In what was supposed to be a rebuilding season, the Mahar Regional School girls soccer team won a program-record 15 games and was rewarded for their efforts on Friday.
The MIAA announced the seeds for the Western Mass. Division 3 Girls Soccer Tournament at Chicopee High School on Friday.
The Senators were awarded the No. 3 seed in the field, the highest seed for the program under coach Chad Softic, who has been with the team for nine seasons.
The Senators (15-1-2) received the usual production this year from dynamic goal scorer Delaney Parker, but the young core around the junior forward has developed very quickly.
“I never would have envisioned this,” Softic said. “You are just trying to make the tournament. I thought there would be a lot of growth, but it’s been pretty consistent throughout.”
The No. 3 Senators will host No. 14 Drury High School on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Woodward Complex.
In a regular season meeting on Sept. 10, Mahar beat Drury at home, 6-2.
“We got to them a little bit,” Softic said. “They are dangerous. They can score and played really well down the stretch. I don’t know if they had some players out earlier in the season. I think they are better than some of the teams in front of them.”
Kayla McGrath is a dangerous player for the Blue Devils, scoring 18 goals with seven assists from the midfield. Elli Miles is another player with scoring ability with six goals and nine assists.
The field has 15 teams in total with top-seeded South Hadley (17-0-1) receiving the lone first-round bye.
Frontier (11-5-2) earned the No. 11 seed and faces a trip to Berkshire County to play sixth-seeded Mount Greylock (12-4-2) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“We have to get our mindset right,” Frontier coach Phil Pittelli said. “I think they want it. But right now we have to get them to really want it. I definitely feel like we can make some noise in the tournament and make a run.”
Should the Red Hawks and the Senators both win in the first round, it would set up a third meeting of the season between the teams back at the Woodward Complex in the quarterfinals.
After winning the program’s first-ever league title with an unblemished mark in Pioneer South contests, Greenfield High School (14-2) was awarded the No. 10 seed in the Division 3 field and will also take a trip to Berkshire County for a match with No. 7 Monument Mountain (9-5-3). The date and time was still to be determined at press time.
The winner of No. 2 Hampshire Regional (11-3-2) and No. 15 Putnam (7-5-6) would await the Green Wave in the second round should they advance.
No. 13 Pioneer Valley Regional makes it a trifecta of Franklin County teams going to Berkshire County in the opening round. The Panthers (11-5) will visit fourth-seeded Wahconah (10-3-5) with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. The date and time was still to be determined at press time.
