WEST SPRINGFIELD — Through the first half against East Longmeadow in the Western Mass. Class A championship game, the Frontier Regional field hockey team played mostly defense on Saturday. In the second half, the top-seeded Redhawks elevated their play with enough ferocity to beat the second-seeded Spartans, 2-1, to secure the sectional championship at Clark Field.
It is the 11th Western Mass. championship under the direction of Missy Mahar. Frontier did not lose a game (17-1-1) in local competition all season. The only loss on the schedule was to the defending state champion Dennis-Yarmouth.
“I am so excited for them,” Mahar said. “With the schedule this year, fighting through our league. Playing East Longmeadow and Longmeadow twice. Going to D.Y. (Dennis-Yarmouth), suffering a loss. But getting some takeaways to see what we can improve on and then pushing forward in the postseason. To walk away today as champions, I am so proud of them. It’s well deserved.”
Frontier ranks fourth in the state in the latest Division 4 MIAA power rankings. The Spartans took the fight to the heart of the Frontier defense in the first half but couldn’t come away with a goal.
“We didn’t have our strongest first and second quarter,” Mahar said. “Defensively we’ve always been solid but East Longmeadow’s speed and their ability to carry in the middle kind of jammed us up a little bit. I was happy to see after halftime we made some adjustments they were able to adjust on the fly and limit those attacks to come out on top.”
Addie Harrington helped give the Redhawks the lead with a minute left in the third quarter. Working against one defender, Harrington fed Haly Doucette-Kaplan who scored before going headfirst over the East Longmeadow keeper. Frontier played a different brand of field hockey in the second half.
“In the first half it was definitely jitters,” Harrington said. “It’s a championship game with a team that we are really familiar with. The second half we had to lock in and control ourselves. Just stay composed knowing we can get the job done.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Harrington jumped a goalie kick and immediately sent it to the stick of Bella Orrell. With Doucette-Kaplan out of the game with an injury, Orrell saw more playing time. The senior took the pass from Harrington and buried the opportunity to give Frontier a very important second goal.
“East Longmeadow was still hungry,” Orrell said. “They were still in it. 100 percent. We just needed to keep pushing even harder. Someone needed to step up. But we all stepped up and worked together to get it done. Addie sent it across the cage, and I got my stick on it and somehow tipped it in.”
For most of the season, goalkeeper Brooke Charest did not see much action. But treating practices like games helped the sophomore netminder prepare for big games. In the first 30 minutes, Charest was under heavy fire from the Spartans. Charest stopped each attempt, allowing the Redhawks to go to halftime without a deficit.
“It felt good to see them get into the game,” Charest said. “I was glad I was able to keep them in it. “
The attention now moves to the state tournament.
“Our team play is so good,” Harrington said. “Hoping to carry our momentum into the state tournament where hopefully we can get a state championship.”
Abigail Meehan scored a late goal for the Spartans with 1:27 left in the game. East Longmeadow would not threaten again, leading to the celebration for the Redhawks.
