GREENFIELD — The champs are in the building.
Three-time defending champion Greenfield High School made an emphatic opening statement on Wednesday. The third-seeded Green Wave scored just 1 minute and 14 seconds into regulation, and six different players found the back of the net in an 8-2 rout of No. 6 Southwick in the quarterfinal round of the WMass Division 2 Field Hockey Tournament.
Greenfield (13-5-1) advanced to the semifinal round and a matchup with No. 2 Smith Academy (16-0-3) next Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Holyoke High School. It’s the seventh year in a row that the Wave have reached the semifinals.
“We’ve kind of been climbing that ladder the second half of the season and we really ended the season on a pretty strong note, so I was hoping that we were going to continue climbing that ladder and come out with a really strong performance today,” Greenfield coach Erin Thayer said. “They were psyched to play and ready to go, and the score shows that, I think. They played well.”
Madyson Kuchieski scored on Greenfield’s first shot of the game, kicking off an offensive explosion that quickly dashed any ideas of a Southwick upset. Katie Haselton, Amber Taylor and Heather French all added first-half tallies, giving the hosts a commanding 4-0 lead at intermission.
“We talk about trying to do that,” Thayer said of the quick start. “We don’t want to get ourselves in a hole and have to dig backward. We try to start strong and put (goals) in as quick as we can. Sometimes that takes the wind out of someone’s sails. We try to pressure, pressure, pressure.”
Greenfield’s offense looked particularly sharp on penalty corners during Wednesday’s victory. A source of strife early in the season, the team has gotten into a groove converting corners in recent weeks. Against the Rams (12-6-1), the Wave scored on four of their seven opportunities, including three in the first half.
“Our corners have progressively gotten stronger all season long,” lauded Thayer. “The intricacies of little things make a huge difference when it comes to corners. So they’ve gotten progressively better all season long and I think (our corners are) the best at this point that they’ve ever been.”
Taylor notched her second of the contest to open the scoring early in the second half, and Haselton made it 6-0 shortly thereafter with her second tally of the outing. Racquel Provost put forth a stellar individual effort on the team’s seventh goal, stopping a rocket pass off the stick of Taylor and firing a shot into the back of the net in one motion, while Lillia Kachelmeyer capped the scoring with 12:58 remaining when she stole the ball from a Southwick defender and made it a commanding 8-0 advantage.
Southwick’s Emily Martin scored twice in the waning minutes to get the visitors on the board.
Greenfield held a 24-7 edge in shots on goal, with keeper Ainslee Flynn recording fives saves in the win. Haselton and Kuchieski had two assists apiece.
It was the first step toward a potential fourth consecutive WMass title for the Wave, which looked impressive in their first postseason game without last year’s offensive stars, Raegan Hickey and Audrey Bresciano.
“I think these guys are excited to pave their own way and say that we’re here and still good, even without the strength that we lost (from last year),” Thayer said.
Now comes the semifinal round, where Greenfield will play a familiar foe in Smith Academy. The Falcons are undefeated this season, but needed overtime to survive a 1-0 win over seventh-seeded Turners Falls in their quarterfinal contest on Wednesday. The two powerhouse programs last met in the postseason in 2015, when Greenfield won a double overtime affair in the semifinal round.
Thayer has made a point of reaffirming to her team that nothing can be taken for granted in the postseason.
“Just the talk, the conversations we’ve had that it’s tournament time, it’s one and done and the slates are wiped clean,” she offered. “You have to show up to play. At this point, I really feel like Division 2 is wide open. Whoever wants it the most and is going to put everything they have on that field is going to be the ones to walk away with the win.”
Greenfield 8, Southwick 2
|
Southwick |
0 |
2 |
— |
2 |
|
Greenfield |
4 |
4 |
— |
8 |
Goals: (S) Martin 2. (G) Kuchieski, Haselton 2, Taylor 2, French, Provost, Kachelmeyer.
Assists: (G) Haselton 2, Kuchieski 2, Taylor. (S) Kavrakis, Fox.
Shots: Southwick 7. Greenfield 23.
Saves: (S) Stratton 15. (G) Flynn 5.
Corners: Southwick 8. Greenfield 7.