One goal enough for Tigers
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SOUTH HADLEY - The South Hadley field hockey team decided to make a stand and Mohawk Trail gave them an opportunity to talk about it.
With less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half Thursday night, the Warriors called a time-out in their defensive end. After the break Mohawk turned the ball over and South Hadley struck.
The ensuing goal was the difference as the Tigers advanced to the semifinals of Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament with a 1-0 victory over the Warriors.
"It's an amazing feeling," said South Hadley goalie Mic Boyer. "I can't even express it through words. I'm on cloud nine and so is the rest of the team."
Third-seeded South Hadley (11-5-3) will play No. 2 Frontier Regional (14-3-2) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mount Holyoke College. This is the third straight year that the Tigers reached the semifinal round, but they have never advanced to the championship game.
"This is really great," said South Hadley forward Lindsay Conner, who scored the winning goal. "We've been working so hard and to be able to win feels really good."
Frontier defeated Palmer 4-0 in another quarterfinal game Thursday.
"They weren't on our schedule this year but the last couple years we played them in an independent game," South Hadley coach Tara Cole said about the Red Hawks. "We beat them last year (2-1) and we tied them the year before 1-1. But they are a different team this year."
Sixth-seed and defending champion Mohawk, which qualified for the postseason with a win in their final regular-season game, finished 9-9-1.
"We gave it a great effort all the way through," said Aurora Rougeau of Mohawk. "I can't lie - our defense and midfield were amazing - we just had trouble scoring. We've had trouble scoring all through the season but just when we're starting to click, it's over. It was a great game."
With nine minutes, 51 seconds left in the first half, the Warriors called time-out as neither team held an edge to that point.
We talked about "regrouping," Mohawk coach Lynn Hoeppner said. "Putting pressure on the ball, controlling the ball. The field was bouncy and we knew the hits would be big. First stop the ball, take care of the ball. Don't swing at it."
In the South Hadley huddle, "We discussed how this was our year and our moment," Cole said. "They called a time-out and tried to game-plan or stop some of our momentum but I said, #This is our field and our game, it's our time to take it back.' It worked."
A mishit on the restart led to a turnover. South Hadley took possession and capitalized as Hannah Pancione found Conner in front. Conner scored the lone goal past Warriors goalie Ashley Manners (five saves) with 9:31 left in the first half.
"Someone hit it in and Hannah received it around stroke and she hit it in," Conner said. "I got the rebound."
Mohawk held a distinct advantage during the second half but could not net the equalizer. The Warriors finished with nine penalty corners to South Hadley's three. However, Boyer made nine saves for her sixth shutout on the year.
"They were a good team, aggressive," Boyer said. "It's always a challenge to stop the ball when you have a thousand girls in front of you. They played a good game."
Mohawk had a flurry at the end of the first half when Boyer made three saves in the final two minutes.
"We didn't give up," Hoeppner said. "We fight to the end, we're the Warriors. Their goalie kept them in that game. She was outstanding."
With 22 minutes left in the second half, the Warriors had a great chance with a three-on-none break. Nina Christianson brought the ball up on the right side but as she closed in on the net her shot was not crisp. The South Hadley defense recovered to end the threat.
"The last couple games of the season we've really seen our defense and Mic really gel together," Cole said. "They had control of the second half but in the end you have to put it in the net and our defense was strong and they said, #Not today.' "
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com.
