WESTFIELD — Peter Bronke managed to keep the Frontier Regional School boys’ soccer team close with several miraculous saves in the state Division III boys’ soccer semifinals against Nipmuc High School Wednesday night.
But without any scoring, Frontier’s season came to end Wednesday after a 1-0 loss to the Warriors.
The Red Hawks played stout defensively in front of Bronke (nine saves) at Alumni Field on the campus of Westfield State University, but offensively against Nipmuc, the attempts at the goal just weren’t there.
Frontier (13-4-4) had two good opportunities to score in the first half. Ian Newman had a shot that glanced off the finger tips of Nipmuc goalie Lucas Vanslette and over the crossbar. Then Newman later set up Ethan Lafleur on a breakaway attempt. With the pass slowing down, Lafluer had to slow his momentum toward the goal. This let the Nipmuc defenders swarm Lafleur and it led to a change in possession.
The second half didn’t produce any quality opportunities for Frontier, only Bronke’s play in net kept them close.
The Red Hawks did have a Zach Hamilton direct kick with under two minutes left, but it was blocked by Nipmuc’s wall.
Nipmuc (18-4-1) scored with just under 20 minutes left in the first half. Jonas Walter settled a ball among defenders around the 18-yard line and launched a shot that zipped past Frontier’s Peter Bronke.
Walter had a point-blank shot in the second half that Bronke slapped away to keep the Red Hawks within goal.
Alex Gheorghita had a solid game on the back end of Frontier’s defense, blocking shots and thwarting penetration by the Warriors.
Most of the play came in Frontier’s end as the Warriors outshot Frontier 14-4.
