Division II Field Hockey Finals – South Hadley vs. Smith Academy – Live Blog! – 4-1 Smith Academy Final

Post Game Thoughts:
Congratulations to South Hadley field hockey on a wonderful season. These girls went up against a very tough Smith Academy team that plays in a tough league and had the best record in Western Massachusetts. In addition, they handed Division I’s Longmeadow their only loss of the season.

The Tigers scored first and between their defense and goalie Mic Boyer, it was South Hadley’s day in the sun (unfortunately I don’t mean that literally) for 40 minutes of this contest.

The Falcons are the champions but a team that won 12 games this season and overcame several challenges, including Mohawk and Frontier to get to this game, should make the Tigers feel very proud of what they accomplished this season.

Thanks to all of you who checked out my blog this morning, I appreciate you and your readership to Turley’s Publications.

Completion of Game
South Hadley fights after the timeout and earns a penalty corner at 8:45. Smith intercepts a pass and takes over and goes all the way to South Hadley’s end. Dangerous play gives the ball back to the Tigers and rain stays hard in this game.

Ball is moving back and forth here as we close inside four minutes.

What a run in this game. In just a few minutes, the complexion of the game has completely changed. I’m interested to hear what coach Tara Cole has to say following this game. Don’t forget, you can read the complete story on this championship game this Friday in the Town Reminder.

The Tigers are trying to get into Smith’s circle as we get down to 2:30 left in the game. You have to think South Hadley is more frantic trying to put this game into overtime.

With 1:35, Smith Academy scores and this game has been put to bed. Sarah Wickles scores and this game is over. The Falcons will add another goal after another penalty corner. Goal scored is by Slysz. 4-1 Smith Academy

After 60 minutes, your finals is Smith Academy 4, South Hadley 1. Congrats to the Smith Academy Falcons, your Western Massachusetts Division II Champions.

20:00 2nd Half to 9:11 2nd Half
19:23, following a Smith Academy time out, Stephanie Slysz passes left to Alyssa Woodward, who scores and makes it 1-1.

What a difference 30 seconds can make. The blog continued to favor South Hadley, which dodged bullet after offensive bullet from their opponents, the number one seeded Falcons. And we also have other sub plots, including the pouring rain and a driven Tigers team.

Smith gets another penalty corner with 16:40 left in the game. The Falcons squeeze the ball through on their third shot. The Tigers defense put up an admirable fight, but Stephanie Slysz is the one who gets the stick on it for the goal. Rain falls even harder at a pouring pace at this point as Smith now leads 2-1. Time of the goal 16:32.

Smith penalty corner at 13:06 leads to a second corner call. South Hadley clears the ball to the outside but lose the ball out of bounds and Smith takes over.

Time out called by South Hadley at 9:11.

Halftime to 20:00 2nd Half
We start the second half the same way the first did with Smith back in aggressive control. The Tigers spend a brief moment in Smith’s end but the ball is cleared out by the Falcons as we get down to 27 minutes. Mic Boyer continues her great game with a pair of saves on consecutive plays by Smith.

Smith draws their first corner at 26:25. They try to get the ball to the left post for a squeeze play, but a foul is called thanks to great South Hadley coverage and the ball is cleared.

Ball rolls out of bounds. Smith’s inbound pass is blocked as the Tigers gain confidence.

Boyer gets in a tough collision, taking down a Smith player trying to score. A penalty corner is awarded and Smith again rushes the goal. They nearly get it through Boyer’s legs but a foul is called the Tigers again avoid being scored on. I continue to say this through the entire blog-cast but so far, this just happens to be South Hadley’s day.

Halftime
Tim Peterson reported in during the halftime as he and Dave Henry, Turley Photographer, are covering the Division II Girls Soccer Championship at Westfield State College. Belchertown holds a 1-0 lead over Wahconah though Wahconah has controlled most of the play in the match up. We’ll get more updates as soon as they come in.

10:12 1st Half to Halftime
Action slows down a bit and spends a majority of time in the midfield. Foul calls starting to dictate changes in possession as Smith Academy tries anything to tie the score. South Hadley’s defense is clinging to their goal.

Smith gets along hit at 7:27 but the Tigers are able to clear to midfield where the ball is intercepted by Smith. The Falcons get the free hit but are intercepted by the Tigers. Smith regains the and attempts a one-timer to Smith’s Alyssa Woodward. Instead of getting an open-goal shot, she misplays and the ball hits her foot, ending the threat with 5:32 left in the half.

Today just is not Smith’s day as they shoot wide right again. They’re just not able to get that big shot.

Another close attempt at 3:20 with Smith shooting right at Boyer. Boyer put her body in the way and the shot deflected outside. The Tigers will have her to thank if they pull this one out. Coach Tara Cole said at the quarterfinals Boyer is getting a chance to shine these games.

The Tigers held a quick offensive sequence as the time closed to two minutes left in the half but Smith regains control. You can bet the Tigers will get a lot of praise at halftime for their hard work. Smith with a corner inside a minute but Smith’s Lindsey Gondek shoots wide left and South Hadley will get a chance to close the half wtih the lead.

Another corner upcoming as time runs out and the shot is wide and South Hadley heads to halftime leading 1-0.

20:16 1st Half to 10:12 1st Half:
Smith comes on stronger after the whistle blows, earning two penalty corners. South Hadley continues to finese their way to opportunities on the other side. Thus far, they have made the most of what they have been given.

You have to continue to credit South Hadley’s defense, and goalie Boyer for hanging in there with an aggressive Smith offense. So far, they have no allowed anything by despite some good shots from Smith shooters.

Rain is continuing to fall harder as the game goes on but the MIAA decided to get the game in sooner.

Scary moment with 15:20 left as Smith shot and it was deflected high in the air by a South Hadley defender. But the Tigers regain control at midfield as Meghan McCaflin tries to move the ball into Smith’s end.

As the 1st half continues, the Tigers are starting to get more aggressive with a pair of shots on goal plus a penalty corner during the last five minutes. It was crucial the Tigers scored first as they attempt to topple the top seed.

Open to 20:16 1st Half:

Quick start to the game for Smith Academy, which takes a shot on goal early. They earn a free hit from outside the circle followed by a long hit and hold the possession advantage to start.

The Tigers get the ball back and clear out only to lose the ball again.

A minute later, South Hadley thru’s the ball the Smith GK. She kicks the ball away and Smith takes the ball back to South Hadley’s end. Smith draws a penalty corner by a dangerous play but Smith’s shot on goal is wide left.

Smith goes to end-to-end a second time as we close in on 24:00 left in the half and shoot off the right goal post and earn a long hit. The hit is nearly kicked away by South Hadley keeper Mic Boyer but a corner is called again. Boyer blocks a hard shot and Smith now takes two long hits in a row as they continue to pepper the goal with shots.

With 21:50, South Hadley earns a penalty corner. Two passes later, South Hadley scores to make it 1-0 Tigers at 21:39. The goal goes to Kayla Narey, unassisted.

Pre-game:
Good morning everyone and welcome to today’s live blog-cast of the Western Massachusetts Division II Championship game here at Mount Holyoke College.

We have a great match up this morning as Smith Academy, ranked number one in Division II with an 18-2 record, including 16-2 in the regular season. They will take on No. 3 South Hadley High School, which has a record of 12-5-3 record, 10-5-3 in the regular season.

The road to the tournament for South Hadley included going through Mohawk, which beat them in last year’s tournament. The Tigers won 1-0 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the Tigers beat second-seeded Frontier Regional 3-2 in two overtimes.

This morning’s game is being blog-casted for you all by Turley Publications sports, which provides the best in local news coverage in several towns all over Western Massachusetts.

Following today’s blog-cast of this game, you can catch the game story and photos from the game in Town Reminder, your source for local South Hadley news.

Today’s game will be played under raw, rainy conditions. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has chosen to go on with today’s matchups despite the poor weather. In addition to this game, there are other championships going on.

During this morning’s blog-cast, I will also be periodically updating this morning’s Western Massachusetts Division II Girls Soccer Championship game between Wahconah and Belchertown. That game is being played at 11:00 a.m. at Westfield State College.

Game time is set here for 11:00 a.m. as well and we’ll be bringing you blog coverage of this match up.

We’ll do our best to keep up with the fast-paced game and please take the time to look through the rosters for each team to help you keep track of the action.

South Hadley Tigers
64 Mic Boyer GK
13 Emily McClintock D
4 Lindsay Brandts M
5 Melissa Bak M
2 Lida Hills F
8 Meghan McClaflin F
17 Kayla Narey F
20 Grace Szydziak D
22 Lindsay Connor F
11 Cassandra McClaflin D
6 Hannah Pacione M
2 Hayley Racicot F
23 Sabree Thomas M
18 Alyssa Morin D
9 Melanie Young D
12 Brooke Marion M
7 Megan Pinciak D
64 Elizabeth Menard GK
14 Juliette Chenier F
1 Olivia Szydziak F
21 Ashley Willis D
16 Katie Cavanaugh M
15 D.J. Garcia M

Thank you again for joining us. I’m Greg Scibelli, Turley Sports Correspondent and if you have questions, comments on the game you can comment directly to the blog or instant message me on AOL Instant Messenger at GScibelli0726.

The game is upcoming shortly…

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