Frontier Regional Edges East Longmeadow 2-1 to Capture Western Mass. Class A Crown
At Clark Field in West Springfield, the Frontier Regional field hockey team spent the opening thirty minutes playing mostly defense. Facing pressure from second-seeded East Longmeadow on Saturday, the top-seeded Redhawks absorbed attacks without conceding a goal, setting the stage for a second-half surge that ended in a 2-1 victory and the Western Mass. Class A championship. Class A championship.
The sectional title marks the 11th such championship for Frontier under the direction of Missy Mahar. The Redhawks finished local competition with a 17-1-1 record, with their sole loss coming against defending state champion Dennis-Yarmouth. Mahar praised her squad's resilience in completing a regular-season schedule that included double meetings with both East Longmeadow and Longmeadow.
“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,” Mahar said. “To walk away today as champions, I am so proud of them. It’s well deserved.”
Adjustments After Intermission Shift the Momentum
East Longmeadow controlled the tempo early, utilizing speed and their ability to carry in the middle to disrupt the Frontier defense. Mahar noted that her team struggled with first-half jitters against a familiar opponent, but tactical adjustments at halftime enabled the Redhawks to stifle the Spartans’ speed.
The breakthrough arrived with just one minute remaining in the third quarter. Addie Harrington maneuvered against a lone defender, sending a precise feed to Haly Doucette-Kaplan, who directed the ball past the goalkeeper before going headfirst over the East Longmeadow netminder.
“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.”
Securing the Victory Under Pressure
Early in the fourth quarter, Frontier capitalized on an aggressive defensive play when Harrington jumped a goalie kick and immediately sent it to the stick of Bella Orrell. With Doucette-Kaplan sidelined due to an injury, Orrell stepped into an expanded role and buried the opportunity to double the lead.
“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.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Brooke Charest weathered intense early pressure from the Spartans, stopping every shot directed her way to keep the match scoreless through the first half. Though she saw limited action across much of the regular season, Charest credited treating practices like games for keeping her prepared when the postseason demand arrived.
The Spartans narrowed the deficit late when Abigail Meehan scored with 1:27 remaining in regulation, but the Frontier defense held firm against any further threats to secure the 2-1 final score. The victory advances Frontier, which ranks fourth in the state in the latest Division 4 MIAA power rankings, into the upcoming state tournament, where the Redhawks intend to build on their postseason momentum.
