Field hockey: Greenfield can’t stay with undefeated Belchertown in 5-2 road loss (PHOTOS)

BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown field hockey team used a four-goal, second-half outburst to move to 4-0 on the season following its 5-2 victory against Greenfield on Thursday.

Ahead 1-0 at halftime, the Orioles allowed the equalizer early in the third quarter, but then ripped off four of the match’s final five goals to claim their first win against the Green Wave during head coach Dina Brunetti’s tenure.

“We lacked shooting, we lacked offense and we finally picked it up a little bit more,” Brunetti said. “We lacked that in the past few games where we just weren’t taking shots on net. Our [penalty] corners looked better today. I was real happy with that.”

Henley Gilstrap attained a goal and assist for the Green Wave as their top producer in the defeat. Madison Lemay also scored for Greenfield, which dropped to 1-2 on the season.

“Just the little things, little things that impact big things,” Greenfield head coach Erin Thayer said on the difference in this one. “Not passing with purpose, not cutting to the ball and spurts of energy.

“The spurts of energy we had were great, but we got to come with that the whole game, not just spurts of it,” Thayer added.

Belchertown received 10 penalty corners throughout the affair, which helped the hosts control much of the play in Greenfield’s end of the pitch. The Orioles’ fourth goal in the final frame was the direct result of a penalty corner, something Brunetti revealed has been a focus in recent practices for Belchertown.

“We worked [Wednesday] in practice on corners and offensive shooting,” Brunetti said. “My girls have just been stuck to the net. A lot of our goals have been pushed in, rather than shot in. Today, we had shots, we had goals that counted.”

A trio of Orioles managed multi-point efforts in Kina Roy (two goals), Kian Roy (goal, assist) and Edith Audette (goal, assist).

Audette factored into Belchertown’s first and last goal and the senior was pleased with her team’s ability to execute its gameplan.

“We played our outsides really well, which we’ve been working on a lot,” Audette said. “And we communicated today. Everyone was giving 110%, everyone was talking. It was definitely the most talking I’ve heard this season.”

Addi DiBona deposited the game’s first goal with a backhander that skipped past Green Wave goalie Kayden Viencek (13 saves) and in at 13 minutes, 31 seconds of the second quarter. Audette’s assist counted as the first of No. 2’s pair of points.

Greenfield knotted it up 1-1 on Gilstrap’s unassisted marker that proceeded a couple of Green Wave penalty corners, less than three minutes into the third quarter.

Kina Roy put the Orioles back ahead, 2-1, with a blast from within the circle with 1:51 remaining in the third stanza.

Belchertown pushed its advantage to 3-1 on a Kian Roy tally less than two minutes into the final frame, however Greenfield made it a one-goal game again on a back-door tap-in from Lemay with 9:45 left.

The Orioles then wasted little time turning a 3-2 advantage into a 5-2 edge with goals from Kina Roy and Audette about five minutes apart.

“We know Greenfield is a tough team,” Brunetti said. “I know a couple of my girls play with them outside of the season. I know their coach is a good coach, so I knew what we were up against. We just practiced shooting and shooting and shooting and then just running corners smooth. I think we just executed.”

Lila Roy, Belchertown’s goalie, has now averaged one goal allowed per game following the keeper’s seven-save win on Thursday. Conversely, the Orioles’ offense is scoring 3.75 goals-per-game on average through the early portion of the season.

Best of all for Brunetti, Belchertown’s latest win served as a special birthday present for the Orioles’ third-year manager.

“I said all I want is a win against Greenfield and they brought it,” Brunetti said.

Next up for Belchertown is a road match against Tantasqua Regional on Monday at 4 p.m.

The Green Wave return to the pitch Friday with a home game against Longmeadow at 4 p.m.