After falling behind early, Brynn Tela and visiting Turners Falls managed to right the ship on Friday.
Tela scored three goals and assisted on two others, and the Thunder erased an early deficit to pull out a 6-1 victory over Mahar in season-opening field hockey action for both teams on the turf in Orange.
It’s certainly an adjustment for teams throughout Franklin County, as new modifications to the sport require 7 on 7 play in addition to no penalty corners.
“It was definitely a different feel out there but I think overall, the kids were so excited to be out there and playing and that’s where our focus is this season,” Mahar head coach Laurie Saisa offered. “Let’s go out there and have some fun.”
Mahar’s Hannah Dupont got the scoring started just five minutes into regulation, when she drew a penalty stroke and made the most of it with a goal to stake the hosts to a 1-0 lead.
“We started out strong and I thought the kids looked great right off the bat,” Saisa said. “Overall I think the movement looked really good, the passing on the turf was strong and our possession was nice at times. It was a really clean game.”
Turners tied it with just under a minute left in the first quarter (games are now four, 15-minute quarters), and scored twice in the second period to take a 3-1 halftime advantage.
Paige Sulda, Brooke Thayer and Jade Tyler all tallied for the Thunder, which scored three times in the second half to put things out of reach. Tyler’s goal came on a penalty stroke, and Hannah Marchefka recorded two assists in the win.
“Turners had a lot of great crosses in front of our net and they were able to hammer them home,” said Saisa. “They have nine seniors, a really strong core of kids back. (Turners coach) Becky (Zukowski) has done a great job with them.”
Haleigh Greene made four saves to earn the win between the pipes for the Thunder, while Mahar goalie Isabella Bisceglia turned away six shots.
Mahar travels to Athol for a contest on Tuesday while Turners visits Frontier.
Frontier 1, Mohawk Trail 0 – Alyson Barnes’ penalty stroke was the difference, as the Frontier sniper buried the game’s only goal with 10:31 left in the second quarter to lift the defending WMass Div. 2 champions to a 1-0 victory over Mohawk Trail in season-opening action Friday in Buckland.
Frontier held a 15-8 edge in shots, and new goalkeeper Ella Flanders recorded five saves to pick up the shutout.
Sofiya Slocik Gritzner stopped three shots for the Warriors in two quarters of action, while Kordaryl Kendall made 10 saves after coming on in the second half.
The Red Hawks entertain Turners in a battle of unbeatens on Tuesday and Mohawk Trail stays home to host Pioneer.