HOLYOKE — The Frontier field hockey team is making a habit of collecting Western Mass. championship trophies.

For the third year in a row, the two-time defending champion Redhawks squared off with Greenfield in the Western Mass. Class C title on Oct. 28.

The Redhawks — which had won both regular season matchups against the Wave — came out firing, earning six penalty corners in the first quarter but had nothing to show for it.

Top-seeded Frontier broke through on a corner in the second quarter, tacked on a goal in the third and let its defense do the rest of the work. The Redhawks took home their third straight sectional championship with a 3-0 victory at John F. Gilligan Field.

“It’s about the players,” Frontier coach Missy Mahar said. “To see what they put in all season then to come to this Western Mass. final and walk away with a trophy is a tribute to them. It’s a tribute to what they put in and how they believe in the program. I’m very proud of them.”

Though the result didn’t go their way, the second-seeded Green Wave (10-8) competed throughout the entire 60 minutes.

With just two seniors on the roster, Greenfield coach Erin Thayer said she hopes her young team can learn from the loss and get better from it. 

“The girls played really hard,” Thayer said. “I’m proud of them. They left everything out there. We have a super young team that will only get better. This was great experience to play in a game of this leverage. Hopefully we just carry on from there.” 

For Frontier seniors like Ashley Taylor, it marks three straight Western Mass. titles to close out the career with the Redhawks. 

While Frontier (15-2-2) might have won the two contests against Greenfield in the regular season, the Taylor said the team knew they would need to be at their best Monday to come away victorious. 

“It never gets old,” Taylor said. “We’ve been waiting for this all season. We knew it was going to come down to this.

“We came in very confident but it’s hard to beat a team three times,” Taylor added. “We haven’t played [Greenfield] on turf this season so that’s a big factor in changing them game.” 

After failing to convert on its six corners in the first quarter, Frontier opened the second quarter by smashing a shot off the post. 

With just over eight minutes to go in the half, the Redhawks earned their seventh corner of the game and made the most of it. 

Taylor passed the ball in to Macy DeMaio, who sent the ball to the left corner of the Green Wave cage. Sophomore Rowan Reilly was there in the perfect position to tap it home and give Frontier a 1-0 lead with 8 minutes, 2 seconds to go in the first half. 

“Greenfield’s defense was relentless,” Mahar said. “We were putting on the pressure and had a sense of urgency in the circle but they kept coming up with stop after stop after stop. Hats off to Greenfield. We sustained the pressure pretty well and were able to capitalize and get the goal in.” 

With just over eight minutes to go in the third quarter, Frontier once again made the most of a corner chance. 

Taylor sent it in to DeMaio and instead of firing it to the post, the junior blasted a shot that zipped into the back of the cage, giving the Redhawks a 2-0 lead and a bit of breathing room. 

“At halftime, we said we knew we had to play each quarter,” Mahar said. “Each quarter starts 0-0 and Greenfield doesn’t go away lightly. They have a great coach, they have a great program and they have great athletes. We talked about putting our best foot forward and not sitting on our heels in a one-goal game.” 

While the Green Wave pushed forward to try to get on the scoreboard, the Frontier defense did its job of keeping the ball away from its goal. Kyra Richards had a quiet day in the cage, making three saves, while Greenfield’s Kayden Viencek stopped 10 shots. 

Redhawk senior defender Claire Kirkendall said the win came down to the attack, midfield and defense all being on the same page. 

“We played as a team,” Kirkendall said. “We played together. It wasn’t just one person that carried it all. It was all of us. I think all of us were nervous but we didn’t let that be a factor in how we played.” 

Both Greenfield and Frontier now await their opponents in the upcoming MIAA Div. 4 state tournament. Brackets will be released on Tuesday.

For Kirkendall, the goal is to make sure the Western Mass. trophy isn’t the only one coming back to South Deerfield this fall. 

“We want to go all the way,” Kirkendall said. “We’re looking to win this.”