Mahar Regional School accomplished its first of several lofty season-long goals Thursday afternoon.
The Senators stormed out to a 2-0 halftime lead and tacked on an insurance tally, lifting them to a 3-0 victory over Mohawk Trail Regional High School in a McGrath Division boys’ soccer game in Orange.
The win qualified Mahar (8-4-3, 8-2-1) for the WMass Div. III Tournament, while Mohawk fell to 0-12-4, 0-8-2.
“Making tournament was our first goal of the season,” explained Mahar coach Dan Guertin. “Now we want to win out and improve our seed. We still have a lot to play for.”
The Senators are still in the hunt for a potential McGrath regular-season title but need current leader Pioneer Valley Regional School (11-1-1, 7-1-1) to stumble down the stretch.
Riley Drew staked Mahar to a 1-0 lead against Mohawk, and Charlie Anderson added two goals the rest of the way for the win. James Temple, Jack Temple and Matt Jenks added assists for the Senators.
Mahar held a 17-2 advantage in shots, forcing Mohawk goalkeeper Wyatt Bandy-Page to make 14 saves. Logan Dodge turned away a pair of shots for the shutout.
Mahar hosts Sabis International Charter School Monday while Mohawk next hosts Sabis on Wednesday.
FC Tech 1, Commerce 0 — A perfect strike on a free kick from 30 yards out was all it took Thursday for Franklin County Technical School.
Rueben Galvez drilled a shot high and to the far corner, beating High School of Commerce goalkeeper Osvaldo Noyola in the 52nd minute for the lone goal of the game as the visiting Eagles captured a 1-0 independent boys’ soccer win in Springfield.
“This was a great test for our defense and the overall character of our team to see if we could stay with them,” lauded FC Tech coach Kurt Richardson of his team’s performance. “It was a great postseason prep game for us against the type of team we’re probably going to see there.”
The victory clinched a postseason berth for the Eagles (8-5-3), which qualified for the WMass Div. III Tournament for the first time since 2011.
Commerce (9-4-3) held an 11-7 edge in shots, but FC Tech goalkeeper Grayson Funk was forced to make just one save to pick up the team’s sixth shutout of the season.
The Eagles next play Tri-County League leader Hampden Charter School of Science Monday in Chicopee.
Frontier 3, Chicopee 1 — Major adversity faced Frontier Regional School Thursday night.
Trailing 1-0 midway through the first half, the Red Hawks lost starting goalkeeper Peter Bronke to a back injury on the conceded goal.
Down but not out, Frontier tied the game just four minutes later on an Ethan LaFleur goal and scored a pair of second-half goals to capture a key 3-1 road victory over Chicopee High School in a Moriarty Division game at Szot Park in Chicopee.
Chicopee (9-7, 3-3) took a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute when Pedro Duarte scored off a free kick. On the play, Bronke crashed into the post and injured his back. After being attended to for about 15 minutes, he was removed from the game via ambulance and brought to the hospital. Frontier coach Dale Totman said he believes his star keeper is OK, and the hospital trip was a precautionary measure.
“It really was a moment for us in the season,” began Totman of the injury timeout. “We honestly weren’t playing that well to start the game. They score and we look over and (Bronke is) down. It was a hard moment. But I told the guys, when adversity happens, you can let that affect you the rest of the game or you can go change it. We came out flying after that.”
LaFleur tied the game just four minutes later with an assist from Zach Hamilton. Then Ben Arnold put the Hawks ahead 2-1 with a 50th minute strike from Alex Gheorghita. Doug Hanieski tacked on another just two minutes later, with Arnold notching the assist to account for the 3-1 win.
Frontier (10-1-3, 5-0-1) was boosted by the play of Connor Waitkus, who stepped into the goal after Bronke exited the game and kept the Pacers off the board. Waitkus, who Totman said hasn’t played goalie since he was young, recorded four saves as the Hawks picked up the win.
Next up for Frontier is a home game Monday night at Springfield Central High School.
Frontier 2, South Hadley 2 — South Hadley High School scored twice in less than a two-minute span of the second half to come back and earn a 2-2 draw with Frontier in a Valley League field hockey game Thursday night under the lights in South Deerfield.
Frontier (11-2-2) took a 2-0 lead in the first half but the Tigers (7-6-2) got goals from Julie Miele and Corryn Moroney with 10:10 and 8:30 left in the second half.
“I think we just got complacent in the second half,” Frontier coach Missy Mahar said. “We played on our heels. We played not to lose. Once South Hadley generated that goal with 10 minutes left, you could see the momentum shift. We weren’t going to loose balls, we weren’t moving to open space, we just kind of sat back on it.”
McKenzie Patterson scored both goals on assists from Olivia Vecellio, the first coming 5:30 into the game, the second coming with 4:19 left in the first half.
Brittany Cote made 14 saves in the South Hadley goal, while Skyla Burniske made six saves in the Frontier cage.
Frontier travels to Mohawk this afternoon.
Belchertown 2, Athol 1 — Arianna Piedra had one goal and one assist in the first half and Belchertown High School held off an Athol High School comeback in the second to hold on for a 2-1 Tri-County League field hockey victory Thursday in Belchertown.
Piedra set up Catherine O’Connell for the first goal of the game and then scored the second goal on an assist from Samantha Mann.
The Red Raiders played a much better second half, according to coach Emily Hall, putting together a better passing attack in the second half as they got used to the thick grass in Belchertown. Crista Cucchi got the Red Raiders on the board with a goal off an assist from Chase Michaud, but Athol was unable to even the score.
“Our second half was definitely our better half,” she said. “We really clicked. We dominated late, but we just couldn’t put the ball in the net.”
Athol outshot the Oriorles, 10-5, but Kiersten Laramee turned aside nine to earn the victory. Ryley Pond made three saves in the loss.
Athol (2-10-3) travels to Gardner High School today at 3:30
Frontier 3, West Springfield 1 — While visiting West Springfield High School rallied to capture the second set, Frontier Regional School won the final two frames in convincing fashion to capture a 25-13, 23-25, 25-13, 25-13 victory in an independent girls’ volleyball match Thursday night in South Deerfield.
Lauren Davenport paced the Frontier offense with 12 kills, while Selayna Bathurst tossed in seven kills and Ashley Telega (two blocks) and Olivia Deane had six kills apiece.
Setter Ella Deane dished out 25 assists for the Red Hawks (12-4), while Lizzy Fuqua added six assists.
Grace Randall totaled four aces, while the defense was led by Davenport’s 11 digs. Bathurst (seven digs), Ella Deane (five digs) and Sarah Zoly (five digs) all contributed defensively.
Frontier is right back at it tonight, when it hosts central Mass. Division II power Westborough High School at 6:30 p.m.
Lenox 3, Turners 2 — Lenox Memorial High School captured the final two sets of the night to come back and post a 17-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-17, 15-10 victory in an independent girls’ volleyball match Thursday in Turners Falls.
The Millionaires (13-2) took advantage of a sloppy service night by Turners Falls (14-3) to earn the comeback win.
Sienna Dillensnieder finished with 12 assists, two kills, one ace and two digs for Turners Falls, while Taylor Murphy had six kills and two aces. Emma Miner finished with two assists, one kill, one block, one ace and two digs, and Chloe Ellis had four kills, two aces and two blocks.
Ware 3, FC Tech 1 — Reagan Fiske put down seven kills, and Franklin County Technical School played a solid opening two sets before visiting Ware High School picked up a 25-19, 23-25, 25-11, 25-9 victory in an independent girls’ volleyball match Thursday in Turners Falls.
Fiske also had five assists, two aces and seven digs for FC Tech (7-10), while Leah Wozniak smacked two aces, six digs and one kill. Tori Profit tossed in two kills, one block, one dig and an ace for the Eagles.
Tech hosts Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School in its home finale Monday.