HOLYOKE — The Franklin Tech field hockey team knew it needed to play its best 15 minutes of its season if it wanted to hoist a second straight Western Mass. championship.
Facing top-seeded Pioneer for the second year in a row with a title on the line, the No. 2 Eagles had the majority of the chances through the first three quarters, but the Panthers capitalized on a penalty corner with 35 seconds left in the third quarter to take a 1-0 lead.
Undaunted, Franklin Tech came out aggressive in the fourth, earning a pair of corners early. With 8:57 to play in the fourth, that aggressive play paid off as Lilly Ross found the back of the net to tie the game.
The Eagles had all the momentum as the game moved into a 10-minute, 7-on-7 overtime, earning a corner with seven minutes left. Hannah Gilbert capitalized on it, blasting it into the cage to give her team its second straight sectional title with a 2-1 victory in the Western Mass. Class D final at Holyoke High School.
“The last couple times we’ve played [Pioneer] we’ve gone down like that and haven’t come back from it,” Eagles coach Rian Lovett said. “[Trailing 1-0] we came off the field and the captains told everyone we had a quarter to play. I could feel the energy with these girls all day. We were ready to go and ready to win. We were ready for redemption; we haven’t beaten them all year. This feels really good.
“I can’t say enough about this group of kids,” she continued. “They’re resilient every day and work so hard. You don’t have to have the best athletes, you need the best camaraderie and that’s what we have. If you get a team to gel you can do good things and I felt that with this group this year.”
Franklin Tech came out firing in the overtime, forcing Panthers goalie Kelly Baird to make a pair of impressive saves at the start of the 7-on-7 period.
The Eagles earned the corner just before the seven-minute mark, as the ball was sent out to Kait Trudeau. She sent it across the crease to Gilbert, who drilled it into the cage to lift Tech to victory.
“It was going toward the goal but the goalie was right there,” Gilbert said. “If I didn’t have a good pass it wouldn’t have gone in.”
It was a quiet first half for both sides, with Franklin Tech holding a 5-2 corner advantage but nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.
The Eagles started the second half strong, earning a pair of corners, but Pioneer seized the momentum toward the end of the period.
The Panthers picked up a pair of corners and on their second one, the ball was sent in to Lauryn Kalinowski. The freshman passed it toward the goal where it deflected high in the air and right onto the stick of Kelseigh Sargent, who buried the shot to give Pioneer the game’s first goal.
Franklin Tech felt it had to come out flying in order to get that goal back in the fourth.
“We knew we had to step it up and put pressure on,” Gilbert said. “We had to be faster and move the ball faster.”
Play faster, it did. Tech earned four corners in the fourth quarter, with Ross eventually finding the back of the cage for an unassisted tally as the ball bounced around in the circle before the junior smashed it in to knot the game up and bring momentum fully back toward the Eagles.
“I could feel the energy shift,” Lovett said. “We knew we had it. We scored quickly which was helpful to get it back to a tie. It boosted our energy. These girls played their butts off today.”
Pioneer had a great chance to regain the lead at the six minute mark of the fourth quarter, with Amelia Bouchard rocketing a shot on goal that was saved by Eagle keeper Madison Markwell to keep things level.
When the game eventually went to overtime, Lovett wasn’t surprised.
“I had a feeling all day this game was going to overtime,”Lovett said. “Once we got there I could see we had the speed up front and we would be able to put it in. Kait [Trudeau] was moving the ball well up there.”
The championship experience from a season ago helped give Franklin Tech confidence once things got tough.
“Last year was our first time being Western Mass. champs,” Gilbert said. “It felt good to do it again. I had full confidence in our team. We work well together. This was one of the best games we’ve played.”
Both teams now turn their attention to the MIAA Division 5 state tournament, which begins later this week.