When the final whistle blew in South Deerfield on Tuesday, visiting Turners Falls High School had officially scored its first field hockey win against perennial powerhouse Frontier in quite some time.
The 4-2 victory was not the first time Turners has defeated Frontier in the sport however — it was the second such occurrence. The only other time? Well, that would be just over 13 years ago: Sept. 21, 2007.
What happened in that game? Glad you asked.
Turners Falls’ Courtney Wells broke a scoreless tie with an unassisted goal in the second half, and the Powertown held on for a 1-0 victory at Bourdeau Fields in Turners.
That win came during the early stages of a breakthrough run for a Turners Falls program that was fresh off a three-year winless streak. From 2003-2005, the Powertown posted an 0-42-6 record, but after getting back into the win column in 2006, the 2007 season was a marked step forward. Turners reached the postseason that year, and the win against Frontier helped clear the way.
Colleen Bannister remembered the 2007 game quite well. Currently an assistant coach at Mahar, Bannister was in her fifth season as the Turners Falls head coach in ’07. Reached by phone Wednesday, she said that victory was an important one for the Thunder program.
“I remember after we scored that goal, thinking, ‘Oh my God, we might win,’” Bannister said with a laugh. “We had that series of winless seasons and that was the season where we started putting it all together. But that was the game where I knew something good was going to come from it and we eventually made the tournament which was a big accomplishment.”
Wells, who eventually became an assistant coach under Bannister when she was at Pioneer, helped Turners win a game that was dominated at times by Frontier. The Red Hawks held an emphatic 22-2 edge in penalty corners during the ’07 meeting, but Turners goalie Jadi Torres stood tall in pitching the shutout.
“You can’t underestimate how important an excellent goalie is,” began Bannister. “I think we had Jadi back then, and she was just starting to get her groove on. But Turners now, Haleigh Greene is one of the best goalies I’ve seen, if not the best around here.”
Greene made five saves in Tuesday’s victory.
Bannister said the 2007 win was important for the long-term growth of the program, and she hopes Tuesday’s victory can also have a lasting impact.
“We’re fighting the numbers battle up here at our small schools so I think it can take something like a big win to get people excited,” she said. “Something good happening for a program like Turners, you hope to get more kids to try and play maybe because of it.
“I really hope Turners keeps it going this year,” Bannister continued. “(Mahar) already played them so luckily we don’t have to worry about them again. I’m really proud of them.”
Coincidentally, Bannister and Mahar’s next game comes on Friday — against Frontier. She expects to be in for a battle.
“I have no doubts that Frontier is going to come out and have plenty of firepower,” she explained. “I expect them to come out on fire on Friday.”