SOUTH DEERFIELD — Three goals in the first quarter set the tone for the Frontier field hockey team, as the top-seeded Redhawks handled their business to set up yet another sectional championship matchup with rival Greenfield.

Addie Harrington netted two of her three goals in the opening stanza, and Frontier blanked No. 4 Mohawk Trail, 8-0, in the semifinal round of the Western Mass. Class C tournament on Thursday.

Frontier (14-2-2) will play No. 2 Greenfield in the title game for the third consecutive year on Monday at 5 p.m. The game will be played on the turf at Holyoke High School.

“It’s exciting to be back in the finals, playing Greenfield again,” Frontier coach Missy Mahar said. “We’re always taught never to take anything for granted so it’s a one game at a time mentality for the kids. They had to go out and win this game first. And now we’ll switch gears and start preparing for Greenfield again.”

Frontier won the past two WMass titles against Greenfield, and while the Hawks also won both regular season meetings with the Green Wave this fall, Mahar said she expects another ultra competitive contest between the rivals on Monday.

“Everything is irrelevant when you play a team like Greenfield in the finals,” she said. “I’m fully expecting a typical Frontier-Greenfield game where it’s going to come down to one bounce here or there.”

In Thursday’s victory, Macy DeMaio scored to give Frontier a 3-0 lead after one quarter, though the Warriors defended well in the second quarter and held the 3-0 deficit into halftime. Much of that solid work came from seniors Avery Johnston and Sofiya Slocik-Gritzner, the lone members of the Class of 2025 on the Mohawk Trail roster.

“At the start of the year, we knew that wins and losses were not going to dictate whether or not we had a successful season,” Mohawk Trail coach Greg Lilly said. “While the scoreboard wasn’t pretty today, the fact that we were even playing in this game is a testament to the tone these two ladies set from jump street. As a coach I couldn’t be more proud of the season our girls had, and the majority of the credit goes right to Avery and Sof.”

Frontier broke things open in the third quarter, as goals from Harrington, DeMaio and Rowan Reilly made it a 6-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

Isabella Orrell and Cassidy Casey closed out the scoring for the Hawks, while Ashley Taylor notched two assists to help aid the offensive effort.

“Collectively it was a team effort and that’s really been the case for the entirety of our season,” said Mahar. “Our scoring has been spread across the team which is nice. And they’ve all done a good job supporting each other all season so I’m just proud of the kids. They’ve worked hard and they’re turning it on at the right time.”

Lilly called timeout with just a few minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, subbing off his two seniors for a final time to an ovation from their teammates. The Warriors closed out their season 2-14-2 overall, but the team played its best down the stretch with a win over Mahar and a tie against Hampshire Regional leading into the postseason.

“From day one, I made it their responsibility to make sure that our program worked hard and improved every day, and they never looked back,” lauded Lilly.