SOUTH DEERFIELD — The summer is all about working to get better, and the Frontier boys soccer team has been doing that by competing in the Pioneer Valley Summer Soccer League in preparation of the upcoming season. 

The Redhawks haven’t been beaten so far this summer and that continued on Tuesday against Wilbraham B, where they walked away with a 5-0 victory.

“It’s a good time to get back in shape,” Frontier’s Nico Fasulo said. “We’re trying to prep for a good season. We fell short last year so we’re trying to make it up.” 

Fell short is all relative. For the Redhawks, the goal every year is to win a state championship and they’ve fallen just short of that the past two seasons. They made it to the MIAA Div. 4 championship game in 2021 and reached the semifinals this past fall. 

A good core of players who were key cogs on the team the past two seasons have now graduated, ushering a new era of Frontier players who have been working to reach the varsity level. 

Experienced Redhawk players like Fasulo have been using the summer to integrate some of those younger players into the lineup in the hopes of developing chemistry. So far, Fasulo said he likes what he’s seen. 

“We’re losing some key players,” Fasulo said. “We have a lot of young kids and they're doing great. They’re developing well in the system and it’s great to see.” 

The younger players will be thrown into the fire this fall, but the summer has been a chance to get their feet wet at the varsity level. Like Fasulo, Redhawk veteran Will Petrin said he sees the team coming together well as they look to get over the hump and raise a state championship banner in Goodnow Gymanasium this coming fall. 

“The young core is building up right now,” Petrin said. “From the loss of all the players last year we’re relying on our young core and they’re doing really well handling that.”

It was Teddy Cyr who kicked off the scoring for Frontier on Tuesday, blasting in a shot from out front to give the Redhawks a 1-0 lead. 

Noah McMillan beat his defender and scored just minutes later to make it a 2-0 game before Fasulo tallied before the half to give Frontier a 3-0 lead at the break. 

Cooper Johnson curved in a free kick from well outside the box in the second half to give the Redhawks a four-goal lead before Petrin calmly rocketed in a penalty kick to close out the scoring. 

Owen Babb made six saves while also providing an assist in the win. 

While the team is mostly made up of Frontier players, the Redhawks also have players from surrounding schools on the team as the club is the lone Franklin County entry into the PVSSL. Cyr is one of a few players on the team who will be attending Deerfield Academy in the fall, and he said getting the extra work in during the summer with some of his future teammates will hopefully pay dividends down the line. 

“I’m excited for this fall,” Cyr, who attended Hopkins Academy last season, said. “I’ve been doing a lot of offseason work. I get to play with these guys and play with some kids I’ll be going to DA with. It’s been great.”

The group of players have developed a great relationship on the field as well as off it, which has helped contribute to the success this summer. 

“It’s all just fun,” Cyr said. “Even off the field we get together. It’s been good.” 

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