TURNERS FALLS — Have a day, McKenzie Sourdiffe-Masse.
The Franklin Tech sophomore put together a career day in the Western Mass. Class D field hockey semifinals, scoring four goals as the second-seeded Eagles blanked No. 3 Hampshire Regional, 5-0, on Thursday.
Franklin Tech will play top-seeded Pioneer in the Class D final, Monday night at 5:30 p.m. at Holyoke High School. It’s a rematch of last year’s sectional final, which the Eagles won for the program’s first-ever WMass title.
“It’s become quite a rivalry, a lot of fun for everyone to be a part of,” said Franklin Tech coach Rian Lovett of the impending meeting with Pioneer. “Every game we’ve played has been close and competitive this year. This is kind of the final we wanted to see so we’re excited and ready to go.”
Sourdiffe-Masse helped ensure the Eagles would get back to the final. She tallied a hat trick in the first half, and added a fourth goal in the second half as Tech built a 4-0 halftime lead and cruised past the Raiders.
“She’s really been working hard,” lauded Lovett of Sourdiff-Masse. “She started the year at midfield and then we moved her up. She seems so comfortable there and you can just see her confidence growing as the year has gone along. She’s been doing all the right things.”
Hannah Gilbert also scored for the Eagles, and Kate Trudeau picked up an assist. Goalie Madison Markwell stopped the only shot she faced in the win.
Thursday’s semifinal tilt was the third game in 10 days between Franklin Tech and Hampshire. The County League foes played Oct. 18 and 19, with the Eagles earning a 2-0 win to go with a 2-2 tie.
“It’s hard to play so many times in a short amount of time because when you play a team that many times, they start to know a lot about you and what you do,” Lovett said. “But we really communicated well and linked together. Having a little time off was good for us and we were able to work on some stuff.”
Greenfield 8, South Hadley 0 — The No. 2 Green Wave made quick work of the third-seeded Tigers in the Class C semifinals on Thursday in Greenfield.
Greenfield raced ahead early and didn’t look back, pulling away with an 8-0 victory to advance to the finals, where it awaits the winner of No. 1 Frontier and No. 4 Southwick, who square off Friday.
The sectional final is set for Monday night at Holyoke High School (7:15 p.m.).
“It’s always exciting to make a Western Mass. final,” Green Wave coach Erin Thayer said. “I’m super proud of the girls. They worked hard all season. We’ve been working on tweaking some things throughout the season and it’s made a difference. Having an offensive presence has been an issue for us this year but today we had it. I hope we can keep that up moving forward.”
Grace Laurie put in two goals for the Green Wave in the win. Lillia Kachelmeyer had two goals and an assist, MacKenzie Paulin scored a goal and dished an assist, McKenzie Boswell scored twice while Brielle Widelo also tallied a goal in the victory. Josie Cloutier notched an assist for the Wave, and goalie Ainslee Flynn made three saves in the victory.