NORTHFIELD — The Pioneer boys soccer team flipped the switch in the second half during its season opener against Greenfield on Wednesday. 

The Panthers trailed the Green Wave 2-1 at the break, giving up a goal late in the first half to give Greenfield the advantage. 

Pioneer’s Kurt Redeker drew a penalty kick in the box and buried it himself to tie the game at two early in the second half and it was all Panthers from there, as they later took the lead and put in an insurance goal late to walk away with a 4-2 Schmid League victory. 

“It's good to start with a win,” Pioneer coach Michael Italia said. “The heat was obviously a factor. We had periods where we started to take control of the ball and we just needed to keep pressing and be confident. The ball will move faster when we pass than trying to dribble through everyone. We wanted to hit the ball to the corners, put pressure on their fullbacks and get crosses in.” 

Greenfield coach Erich Leaper said his team started strong, but was unable to sustain it for the full 80 minutes. 

Leaper said that will be a lesson to take back to his team, but also noted that when they played the Panthers last season it was a 9-1 loss, with this game showing the progress they’ve made since. 

“We did so much prep and I felt like the only thing left was to see it in the game,” Leaper said. “I was encouraged by the beginning of the game. We came out strong and scored early. There was a lot of progress. At the same time I work in the school and I see the last banner we won was in 1980. Every game means something. We can’t leave them out there. We have to keep building.” 

Greenfield got on the board first off the foot of Clivens Carter Michel. It was set up by Heskey Samu, who forced a turnover, dribbled to the box and sent a pass over to a cutting Carter  Michel, who buried the shot into what was nearly an open net to  give t       he Green Wave a 1-0 advantage. 

Pioneer found an answer later in the half. Redeker drove the ball in and sent a through ball into Judah Glenn, who rocketed the shot into the back of the net to knot the game up, 1-1. 

Greenfield struck again just before the halftime whistle. 

Jack Laurie sent a ball into the box that took a deflection that went right to Carter Michel, who blasted the bouncing ball into the goal to give the Green Wave the lead going into the half. 

It was Redeker who found a way to get involved in every goal for the Panthers. 

After drawing the penalty and converting the PK, the junior made the pass to give Pioneer the lead. Redeker got the ball at midfield, and as he did for the majority of the game, sent the ball into the box from his midfield spot. 

Glenn got under this one, made a move on Greenfield keeper Liam Grahame-Lawson and tapped it into the goal to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead. 

Late in the second half the Panthers drew a yellow card on the Green Wave side of the field. Redeker took the free kick and sailed it 40 yards into the goal, with the ball whistling under the crossbar to give Pioneer a 4-2 lead to seal the victory. 

“He found a way to influence the game,” Italia said of Redeker. “We got to see other players step up as well.” 

It was little mistakes like the two penalties that Leaper said damaged Greenfield. 

“You play so well and watch it like a horror movie in front of you,” Leaper said. “We give up the PK, we get a card which leads to a free kick which they score on. We know we have a good team, we just need to show it.” 

The Green Wave are back in action on Friday when they host Smith Academy while Pioneer will look to its second win of the season on Friday when Sci-Tech heads to Northfield. Both games are scheduled for 4 p.m. 

Athol 6, Smith Vocational 2 — The Bears had their offense running on all cylinders to open the year, with Elhadj Diallo leading the way with two goals as Athol earned a Tri-County League win over the visiting Vikings on Wednesday. 

Antonio Carbone, Aiden Kirwin, Karin Thompson and Chouaga Tchiedjie Blaise Rodas also found the back of the net for the Bears in the win. 

Volleyball

Athol 3, Greenfield 0 — Giana Vaillancourt led the way with six aces and a kill to help lift the Bears to a 25-4, 25-16, 25-16 sweep over the Green Wave at Nichols Gymnasium on Wednesday in a Northern League contest.

Anna Duquette put down two kills and four aces, Alma White finished with four aces and an assist while Laney Florentino and Olivia Mayer each had three aces for Athol in the win. 

Amy Mihailicenco came up with six digs, Savannah Aldrich smashed two aces while Julia Belville made two blocks for Greenfield. 

Turners 3, Franklin Tech 0 — The Thunder picked up where they left off a season ago, picking up a 25-13, 25-19, 25-11 victory over the Eagles in a Northern League contest on Wednesday. 

Taylor Greene dished out 16 assists while adding four kills and five aces for Turners. Madi Liimatainen put down nine kills, five aces and made three digs, Jill Reynolds finished with five aces while Maddie Dietz recorded three aces and six digs in the win.

Lea Chapman finished with an ace, four digs and two kills while Haleigh Benoit had three kills for Franklin Tech. 

Mahar 3, Pioneer 2 — It came down to the fifth set in Northfield on Wednesday, with the Senators opening their season with a 3-2 Northern League victory over the Panthers. 

Maddie Burgess finished with 12 aces, three kills and four assists, Mia Santana put down four kills, an ace and dished three assists, Hayden Comeau tallied three kills, 11 aces and four digs while Brianna Dicato and Mckenzie Scribner each had three aces in the win for Mahar. 

Abbie Ray put down eight aces, Kayla Gauthier had an ace and five kills, Aiden Wall tallied six aces and four kills while Avery Johnson recorded five aces and four kills for Pioneer. 

Field hockey

Franklin Tech 6, Turners 1 — McKenzie Sourdiffe-Phelps kicked off the Eagle season in style, scoring a hat trick and dishing an assist as the defending Western Mass. Class D champs knocked off the Thunder in an independent contest at Turners Falls High School on Wednesday. 

Kaitlin Trudeau scored and dished two assists, Hannah Gilbert scored and had an assist while Lili Inman also found the back of the cage for Franklin Tech. Madison Markwell made five saves in the win. 

Jazzy Gonzalez scored off an assist from Avery Tela for the lone Turners goal. Ele Bartolon made seven saves while Conner Herzig stopped six shots for the Thunder. 

Golf

Greenfield 175, Easthampton 221 – It was a dominant win for the Green Wave, as Johnny Marchefka’s 2-over-par 38 propelled the hosts to a victory at the Country Club of Greenfield on Wednesday.

Michael Pierce was next with a   42 for Greenfield (1-0), while Preston LaFleur (45) and Bryce Avery (50) wer e the other Wave players to factor into the scoring.