The Frontier boys soccer team is one win away from making it back to the MIAA Division 4 Final Four. 

The Redhawks have been knocking on the door of a state championship since the new statewide tournament format went into place in 2021, reaching the state finals and losing to Easthampton in the inaugural year before falling to South Hadley in the semifinals in 2022 and losing to Monomoy in the Round of 16 last fall. 

Despite a 12-2-4 regular season in which Frontier took home a share of the Moriarty League title, the Redhawks were given the No. 14 seed in the Div. 4 bracket this fall. The 14-seed was the lowest Frontier has been in the last four years. 

That hasn’t stopped the Redhawks from going on a run. 

Frontier had a tough test in the Round of 32 against 19th-seeded Nantucket. The Redhawks took an early lead, relinquished it in the final minutes before scoring in the second overtime period to move on with a 2-1 victory. 

In the Round of 16 on Saturday, Frontier played its first true road game in the new state tournament format, heading west to take on third-seeded Pittsfield. It was a high-scoring affair, with the game tied 3-3 after 80 minutes. The game ended up going to a penalty shootout, where the Redhawks ultimately survived to advance to the Div. 4 quarterfinals. 

Frontier travels to No. 6 Tyngsborough on Thursday for that quarterfinal contest, which is slated for 5:30 p.m. 

“We never looked at the win over Pittsfield as an upset,” Redhawks coach Evan Horton said. “They were the three seed but our mentality I drove into their heads is that we’re not going down there to upset anybody. We were going down there to beat a team I think we’re just as good as. That’s the same mentality this week. It’s easy to think since we just beat the three seed, it’s going to be easier now against the six seed. 

“We tried to explain to them just how razor thin the rankings are,” Horton added. “There isn't much separation even down to us at 14. We want to make sure we don’t go into Tyngsborough with a false sense of security. It’s going to take three of our best games to get to where we want.” 

Despite being a school nearly an hour and a half away, the Redhawks surprisingly have recent history with the Tigers (15-1-4). The two teams met in South Deerfield during the Round of 32 last fall, where Frontier rolled to a 6-0 victory. 

Both teams will be much different when they meet on Thursday. Tyngsborough has clearly improved, going from a 4-10-4 regular season record a year ago to a 13-1-4 record during the regular season this year. The Redhawks are also much different looking team from last year, having lost nine seniors from last year’s squad. 

The Tigers reached the quarterfinals after wins over No. 27 Stoneham (2-0) and No. 22 Advanced Math and Science (4-2).

 “It’s pretty crazy how they went from where they were last year to where they are this year,” Horton said. “They’re still a relatively young team. They have a lot of juniors and sophomores. Year-to-year it’s just so different. Usually from this point on, it becomes much more difficult in terms of scouting.” 

The Tigers are led by striker Christian Riley, who Horton said is a player Frontier will have to key in on defensively. 

From what Horton has gathered through limited game film, Tyngsborough tries to push the tempo and force its opponent into mistakes. 

“They’re definitely a hard working team,” Horton said. “They press hard. They have a guy up top [Riley] who bullies his way through the back line. Most of their play goes through him and their winger. Our goal is to take away their weapons and exploit whatever weaknesses we can find. That gives us a real shot.” 

While there are certainly advantages to knowing your opponent, there’s also advantages going into a game against a team you don’t know, as that allows you to just focus on your own performance and play more free. 

“Getting ready for a team like Pittsfield is nerve-wracking because you know how good they are,” Horton said. “There’s no doubt about a team like Pittsfield. Last year, myself included, we didn’t respect Monomoy enough and we relied on film to tell us who they are. We only have a tiny snapshot of this Tyngsborough team. 

“We’re going a similar distance, just the opposite direction. We’ve played a night game in the cold, we’ve had an overtime game and we’ve had a PK game. We have to do things the correct way and make sure we raise the level of our game.”

Stopping the Tigers attack starts with a pair of Redhawk defenders who Horton feels are All-State caliber in Ben Cachiguango and Diego Frazier. While Frontier gave up three goals against Pittsfield, Horton noted that the Generals have some of the best attacking players in the state, so limiting their chances proved how much of a challenge the Redhawks defense is to go against. 

“After seeing the Pittsfield game, it’s a validation that at minimum, Ben is an All0State defender,” Horton said. “Diego should be in the discussion as well. I know they scored three on us but they didn’t score going at Ben or Diego. All credit to those two for slowing down a trio of Pittsfield players who have 45 combined goals this year.”