School roundup: Thunder spike past Senators

Host Mahar Regional School took the first set against Turners Falls in Orange on Friday, but the Thunder roared back to win the next three sets to earn a 3-1 victory in a battle of the top two teams in the Northern League.

The first set went to the Senators, 25-23, with Turners winning the next three, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-15.

Hailey Bogusz had eight kills, seven aces and 10 assists for Turners (5-1, 5-0) with Taylor Greene adding five kills, two aces and 12 assists. Dabney Rollins had 14 kills and seven aces, and Madison Liimatainen tossed in five kills and three aces.

For Mahar (4-1, 3-1), Ava Liberty had four kills, an ace and three digs, Deanna Smith had six aces and a kill and Madison Harrington had 14 assists and two kills.

Green Wave pull
off comeback

In a back-and-forth match, Greenfield pulled ahead late to win the final two sets and pull out a 3-2 comeback victory over Franklin Tech in an independent match played in Turners.

The Green Wave took the first set, 25-19, but Tech roared back to win the second and third sets, 25-19 and 25-10.

In the fourth set, the Eagles held an early lead, but struggled to pass the ball and allowed Greenfield to come back. The Wave took the fourth set, 24-26.

In the decisive fifth set, the Green Wave won, 15-8.

Cassie Mattei had 10 aces and two kills for Greenfield (3-2, 2-2), with Aisha Pruitt-Gonzalez dishing three assists and adding four aces and Genesis Ocasio coming up with 12 digs. 

For Tech (0-3, 0-2), Renee Reed had five aces, three digs, two kills and three assists, Kelly Trudeau added 12 aces, seven digs and six kills and Lilian Poirier had four aces, a dig, a kill and five assists. 

• Elsewhere, the Pioneer volleyball team took the first set against Mohawk Trail, but dropped the next three to fall, 3-1, in a Northern League game played in Northfield.

The Panthers won the first set by six points, but the Warriors won sets two (25-16), three (25-9) and four (25-17) to earn the victory.

Pioneer coach Claire Brennan hopes her team can play with the confidence it had in the first set moving forward.

“When they jive, they’re good,” Brennan said. “They set the ball, they make calls, they hit the ball. Once one thing doesn’t happen, the whole place falls apart and they lose their confidence.”

Octavia Crawford had six kills, two digs and four aces for Mohawk (2-2, 1-2), while Hannah Plesnar had nine aces and a pair of kills and Clare Wasileski had two assists and six aces. 

For the Panthers (0-5, 0-4), Emily Tibbetts had seven aces, Lillian Faille had five aces and four kills and Abby Briggs had four aces.

Field Hockey

Kuchieski, Haselton lead Greenfield 

Madyson Kuchieski and Katie Haselton found the back of the cage in Greenfield’s 2-0 victory over Westfield in a Valley League game in Westfield.

Green Wave coach Erin Thayer wasn’t happy with her team’s performance in the first half, despite holding a lead, but was pleased with how her squad closed the game.

“We had a slow start,” Thayer said. “The second half was much better. We came with more energy and effort. We were slow to the ball in the first. We talked at half about stepping up. Our communication changed, we were not doing that much first but were much better in the second.”

Kuchieski’s goal came in the first half and Haselton’s in the second, off an assist from Amber Taylor.

Greenfield was the aggressor in the game, outshooting Westfield 14-2 and having a 13-3 penalty corner advantage.

• Elsewhere, in a defensive battle, Frontier came out ahead of South Hadley, 1-0, in a Valley League game played in South Deerfield.

Emily DeMaio was the lone goal-scorer in the contest, coming off an assist from Lily Spencer with 6:20 left in the first half.

From there, the Red Hawk defense shut it down, only allowing South Hadley to get a total of two shots off in the game.

“The ball stayed mostly in the midfield,” Frontier coach Missy Mahar said. “We had opportunities but missed some balls over the end line.”

• In other action, Smith Academy had its offense going against Mohawk Trail, as the host Warriors fell, 6-2, in a Bi-County League game played in Buckland.

Mya Lesieur and Lexi Williams were the goal-scorers for Mohawk, with Kordaryl Kendall making 14 saves in net.

Boys soccer

Panthers earn first win

Pioneer found its way into the win column, earning its first victory of the season by defeating Granby, 3-0, in a McGrath Division game played Friday in Northfield. 

All three goals came in the second half, with Sam Hubbard getting things going in the 45th minute off an assist from Noah Keith.

The Panthers struck again in the 68th off the foot of Sam Cahill, with the assist going to Daniel Kang.

Pioneer put the nail in the coffin seven minutes later, when Daniel Doncev found the back of the net off an assist from Sam Glazier.

Panther coach Don Fraser knew this was a big game for his team, and was proud of the effort they showed on the field.

“It was a needed win,” Fraser said. “The first half was pretty even but a good game. Then we flipped it over in the second half. We kept the pressure on. We wore them out and kept doing the right things and it paid off. We needed a win and our guys brought it.” 

• Elsewhere, the Athol boys soccer team continued its strong start to the season with a 4-0 win over South Hadley in a Schmid Division contest played in Athol. 

Mark Ferrari opened the scoring in the first half with an unassisted goal. Dilan Fountain added to the lead with a goal off an assist from Bryce King, and King scored one himself off an assist from Nicholas Bousquet to put the Red Raiders up 3-0 heading into the half.

Connor Mahony scored late off an assist from Fountain to put the icing on the cake of what was one of the better performances from the Athol team in the early part of the season.

Defensively, Logan Kerwan locked down South Hadley star forward, Jonas Clarke, not giving him opportunities to get the Tigers back in the game.

• Two goals from Jon Mahony pushed Mahar to a 3-0 win over Taconic in an independent mach played in Pittsfield. 

Mahony scored his first in the first half off an assist from Robert Harris. Riley Drew scored the second to open the second half off an assist from Andrew Herk before Mahony scored unassisted late to cap off the scoring. 

• Evan Leaf scored a hat trick to lead Four Rivers Charter School past Dublin, 5-1, in a River Valley Athletic League game on Friday.

Muiris Lonergan and Judan Retzlaff also scored for the Otters, while Henry Zaccara and Sovahn Crawford picked up assists. 

Gillis MacDougall had four saves in the win. 

Girls Soccer

FC Tech falls to McCann

Four first-half goals propelled McCann Tech past Franklin Tech, 5-1, in an independent game played in North Adams. 

Odalis Ramirez-Martin was the lone goal scorer for the Eagles, scoring late in the second half. 

Golf

Tucker Ninteau picked up the lone win in No. 1 competition for the Mahar Regional golf team in a 20.5-3.5 loss to Belchertown High School at Ellinwood Country Club on Thursday.

Ninteau shot a 42 for the  Senators to beat Ryan O’Neil, 3.5-0.5

Belchertown swept the next five slots, with Dan Chrzanowski shooting a match best 39 for the Orioles.

BOYS SOCCER

Athol 4, South Hadley 0

Goals: (A) Ferrari, Fountain, King, Mahony.

Assists: (A) King, Bousquet, Fountain.

Saves: (SH) Butler 12. (A) Mason 9.

Pioneer 3, Granby 0

Goals: (G) . (P) Hubbard, Cahill, Doncev.

Assists: (G) . (P) Keith, Kang, S. Glazier.

Saves: (G) Nomakeo 9. (P) Ja. Quinn 7.

Mahar 3, Taconic 0

Goals: (M) Mahoney (2), Drew.

Assists: (M) Harris, Herk.

Saves: (M) Dodge 3. (T) McGrath 8.

GIRLS SOCCER

McCann Tech 5, Franklin Tech 1

Goals: (FT) Ramirez-Martin. (MT) Hayer (2), Boyer (2), Fortini.

Assists: (MT) Schneider, Belise (2), Parise, Hayer.

Saves: (FT) Merritt 12. (MT) Reynold 5.

FIELD HOCKEY

Frontier 1, South Hadley 0

Goals: (F) DeMaio.

Assists: (F) Spencer.

Shots: South Hadley 2. Frontier 2.

Saves: (SH) Lynes 1. (F) Burniske 2.

Corners: South Hadley 6. Frontier 3.

Greenfield 2, Westfield 0

Goals: (G) Kuchieski, Haselton.

Assists: (G) Taylor.

Shots: Greenfield 14. Westfield 2.

Saves: (G) Flynn 2. (W) Brown 12.

Corners: Greenfield 13. Westfield 3.