Last year’s Frontier field hockey squad was one of the best in Western Mass., downing rival Greenfield 2-1 in the Western Mass. Class C final and making it all the way to the quarterfinals of the MIAA Division 4 state tournament before Uxbridge knocked the Redhawks out.

Of course, the team wants to repeat last year’s feat again, if not go even farther in the postseason. But head coach Missy Mahar, now entering her 22nd season at the helm of the program, knows that’s much easier said than done. 

Three key players from last year’s team graduated, leaving gaping holes that the Redhawks need to fill – midfielder Lila Roche, forward Rebecca Wallace-West and starting goaltender Ella Flanders. It’s no easy feat, but it happens every year to high school teams everywhere – seniors graduate, and their younger counterparts step up and take their places. Mahar already has a number of players she knows are ready and willing to take on more responsibility this year. 

“Macy DeMaio is a sophomore. I'm looking for her to really run the forward line along with Ashley Taylor,” Mahar said. “And then defensively we're strong with our senior Hailey Hutkoski and our junior Claire Kirkendall looking to lead the backfield. They bring that game experience over the years, they've been playing for me since they were freshmen.”

In the all-important center midfield spot will be freshman Harper Modestow, who may be young but is more than capable of filling that spot; Mahar cited her impressive field vision as one of her strongest assets. Taking arguably the most high-pressure spot in net is junior Kyra Richards, who’s been the team’s backup goaltender behind Flanders and who’s earned the starting spot this year, said Mahar. 

Some of the players and lineups may look different, but that doesn’t change their goals heading into the season.

“I don't think it's any different since we lost some key players. I would say that the goal is still the same – to have a successful regular season, get back into that Western Mass. final game, and during the state tournament, I don't think anything changes,” Mahar said. “Because maybe we're more inexperienced, the ride there could be more difficult, but I don't think it changes the mindset of the players. They have goals in mind and they are going to work hard and be successful as a team. And hopefully that hard work will pay off and they'll see that.”

Most of the players on this year’s roster aren’t necessarily new to field hockey as a sport, but they will be getting used to playing more meaningful minutes at the varsity level this year. That’s what the Redhawks have spent most of their preseason working on – getting players used to new roles and figuring out where the chemistry is on the team. The good news for the Redhawks is that this is a very coachable group, something Mahar is excited about. 

“We do (have) newer kids seeing more time that were maybe on the team last year but didn't get as much game experience. So I think our defense is grounded, meaning our backs and our sweeper are returning starters. And then a couple on the forward line (were starters),” Mahar said. “But I think the combination of the other players is what we've been focusing on – kind of fine tuning who that's going to be, what system we're going to be running with change in players due to graduation.” 

As the team plays more games, they’ll get a better idea of where they stand among the rest of their competition. But even this early in the season, Mahar can’t wait to see what her offense is going to do this year. The Hawks opened their season with a 1-0 loss to rival Greenfield on Tuesday night.

“We have about seven forwards that play with a sense of urgency to score, they're hungry, they get in that circle. They want the ball. If anything, I'm really excited to see what what the scorers can do, and the combination with our defense and our midfield,” Mahar said. “They’ve got great instincts, they play the ball well off the rebound, and they're aggressive, all those things in a forward line you want to see, we definitely have witnessed that the past two weeks in our preseason. They're hungry.”

TIGERS TAKING CAT NAP – One field hockey team taking a brief hiatus for now is South Hadley, which will only field a junior varsity team this season. Their roster is much younger than usual in an extremely tough conference, and the school made the decision to focus exclusively on the junior varsity squad. The hope is that they’ll have a varsity team again at some point in the near future.

Frontier

COACH: Missy Mahar, 22nd year

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Suburban/4

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 12-3-6

LAST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: Class C Western Mass champions; Division 4 Round of 8 (5-0 loss)   

ROSTER – Hailey Hutkoski, Madison McKemmie; Juniors – Ashley Taylor, Abbi Grover, Delaney Fifield, Claire Kirkendall, Kyra Richards; Sophomores – Whitney Campbell, Macy DeMaio, AshlieGalenski, Kate Walker, Madelyn Antes; Freshmen – Harper Modestow, Rowan Reilly, Stella Heflin, Abby Schreiber, Brynna Fahey; Eighth graders – Elsa Brown, Isabelle Orrell, Nora Sloan

Amherst

COACH: Sarah Hafale Bugbee, second year

LEAGUE/DIVISION: County/2

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 4-12-1 

LAST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: 2022 Class B Western Mass semifinal, fell to Belchertown (5-0)

ROSTER: Seniors — Sage Fiander, Francesca Sloan; Juniors – Zoey Candito, Sophomores – Vanessa Cazho, Evangeline Donta, Lindsay Franz, Aria Haupt, Hattie Holabird, Charlotte Hope, Leah Kalman, Leah Mendelsohn, Eden Polak; Freshmen – N/A; Eighth graders – Josephine Becker, Anne Haugsjaahabink, Mia Shaw

OUTLOOK: The Hurricanes are an interesting team this year in that they are both young but experienced. They have a monster sophomore class making up most of their roster this season – of the 15 players, nine of them are sophomores. Seven of those nine are returners, so while Amherst may be young, they’ve been here before. 

There are a number of players new to field hockey this year, and youth will still play a factor this year as the ‘Canes look to improve their record from last season. Junior Zoey Candito and sophomore Aria Haupt will be players to keep an eye on as the season progresses. 

Belchertown

COACH: Dina Brunetti, first year

LEAGUE/DIVISION: County/3

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 12-4-3

LAST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: Class B Western Mass champs; Division 3 Round of 32 (4-1 loss to Medfield)

ROSTER: Seniors — Isabella Cauley, Isabella Cebula, Laura Cote, Karyna Rondeau, Brooke Stelmokas; Juniors – Natalie Haluch, Chloe Moss; Sophomores – Edith Audette, Rachel Baltazar, July Delaney, Izabella Haggerty, Emma Kornbluth, Molly Mazzaferro, Mya Philpott; Freshmen – Claire Corbin, Addi DiBona, Dory Keefe, Emma Magill, Julia Rainaud, Lila Roy, Morgan Sambor, Gianna Zenon

OUTLOOK: It’s going to be a new look for Belchertown this season after graduating two of their key seniors, Gazette Player of the Year Abigail Olden and goaltender Eliza Rothstein. The team also changed leadership, with Dina Brunetti stepping in for her first season as the head coach.

As the team adjusts to a new coach and new systems, they’ll rely on players like Isabella Cebula, Edith Audette and goalie Brooke Selmokas. It won’t be easy for the Orioles to defend their Western Mass. Class B title, but the talent they retained on the team should help them stay competitive this year. 

Hampshire

COACH: Heath Haskell, first year

LEAGUE/DIVISION: County/4

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 8-8-4

LAST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: 2022 Division 4 State Tournament Round of 32 (7-0 loss to Cohasset)

ROSTER: Seniors — Lydia Donatelli, Kaylee McConnell, Caitlin Potts, Ava Richards; Juniors – Ryleigh Fennessy, Chloe Moynihan, Ava Senecal; Sophomores – Madelyn Layman, Andrea Paszko, Laney Cunningham; Freshmen – Lily Connor, Holly Kowalczyk, Neely Rondeau, Rylie Simmons; Eighth graders – Ella Brunelle, Natalie Goodridge, Grace Malo

OUTLOOK: Last year’s Hampshire squad did just enough to qualify for the state tournament with a .500 record. They graduated a good number of seniors, but the good news is that they returned some of their most potent scorers in Chloe Moynihan and Lydia Donatelli. 

They have a new coach this year in Heath Haskell, though old varsity coach Susannah Bastek isn’t far away; she’ll be coaching the junior varsity team this year. The Raiders will look to improve their win percentage while under Haskell’s new coaching style. 

Holyoke

COACH: Francesca Ceppetelli, first year

LEAGUE/DIVISION: County/2

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 6-8-4 

LAST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: 2017 Western Mass semifinals (Fell 5-0 to Longmeadow)

ROSTER: Seniors – Maura Fontaine-Dulude, Brenna Phillips, Ava Tellier; Juniors – Siobhan Armstrong, Kylie Blaha, Marialis Camacho,  Gracie Chesmore, April Garcia-Brito, Aiden McCarthy, Lyara Rodriguez, Bryn Sullivan; Sophomores –  Julia Guzik,  Angel Lemanski; Freshmen – Basilia Castro, Jynia Laury, Grace Phillips, Jennaya Torres, Sage Vermes

OUTLOOK: Last year’s Holyoke team fell just short of the .500 record needed to qualify for the state tournament. They’ll look to improve that record this year. 

Northampton

COACH: Meshia Begin, third year

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Valley/2

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 9-10

LAST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: Division 2 State Tournament, preliminary round (5-0 loss to Holliston)

ROSTER: Seniors –  Zoey Ames, Cat Dawkins, Chloe Derby, Katie James, Rozlyn Kaufman, Emily Lippiello; Juniors – Casey Barber, Maya Berman Lagier, Camilla Brewer, Lan Detenber, Talya Fishman, Jenna Talbot; Sophomores – Charlotte Johnson-Mersack; Freshmen – Haly Doucette-Kaplan, Makayla Fydenkevez, Ella Nykorchuk, Dreya Sawka

OUTLOOK: This year’s Blue Devils squad has a significant number of upperclassmen – of its 17 members, 12 of them are either juniors or seniors, and eight players total are returners to the program. They’ll lean on their group of six seniors, who have played together for the last four seasons and bring a chemistry that will give the group a good edge, especially early in the year. 

One of the players to watch will be senior Chloe Derby, who can play at any position – forward, midfield, or defense – but head coach Meshia Begin expects all of her seniors to be key contributors. Junior Camilla Brewer and freshman Haly Doucette-Kaplan could also be important pieces for the team this year. 

Smith Academy

COACH: Judy Strong, third season

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Valley/4

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 8-9

LAST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: 2021 Division 3 State Tournament, preliminary round (2-1 loss to Quabbin)

ROSTER: Seniors — Catherine Kokoski, Alexis Selig; Juniors – Alexa Jagodzinski; Sophomores – Marissa Belina, Molly O’Brien; Freshmen – Isabella Gavron; Eighth graders – Isabella Bramucci, Shae Moulton, Madison Renner; Seventh graders – Sophia Jagodzinski, Maggie Moynihan, Elise Murray, Sofia Robinson

OUTLOOK: Smith Academy is going to have a young roster for the next couple of years. 

More than half of the team is in middle school, and just three of the 13 players – Alexa Jagodzinski, Catherine Kokoski, and Alexis Selig – are upperclassmen. After graduating a remarkable senior class two years ago, Strong knew that it was going to take some time to build the program up to what it was before, and this year will be about getting game experience. 

Hadley Snyzal graduated last year, leaving an empty net that eighth grader Madison Renner will fill. Strong will look to Alexa Jagodzinski, Gavron and Kokoski to both lead the way on the field and to mentor some of the younger players.

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