Boys soccer: Chicopee scores twice in the second half to knock off Frontier, 2-0, in Class B quarterfinals (PHOTOS)

Frontier's Gus Radner and Chicopee's Tiago Destapado vie for the ball at Szot Park in Chicopee Saturday.

Frontier's Gus Radner and Chicopee's Tiago Destapado vie for the ball at Szot Park in Chicopee Saturday. STAFF PHOTO/THOMAS JOHNSTON

Frontier's Eric Larsson dribbles with the ball against Chicopee at Szot Park in Chicopee Saturday.

Frontier's Eric Larsson dribbles with the ball against Chicopee at Szot Park in Chicopee Saturday. STAFF PHOTO/THOMAS JOHNSTON

Frontier's Henry Pleasant puts a shot on goal against Chicopee at Szot Park in Chicopee Saturday.

Frontier's Henry Pleasant puts a shot on goal against Chicopee at Szot Park in Chicopee Saturday. STAFF PHOTO/THOMAS JOHNSTON

Frontier's TJ Donovan dribbles with the ball against Chicopee at Szot Park in Chicopee Saturday.

Frontier's TJ Donovan dribbles with the ball against Chicopee at Szot Park in Chicopee Saturday. STAFF PHOTO/THOMAS JOHNSTON

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

Staff Writer

Published: 10-26-2024 5:35 PM

Modified: 10-26-2024 7:42 PM


CHICOPEE — It was a tale of two halves for the Frontier boys soccer team against Chicopee on Saturday in the Western Mass. Class B quarterfinals.

The seventh-seeded Redhawks came out and had the majority of the possession in the opening 40 minutes, keeping the second-seeded Pacers on their heels. Despite having possession, the scoring chances were few and far between, and the game was scoreless at the intermission. 

The script flipped in the second half, as Chicopee was the one dominating possession and creating nearly all the scoring chances. The Pacers broke through on a corner kick in the 54th minute and tacked on an insurance goal in the 71st minute to knock off Frontier with a 2-0 victory at Szot Park. 

“Chicopee was the better team in the second half,” Redhawks coach Evan Horton said. “Their intensity ramped up. They got more physical and we just don’t really play many physical teams. I knew they’d be physical but they weren’t in the first half then ramped it up. Credit to the adjustments they made in the second half. They moved guys around and threw us off a bit.” 

The goal for the Frontier defense was to find a way to slow down Chicopee’s Abdulwahab Alnuaimi and Griffen Wrisley, the two having combined for 62 goals on the season. 

The Redhawk defense did that throughout, as neither scored during the run of play. Chicopee (15-0-2) opened the scoring after Yousif Hamid headed in a corner sent in by Tiago Destapado and in the 71st, Wrisley broke through by heading in a corner sent in by Destapado. 

“In the first half, we were possessing and shutting down their two best players,” Horton said. “Anyone who is scoring as much as those guys, if you let them cook long enough and they’ll find goals. I thought they weren’t a factor in the first half and that’s what you want to do. You stick around in these games long enough and this time of year, these teams will take advantage of it.”

Finding ways to create goals has been the Redhawks’ kryptonite all season, as Frontier (12-2-3) has gone through stretches where it hasn’t been able to generate goals. 

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It wasn’t for a lack of finishing chances on Saturday, rather not being able to get the ball in position to create those goals. 

“I thought we identified the areas where we can be successful but I don’t think we executed in the final third,” Horton said. “When you identify weak spots in the defense and you aren’t constantly going after that — which we didn’t — we almost avoided where I thought we’d have more success. I don’t think we created a lot of chances. It wasn’t like we had a lot of chances and didn’t take advantage of them. I don’t think we created a lot of chances.” 

With the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament on the horizon — and Frontier the current No. 11 ranked team — coming up with adjustments to what the opposition throws at them will be a priority for Horton and his squad as they look to make another deep run in states. 

“How do we make adjustments to be successful,” Horton said. “Some teams have that magic dial where they spin it and can go to x-y-z. We don’t know what our x-y-z are yet. That’s the only concerning part. We are a little anemic when it comes to scoring chances. I think our back three are some of the best in the area and proved it in the first half today. We had to sell out a bit in the second half.”