SOUTH DEERFIELD — After knocking on the door of a state semifinal appearance the last few years, the Frontier field hockey team is heading to the MIAA Division 4 Final Four.

The Redhawks reached the state quarterfinals in both 2022 and 2023 but on Saturday, Frontier clinched its spot in the 2024 semifinals thanks to another stellar defensive performance. 

Hosting 12th-seeded Ipswich in the quarterfinals, the fourth-seeded Redhawks scored off a penalty corner in the first quarter and added a second goal in the third period. On the other side, the Frontier defense help firm, allowing the Redhawks to advance to the semis with a 2-0 victory. 

“It’s exciting,” Frontier coach Missy Mahar said. “I’m so proud of the girls. This was one of the goals they strove for this season so it’s nice to see them stay focused throughout the regular season and postseason. It’s a credit to them and the work ethic they’ve put in. It started August 16th and here we are November 9th and they’re still going hard. That’s a testament to them.” 

The Redhawks (18-2-2) will face top-seeded Uxbridge in the semifinals at a date and time to be determined. 

Frontier is the first western Mass. school to reach a field hockey state semifinal since 2022, when Longmeadow reached the Div. 2 semis.

“It’s crazy,” Frontier’s Amelia Bouchard said. “We were looking for this at the beginning of the year. We wanted to work together today. We didn’t want to give up or get on each other. We want to always play happy.” 

It was Macy DeMaio who opened the scoring for Frontier in the first quarter. 

The Redhawks earned a corner, with Ashley Taylor sending it in to Claire Kirkendall. Kirkendall passed it back to Taylor, who shot a pass over to DeMaio and the junior smashed it home to give Frontier the all-important opening lead of the game.

“We want to score early and keep an offensive mindset,” Mahar said. “We don’t want to be back on our heels because that’s when teams can score. We want to keep that pressure on and they did that today.”

It helps to stay aggressive offensively when you have a defense like Frontier.

The Redhawks earned their 12th shutout of the season on Saturday and their fifth in their last six games. Opponents have found it difficult to get anything past Frontier keeper Kyra Richards, who was only called on to make two saves against the Tigers (10-7-3). 

“You get that first goal but then you have to forget it,” Frontier’s Harper Modestow said. “I love playing defense. It takes a lot of communication on defense. We have to have each others’ back and play together.” 

Frontier extended its lead to two goals in the third quarter, once again scoring off a corner. 

The Redhawks sent it in to Kirkendall, who fired a pass to Stella Heflin sitting on the back post. Heflin was there to tap it home and give Frontier a 2-0 lead, which it rode to the final finish. 

Going into the game, Mahar said she knew scoring on Ipswich goalie Abbie Allen — who finished with nine saves — wasn’t going to be easy. That made capitalizing on corners all the more important. 

“I knew we were evenly-matched player for player out there,” Mahar said. “Their goalie had about 420 saves last season so she’s very good. We practiced some skillsets to work on shooting against a goalie that comes out far — she’s very aggressive — so that was nice to see that pay off for the girls today.” 

Frontier will face its toughest test of the season when it squares off with Uxbridge in the semis. The Spartans (19-2) have won the Div. 4 title each of the last three years and in three tournament games this fall have outscored their opponents 29-0. 

“It’s a fun challenge,” Mahar said. “We’ll enjoy this win. I’ll do my homework, we’ll devise a gameplan and go out there and represent western Mass.”