Kacey Roberts of Frontier Regional Field Hockey Player of Year
1
2
3
Kacey Roberts capped her career with a terrific senior season.
But it was during one week in November when she helped put the Frontier Regional field hockey team back on top of Division 2 in western Massachusetts and cemented her place as the Daily Hampshire Gazette Player of the Year in field hockey.
Roberts scored both goals in a 2-1 win over South Hadley in the semifinals and then netted the game winner in double overtime of a 1-0 victory over rival Smith Academy for the title.
"I don't think anyone imagined (the championship) ending like that," Roberts said. "We knew it would be a tough game going in. Everyone is tired going into overtime, but we knew what we had to do. We just went out there and got it done."
The title was Frontier's first since 2005 and the culmination of three years of building at the varsity level for the group of seniors, which includes fellow Gazette first-team all-stars Emily Williams and Brie Cook. Sophomore goaltender Gwen Thayer was also selected to the first team.
"This western Mass. championship is owed to those seniors for what they've done in their time here," coach Missy Mahar said. "They pushed the younger players to be their best, too. It was their leadership and determination to succeed that was the driving force of this season."
The program was in a lull before Roberts and her classmates arrived three years ago.
Frontier, a former powerhouse with 10 WMass titles, including two in Division 2 (2004 and 2005), had missed the postseason for the first time ever in 2006 and then again in 2007 and 2008.
But things turned around in 2009, when this year's seniors were sophomores. The squad qualified for the tournament that year and again in 2010.
After falling in the sectional semifinals each of those years, Frontier went 16-0-2 during the regular season and won its first league title since 2004.
The Red Hawks dominated the competition, outscoring their opponents 58-10 in the regular season while posting 11 shutouts.
As the tournament's No. 1 seed, the Red Hawks went through the defending Division 1 champion Tigers in the semifinals and then overcame a strong effort from the Falcons to win in double OT. The season finally ended with a 1-0 overtime loss to Oakmont in the state semifinals.
Roberts finished the season with 23 goals and four assists. She ended her career with 59 goals and 15 assists.
"She had a phenomenal season to finish up her career. To have the postseason run that she did, I'm just so proud of her for that," Mahar said. "It couldn't have happened to a better player because of the time and effort that she put in, to get the recognition that comes from that."
Roberts and Williams (15 goals, 10 assists) combined were one of the top offensive combinations in WMass, while Cook and Thayer anchored the defense.
Roberts and Williams "were very comfortable with each other," Mahar said. "They could read each other well. They knew where each other was going. It was rewarding to see them connect and have the seasons that they both did."
Roberts is a three-time Gazette first-team selection.
As a sophomore, she tied for the team lead with 18 goals and 22 points as the Red Hawks went 14-4-2 and finished second in the North to a powerhouse Smith team that won WMass.
She again scored 18 goals as a junior to go with a team-high seven assists as Frontier went 13-4-2.
Mahar said Roberts' success and continued improvement came from an intense desire to turn weaknesses into strengths.
"She doesn't like to fail. If there's something that she doesn't do well, she's going to put in the time to practice to do better," Mahar said. "It's her drive. She wants to be the best and she wants to be able to bring out of herself the best that she can be. That's been the case from freshman, sophomore year.
"She's grown into the player that she is, but she was always driven. If there was something she felt she needed to work on, she was determined to master it. And eventually, she would."
Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.
