TYNGSBOROUGH — The 14th-seeded Frontier boys soccer team never felt like the underdog during its MIAA Div. 4 quarterfinal contest against sixth-seeded Tyngsborough on Thursday night. 

The Redhawks came out and looked like the dominant team through 40 minutes, holding possession and generating chances. But they had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

A similar story played out through the second half where Frontier looked the more threatening team, but neither team was able to light up the scoreboard. 

Gus Radner changed that with just over two minutes to play. 

Frontier sent a long pass up to Will Reading, who drew a swarm of Tiger defenders to him. The ball was knocked away and found the foot of Radner outside the box, and the junior blasted a shot that zipped into the back of the net with 2:07 showing on the clock. 

The Redhawks survived the final two minutes to advance to the state semifinals with a 1-0 victory. 

“I honestly don’t even remember how the ball got to me,” Radner said. “I just remember it coming out to me. I was trying to shoot all game whenever I could so I just got a touch, shot it and prayed. It felt so good coming off [my foot]. After I turned to the scoreboard and ran over to our fans. It was pure happiness.”

Frontier (15-2-4) will face second-seeded Lynnfield in the state semifinals at a date and time to be determined. It’s the third Final Four trip for the Redhawks in the four years of the new statewide tournament format. 

“It’s crazy,” Frontier coach Evan Horton said. “Especially in what you’d consider to be a reset year for us coming off a disappointing loss in the playoffs last year. We get a low seed, we’re fighting really good teams from the jump. We really didn’t want this to be a trap for us coming off the Pittsfield [Round of 16] game.

“This was a really good team too,” Horton continued. “I thought we dominated but I also knew, as you saw, anything can happen. That goal could have gone the other way. I’m really happy for Gus and really happy for everybody. It’s exciting going back to the Final Four. We’ll see what happens.” 

Radner’s goal was oddly similar to the one that knocked the Redhawks out of the tournament last year against Monomoy, showing just how thin the margins are the later you go in the state tourney. 

“Gus hits those in practice all the time,” Horton said. “We’ve been waiting for one of those. We’ve been on the other side of that goal. I know what it’s like to look up and have that ball in go in the net like that. I’m just so happy for them. They were locked in at practice and I knew we had done everything to prepare for this game. It was just a matter of doing it.” 

Frontier has shown a flair for the dramatic throughout this postseason run. From knocking off Nantucket in overtime to winning a penalty kick thriller against third-seeded Pittsfield in the Round of 16 to Radner’s late goal on Thursday, the Redhawks have shown that the bright lights don’t bother them. 

“The boys have just found another gear,” Horton said. “It’s very similar to the runs we’ve made in the past where we just had to find another level of play. The question becomes whether you can keep doing it and this team has. We knew Tyngsborough was aggressive and a counter attack team but we were able to match that.” 

Frontier came out as the aggressor during the first half, earning numerous corners and keeping the ball on the Tyngsborough (15-2-4) side of the field throughout. 

While switching formation at the half was a possibility, Horton liked the looks his attack was generating and kept the shape the same. 

“Once the first 10 minutes went by, you could see our possession was working for us,” Horton said. “A key for us was getting through those first 10-15 minutes and finding opportunities from there. We had a bunch of balls across the middle of the box, we just couldn’t find a way. We talked about switching formations but it was working.”

While it took nearly all of regulation, Frontier never lost faith it would find a goal against the Tigers. 

“We were scared at the half obviously because we hadn’t gotten one yet,” Radner said. “But, we knew we were dominating. If we just kept doing the same things we had been doing one was going to come and it came.” 

Tyngsborough’s best scoring opportunity came in the final minute of the game on a corner, as a header sailed just over the bar on what ended up being the final chance of the game. Jack Cusson recorded the team’s 12th shutout of the season.