It’s down to the wire for several Recorder-area high school teams, as the final days of the regular-season have squads scrambling for postseason qualification.
Monday marks the final day of regular-season action for soccer and volleyball, while field hockey’s cut-off day for games to be played is Sunday. With that in mind, here’s a quick look at the postseason breakdown of who’s in and who’s on the bubble for tournament contention.
In: Frontier (10-1-4), Athol (10-5-1), Mahar (9-5-3), Pioneer (12-2-1), FC Tech (8-6-3)
On the Bubble: None.
Summary: There won’t be any last-minute scrambling on the boys’ soccer front, as five schools have already punched their postseason tickets.
Frontier Regional School captured the Moriarty Division championship outright, while Athol High School will finish in the top half of the Schmid Division. Mahar Regional School and Pioneer Valley Regional School are still battling for the McGrath Division regular-season crown, while Franklin County Technical School has clinched an above .500 mark and will wind up in the middle of the Tri-County League pack.
In: Frontier (11-2-2), Mahar (9-2-4), Pioneer (7-5-2)
On the Bubble: FC Tech (7-8-1)
Summary: Both Frontier and Mahar have already clinched postseason spots, and the two teams are battling atop a crowded Pioneer North along with Hopkins Academy and Gateway Regional High School for league supremacy in what has been a very competitive season.
Thanks to Pioneer’s 2-0 win over Smith Voke on Wednesday night, the Panthers punched their ticket to tournament action with two games to spare.
The lone team on the bubble, FC Tech has a difficult path to qualification, in that the Eagles need three points from their final two games to earn a postseason berth. The good news is that those games come against High School of Commerce (Friday) and Springfield School of Science & Technology (Monday), two teams that FC Tech has already defeated this season. A win over Commerce Friday would mean that simply a tie against Sci-Tech would get the job done.
In: Frontier (12-2-2), Greenfield (12-4), Mohawk (12-3-1), Mahar (8-7-1)
On the Bubble: None.
Summary: The tradition powers have punched their postseason tickets weeks ago, but some late regular-season magic was needed for Mahar to qualify for the WMass Div. II Tournament. The Senators’ 4-0 win over FC Tech on Wednesday put them over the hump. Regardless of how today’s game against Mohawk ends up, Mahar is in the field.
Turners was the other school in contention, and the Powertown was on the bubble all the way until its finale Wednesday night against Smith Academy. A dramatic 4-4 tie dropped Turners to a final record of 7-8-3, one point shy of a postseason berth.
In: Turners Falls (16-3), Frontier (12-6), Mohawk (9-8), Mahar (12-6)
On the Bubble: Athol (9-9)
Summary: Three local Northern Division teams (Turners Falls, Mohawk, Mahar) are all in, as is perennial powerhouse Frontier.
Athol remains the lone team on the bubble, as its 9-9 record leaves it in need of one win in its final two matches. The first of those contests is tonight at Mallet Gymnasium, as the Red Raiders host Mohawk in what should be a highly-competitive contest. If Athol can’t get the job done tonight, it’ll have one final chance Friday night when it takes to the road to play Ware High School (13-5).
FC Tech (8-11) needed wins in its final two matches to sneak into the field, but the Eagles’ loss to Commerce on Wednesday put them on the outside looking in despite a very solid season.