to beat Southwick-Tolland Regional High School, 2-1, in that championship game.
The game not only marks the third straight year the teams will meet in the postseason, it also marks the third time the two squads will face off this season. The Red Hawks lost just once all season, that coming way back in early September when Greenfield beat them, 4-2, in South Deerfield.
Things were much different the second time the teams met in late October. After scoring six goals combined in the first meeting, the squads were unable to put anything on the board during the second, settling for a scoreless draw. Thayer said her team must do a better job of stepping to the ball than it did in the last meeting.
“We need to be ready to play a full 60 minutes, and we need to be ready to step to the ball right away,” she said. “We definitely didn’t do either last time.”
That result seems the more likely scenario to play out in today’s championship game, as both teams have been stingy on defense of late. Greenfield has pitched shutouts in six of its past eight games, including Tuesday’s 5-0 victory over Southwick in the WMass semifinals. Frontier has been even stingier, pitching seven shutouts in its past eight games and allowing just one goal during that impressive span. Frontier also pitched a shutout in its semifinal game with a 1-0 victory over South Hadley High School. It’s a culmination of the hard work put in by the players, according to Frontier coach Missy Mahar, after her team lost many back-line starters from last year.
“Going into the season, we talked about the importance of piecing together our defensive unit,” Mahar explained. “I appreciate the fact that the players were so patient in learning the system and working with each to come together as a unit.”
Greenfield has the decided edge on offense with Hickey and Bresciano leading a dangerous attack. Hickey (30 goals, 17 assists) and Bresciano (24 goals, 17 assists) both answered the call Tuesday, when Bresciano helped set up three Greenfield goals, including one of the pair scored by Hickey. The Green Wave offense doesn’t end there, with midfielders Grace Kennedy and Alyssa Garvin both capable of pushing the ball forward, as well as Olivia Joy, Katie Haselton and Amanda Elwell. If Greenfield earns a penalty stroke, defender Ashley Hubbard will look to try to emulate her beautiful goal scored on a stroke in Tuesday’s semifinal win.
“We have at least six kids who can score at any time,” Thayer said. “They have to come together as a unit out there, and if they do their jobs, we should be in good position.”
Frontier, meanwhile, was dealt a major offensive blow earlier this week when leading scorer McKenzie Patterson was ruled out for the postseason with mononucleosis. That has left players like Ashley Borkowski, Emma Wesoloski, Camille Allie and Olivia Vecellio needing to step up, and that’s exactly what they did against South Hadley, when Wesoloski set up Borkowski for the game’s only goal.
“Once we talked about Kenzie not being with us, we needed to call on our midfielders to step up,” Mahar said. “Any one of our midfielders can play offense, but they are in the midfield because they can run, and play an important role there. But it’s very important for them to push. Our hopes are that they do that tomorrow.
The game could also come down to the goalies. Greenfield’s Samantha Smith had a huge performance keeping a clean slate against Frontier the last time the teams met, when she turned aside eight shots. Frontier netminder Skyla Burniske is only an eighth-grader but has played like someone years older this season, and is unflappable in goal. She stopped all three shots she faced against the Green Wave in late October. Neither goalie was busy Tuesday, as Burniske needed to make one save for her shutout against South Hadley, and Smith did not have to make a save in her shutout over Southwick.
The winner will advance to next week’s state semifinals, where it will take on the winner of today’s central Mass. championship game between perennial powers Quaboag Regional High School (the top seed with a 16-2-2 record this season, and Oakmont Regional High School (the third seed at 13-4-1).