It may have been a preview of the WMass Division 2 field hockey championship Tuesday night in Greenfield.
If nothing else, it was a rematch of the past three title games.
Second-half goals by Katie Haselton and Audrey Bresciano lifted Greenfield High School past Frontier Regional School, 2-1, in a Valley League match at Veterans Memorial Field.
The game pitted arguably the top two teams in western Mass. Division 2 and what has developed into a nice rivalry in recent seasons. It was the first of two matchups this season between the clubs (with a possible third on the postseason horizon), and due to an earlier postponement, the two teams will meet again Friday in South Deerfield at 4.
Things remained scoreless until the second half when Haselton swatted home a rebound off the pads of Frontier goalie Skyla Burniske with 23 minutes, 32 seconds to play. That score held until 2:34 remained when Audrey Bresciano scored an unassisted goal to put the Wave up 2-0. Olivia Vecellio scored with 1:29 to play on an assist from Lily Spencer.
“This was a good challenge for us,” Green Wave coach Erin Thayer said. “Offensively, we pushed the ball and pressured the ball the way we do, we just didn’t always recover the way we need to in order to keep the ball out of our end. We did well. We got done what we needed to get done. They worked hard all the way until the end.”
Samantha Smith made six saves to earn the victory. Burniske made 10 saves in the Frontier net.
Greenfield (13-1-0 overall, 7-0-0 VL) all but wrapped up the league title with three games to play in league. Frontier (8-4-2, 5-1-1) remains in second place.
Mahar 2, Belchertown 0 — Mahar scored once in each half to rebound from a tough loss on Monday with a 2-0 victory over Belchertown in an independent field hockey game Tuesday in Belchertown.
The Senators (8-4-1) were looking for a good result following a 7-1 loss to Bi-County rival Mohawk on Monday. They got what they were looking for as the offense produced the two goals, while the defense held the Tri-County leading Orioles to just three shots.
“We all have post-traumatic stress disorder around the amount of rain this season and today the sun came out,” exclaimed Mahar coach Lauri Saisa.
Anna Wetherbee blasted home a rebound in the first half to put the visitors ahead, and Lily Fellows followed suit in the second half when she buried a rebound for Mahar’s second goal.
Bella Marigliano stopped three shots to earn the shutout.
Athol 1, FC Tech 1 — Peter Saladino scored in the second half and Franklin Tech earned its first point of the season with a 1-1 draw against Athol in a Tri-County League field hockey game Tuesday in Athol.
Heather Pilling scored a first-half goal for Athol on an assist from Sadey Lehtomaki that gave the host Red Raiders (2-9-2) a 1-0 lead at the break but Saladino scored in the second half for the Eagles, who moved to 0-10-1 on the year. Kylee Baleno made 10 saves in the Eagles’ net, and Ryley Pond stopped six shots in the Athol goal.
Mohawk 15, Gateway 48 — Mohawk had the first six runners cross the finish line on Tuesday en route to a 15-48 win over Gateway in an independent girls cross country meet in Huntington.
Meghan Davis won the 3.1-mile race in 23 minutes, 35 seconds, while Erica Szewczyk was second in 23:36. Erika Looman took third in 24:30, and Carli Cusimano was fourth in 25:05. Caitlin Upton was fifth in 25:06, and Savannah Simmons was sixth in 25:22. Sierra Upton placed ninth for Mohawk in 26:49, and Kyra Goodell was 10th in 27:04.
Mohawk will try to finish off its unbeaten regular season Tuesday when it faces Pope Francis.
Pope Francis 23, Greenfield 32
Monson 25, Greenfield 30 — Louisa Calame finished second overall on Tuesday for Greenfield but the Green wave suffered a pair of independent losses at Highland Park in Greenfield.
Calame finished second in the 3.1-mile race in 22:34 for the Green Wave, while Kandace Lu was fifth overall in 24:13.
Frontier 15, McCann Tech 50
Frontier 15, Granby 49 — Frontier had nine runners inside the top 10 as it knocked off both McCann (15-50) and Granby (15-49) Tuesday in North Adams.
Angelina Egland won the 2.85-mile race for Frontier in 21:28, while Marie Diemand was second in 21:55. Leah Gump took third in 21:58, and Abigail Howard was fourth in 21:58. Fiona Ferry took fifth in 22:11, Fiona Howes was sixth in 23:35, Juliet Keefe was eighth in 23:46, Lia Vichi was ninth in 23:47, and Emily Laus was 10th in 24:15.
Gateway 28, Mohawk 28 — Nick Henrichon came in 10th overall but his finish made all the difference on Tuesday.
The Gateway runner was the sixth runner to cross the line for his team and beat Mohawk’s sixth runner to serve as the tie-breaking runner and Gateway was awarded the victory as it tied Mohawk 28-28 in an independent meet in Huntington.
Dennis Simmons won the race for Mohawk in 20:25, and Guy Rice-Lesure was second in 20:29. Sean O’Dea took fifth overall for Mohawk in 21:58, and Connor Bailey was ninth in 23:21.
Pope Francis 24, Greenfield 33
Monson 25, Greenfield 32 — Tyssen LaBombard finished fourth overall for Greenfield but the Green Wave fell to both Pope Francis (24-33) and Monson (25-32) at Highland Park.
Greenfield had three other runners crack the top 10. Alex Tirrell came in eighth in 20:09, Dylan Badillo took ninth in 20:11, and Andy Bostrom was 10th in 20:13.
Frontier 20, Granby 41
Frontier 15, McCann 50 — Frontier wrapped up the Pioneer North title on Tuesday as it traveled to North Adams and defeated McCann Tech (15-50) and Granby (20-41).
Carsten Carey and Peter Carey raced across the finish line of the 2.85-mile race in 17:40 to claim the top two spots. Alex Sharp was fourth overall for Frontier in 17:51, and Gehrig Brynda was sixth in 18:39. George Balis was seventh in 18:47, Brett Robinson was eighth in 18:49, Patrick Boyden was ninth in 18:56, and Phaelon Koski was 10th in 18:52.
Mahar 17, Hamp Charter 41
Hampshire 19, Mahar 43 — Thor Mead and Connor Valaincourt each cracked the top 10 on Tuesday afternoon and Mahar split a tri-meet as it defeated Hampden Charter (17-41) but fell to Hampshire (19-43) in Orange.
Mead finished fourth overall in 19:10, and Valaincourt was right behind in fifth in 19:30. Ed Bennington took 12th overall in 21:24 for Mahar.
Field hockey
Greenfield 2, Frontier 1
|
Frontier |
0 |
1 |
— |
1 |
|
Greenfield |
0 |
2 |
— |
2 |
Goals: (F) Vecellio. (G) Haselton, Bresciano.
Assists: (F) Spencer.
Shots: Frontier 7. Greenfield 12.
Saves: (F) Burniske 10. (G) Smith 6.
Corners: Frontier 4. Greenfield 6.
Mahar 2, Belchertown 0
|
Mahar |
1 |
1 |
— |
2 |
|
Belchertown |
0 |
0 |
— |
0 |
Goals: (M) Wetherbee, Fellows.
Shots: Mahar 7. Belchertown 3.
Saves: (M) Marigliano 3. (B) n/a 5.
Corners: Mahar 2. Belchertown 4.
FC Tech 1, Athol 1
|
FC Tech |
0 |
1 |
— |
1 |
|
Athol |
1 |
0 |
— |
1 |
Goals: (FT) Saladino. (A) Pilling.
Assists: (A) Lehtomaki.
Shots: FC Tech 7. Athol 11.
Saves: (FT) Baleno 10. (A) Pond 6.
Corners: FC Tech 2. Athol 10.
Boys cross country
Frontier 15, McCann Tech 50
Frontier 20, Granby 41
(at McCann Tech, 2.85 miles)
1. C. Carey (F), 17:40. 2. P. Carey (F), 17:40. 3. Hutchinson (G), 17:41. 4. Sharp (F), 17:51. 5. Gould (G), 18:15. 6. Brynda (F), 18:39. 7. Balis (F), 18:47. 8. Robinson (F), 18:49. 9. Boyden (F), 18:50. 10. Koski (F), 18:52.
Monson 25, Greenfield 32
Pope Francis 24, Greenfield 33
(at Greenfield, 3.1 miles)
1. Markey (PF), 18:27. 2. Ordonez (PF), 18:33. 3. Fiester (M), 18:34. 4. LaBombard (G), 18:56. 5. Mitchell (M), 18:57. 6. Provost (M), 19:41. 7. Ashe (PF), 19:59. 8. Tirrell (G), 20:09. 9. Badillo (G), 20:11. 10. Bostrom (G), 20:13.
Mahar 17, Hamp Charter 41
Hampshire 19, Mahar 43
(at Mahar)
1. Vayda (H), 17:32. 2. Labrie (H), 18:51. 3. McFadzen (H), 19:07. 4. Mead (M), 19:10. 5. Valaincourt (M), 19:30. 6. Copie (H), 20:03. 7. O’Connell (H), 20:16. 8. Ronconz (H), 20:17. 9. Williams (H), 20:19. 10. Coltman (H), 20:31.
Gateway 28, Mohawk 28
(at Gateway, 3.1 miles)
1. Simmons (M), 20:25. 2. Rice-Lesure (M) 20:29. 3. Vasilrhenko (G), 20:58. 4. Reynolds (G), 21:20. 5. O’Dea (M), 21:58. 6. Benson (G), 22:23. 7. Small (G), 22:44. 8. Millin (G), 22:45. 9. Bailey (M), 23:21. 10. Henrichon (G), 23:39.
Girls cross country
Frontier 15, McCann Tech 50
Frontier 15, Granby 49
(at McCann Tech, 2.85 miles)
1. Egland (F), 21:28. 2. Diemand (F), 21:55. 3. Gump (F), 21:58. 4. Howard (F), 21:58. 5. Ferry (F), 22:11. 6. Howes (F), 23:35. 7. Biron (G), 23:44. 8. Keefe (F) 23:46. 9. Vichi (F), 23:47. 10. Laus (F), 24:15,
Monson 25, Greenfield 30
Pope Francis 23, Greenfield 32
(at Greenfield, 3.1 miles)
1. Sullivan (PF), 22:10. 2. Calame (G), 22:34. 3. Calderon (PF), 23:42. 4. Fennery (M), 23:56. 5. Lu (G), 24:13. 6. Burnham (M), 24:26. 7. Liquori (PF), 24:47. 8. Johnson (M), 25:34. 9. Pienoks (M), 25:51. 10. Skelly (PF), 25:56.
Mohawk 15, Gateway 48
(at Gateway, 3.1 miles)
1. Davis (M), 23:35. 2. Szewczyk (M), 23:36. 3. Looman (M), 24:30. 4. Cusimano (M), 25:05. 5. Upton (M), 25:06. 6. Simmons (M), 25:22. 7. Kelly (G), 26:08. 8. Williamson (G), 26:20. 9. S. Upton (M), 26:49. 10. Goodell (M), 27:04.