School roundup: Frontier boys soccer picks up must win

After dropping five games in a row, the Frontier Regional boys soccer team is back on track.

The Red Hawks found their way back in the win column with a win over Pioneer last week, and followed that with a 2-1 victory over Hampshire Regional on Monday night in an independent match in Westhampton.

“I told them before the game that this needs to be more important to you,” Frontier coach Evan Horton said of his club. “We’re sitting at a bad record, (Hampshire has) a good record, they’ve been playing really good soccer. We played the style of soccer we need to be playing in order to be successful the rest of the way.”

Connor Waitkus got the Red Hawks on the board in the seventh minute, scoring off a corner kick from Avery Tuttle.

Austin Bush evened the score in the 24th minute, but Waitkus found the back of the net again in the 66th minute off an assist from Tenzin Tsundue.

The Raiders amped up the pressure in the final 14 minutes, but the Frontier defense stiffened to keep the 2-1 score intact.

“It was a great game,” Horton said. “It was a hard fought back-and-forth game. They came at us in the end but we managed to hold it together.”

Nick Jarvis made five saves in net to preserve the win. 

Mahar 3, Smith Academy 2 — A direct kick by James Temple with five minutes remaining just outside the 18-yard line found the net to give the Senators a huge home win under the lights at the Woodward Complex.

Temple had another goal on a direct kick, in addition to a goal by Henry Ndayisaba assisted by Jon Mahony.

Logan Dodge made one save for the Senators, which stayed atop the McGrath Division with the victory.

Pioneer 0, Sci-Tech 0 – The Panthers battled to a draw against the Cybercats in Springfield.

Jacob Quinn made five saves for Pioneer in the McGrath match-up.

Easthampton 2, Athol 2 — Dilan Fountain scored a pair of goals as Athol earned a draw against the Eagles in a Schmid League game in Athol. 

The Eagles scored three minutes into the game off a shot from Dylan Schmidt, but Fountain answered with a pair of goals within a five minute span in the first half of play. 

Anthony Soucy scored in the opening minutes of the second half to draw even, but Casey Mason didn’t let anything past him the rest of the way for the Red Raiders, making nine saves. 

Maysin Tarbell picked up an assist in the draw. 

Mohawk 1, Smith Voke 1 — A Viking goal in the 72nd minute forced a 1-1 draw in the independent match played in Buckland. 

Jaime Colemenjaro scored in the 28th minute off an assist from Tyler Dubreuil, but that would be the lone shot the Warriors would put past Smith Voke goalie Race Drobiak. 

William Slorio finally got the Vikings on the scoreboard late to even the score. 

Reuben Bassett made 15 saves for Mohawk, while Smith Voke held a 23-19 shot advantage in the contest. 

“A lot of shots just over the net, only a couple were able to find the back of the net,” Warrior coach Nick Brown said. “Overall, it was a tight, tight game played till the final whistle. We had our chances and it ended up being the tie.”

Sabis 8, Greenfield 2 — The Bulldogs scored five first-half goals, including two in the final minutes, to top the Green Wave, 8-2, in a McGrath game in Springfield. 

Five players saw time at goalie for the Green Wave, as coach Andy Rup was looking for a fix in net. 

“We sent a flurry of goalies out there to take a shot at it,” Rup said.

Caleb Duncan and Alex Carballo scored goals for Greenfield, with Ricardo Romero picking up an assist.

Volleyball

Thunder edged in five-setter

Host Turners Falls forced a fifth set, but miscues in the final stanza proved to be too much to overcome late in a tight loss to East Longmeadow in an independent volleyball match Monday night in the Powertown.

Set scores were 27-29, 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 15-10 in favor of the visiting Spartans.

“We were pretty equally matched but we made a lot of mistakes at key points,” Turners coach Kelly Liimatainen said.

After winning the fourth game by a 25-20 margin, Turners (8-4) gave the momentum right back when it hit the opening serve of the fifth set into the net.

“We missed too many serves,” admitted Liimatainen, whose team missed five of them in the fifth frame. “And we gave the momentum right back their way with the first point.”

Dabney Rollins led the Turners offense with 12 kills along with five aces and a block. Setter Hailey Bogusz amassed 19 assists, three kills and an ace, while Madison Liimatainen (six kills, two aces) and Taylor Greene (four kills, three aces, three assists) were other key contributors. Lindsay Whiteman paced the back row with seven digs and a pair of aces.

FC Tech 3, Smith Voke 1 — Kelly Trudeau put down six kills, and host Franklin Tech showed some flashes offensively to pick up its fourth consecutive victory in a 17-25, 25-20, 25-10, 25-17 win over Smith Voke in a Metro Division contest, Monday in Turners Falls.

“Our offense started clicking,” Eagles coach Jade Cuevas said. “That’s great to see and it’s boosting morale. We’re thinking more about attacking rather than just being on the defensive.”

Trudeau added two aces and three digs for the Eagles (4-6, 3-2), while Faith Smith added four kills to go with two assists and two blocks. Lillian Poirier dished out seven assists and chipped in three aces, one kill and one dig.

“This is definitely a big confidence booster for us,” Cuevas said of the four-match winning streak. “There’s a comfort level on the court. I’m going with more of a set lineup and they know each other now, who is going where and what they need to do.”

The Eagles head to Commerce on Wednesday for an independent match.

Girls soccer

Senators pace Ware

Delaney Parker scored three first half goals and assisted on a pair of second half goals to lead Mahar past Ware, 5-3, in a Pioneer North game in Orange.

Micalyn Mailloux and Brynn Adams scored the second half goals to preserve the win for the Senators, while Gracie Rich, Adams and Astha Bernard picked up assists on the Parker goals. 

Even after the win, Mahar coach Chad Softic felt there was a lot his squad could improve upon moving forward.

“We were really fortunate to get a win,” Softic said. “We really lacked any emotional investment, which was disappointing. I thought Kayeigh Murphy gave us a great effort man-marking and Siobhan Davis had a strong game, but we need to be better.”

Field hockey

Wozniak steps in for Thunder

Cady Wozniak did not know she was going to start in net for the Turners Falls field hockey team in an independent road contest against Amherst Regional on Monday.  

Regular starter Haleigh Greene missed the game with an illness.

Wozniak delivered in the 1-1 tie with the Hurricanes, making six saves in her first varsity start in net.

Paige Sulda’s first-half goal, assisted by Brynn Tela, was the lone score of the game for Turners Falls.

Smith Academy 5, FC Tech 1 — Karlie Guimond scored three goals, helping visiting Smith Academy to a 5-1 victory over Franklin Tech in an independent contest Monday in Turners.

The undefeated Falcons (8-0), who led 3-0 at halftime, also received goals from Elena Baranoski and Bailey McCoy.

The Eagles (2-7) scored their lone goal when Logan Addison tallied with 17 minutes remaining in the second half. Kylee Baleno made 12 saves for Franklin Tech, which was outshot by a 17-4 margin. Smith Academy also held a 17-4 edge in penalty corners.

Golf

Back end leads Thunder

The Turners Falls golf team earned wins from its Nos. 2 through 6 spots in a 20½-3½ victory over Smith Academy in a Bi-County East match at Thomas Memorial Golf & Country Club in Turners on Monday.

Joey Mosca and Falcon Dan Cavanaugh halved the No. 1 spot, each shooting a match-low 39.

Brian Poirier won the No. 2 match with a 47, Aidan Bailey won the No. 3 match with a 48 and Jeremy Kovalsick won the No. 4 match with a 57.

Joe Kochan came out on top in the No. 5 match with a 56 and Vinnie Carme was the winner of the No. 6 match with a 57.

Hampshire 20, Mahar 4 — Tucker Ninteau carded a 42 at Beaver Brook Golf Course in Williamsburg, but fell 4-0 to Levi Zielinski who finished with a 34 in a team loss for the Senators.

Branden Engelke-Aiken picked up a win for the Senators beating Desmond Galpin, 2½-1½, at the No 5 spot,

Andrew Finch had the second lowest round for Mahar with a 46.

BOYS SOCCER

Smith Voke 1, Mohawk 1

Goals: (SV) Slorio. (M) Colemenjaro.

Assists: (M) Dubreuil.

Saves: (SV) Drobiak 11. (M) Bassett 15.

Frontier 2, Hampshire 1

Goals: (F) Waitkus (2). (H) Bush.

Assists: (F) Tuttle, Tsundue.

Saves: (F) Jarvis 5. (H) Boyle 5.

Easthampton 2, Athol 2

Goals: (E) Schmidt, Soucy. (A) Fountain (2).

Assists: (A) Tarbell.

Saves: (E) Kugler 5. (A) Mason 9.

Sabis 8, Greenfield 2

Goals: (G) C. Duncan, Carballo. (S) Nixon, Akram, Hodge (2), Williams, Pierce (2), Wallace.

Assists: (G) Romero. (S) Nixon, Perez, Hodge, Townsend, Bass, Flechsig, Wallace.

Saves: (G) Carballo 5, Popusoi 4, C. Duncan 3, Romero 4, Pena 5. (S) Monts 2.

Mahar 3, Smith Academy 2

Goals: (SA) Hurley, Moynihan (M) Ndayisaba, Temple 2.

Assists: (M) Mahony

Saves: (SA) Belina 2. (M) Dodge 1.

Pioneer 0, Sci-Tech 0

Goals: None.

Assists: None.

Saves: (P) Quinn 5. (ST) Camacho 6.

GIRLS SOCCER

Mahar 5, Ware 3

Goals: (W) Hess, McClure, Bell. (M) Parker (3), Mailloux, Adams.

Assists: (M) Rich, Adams, Bernard, Parker (2).

Saves: (W) Hayman 11. (M) Lloyd 8.

FIELD HOCKEY

Smith Academy 5, FC Tech 1

Goals: (SA) Guimond 3, Baranoski, McCoy. (FT) Addison.

Assists: (SA) Guimond, Cavanaugh.

Shots: Smith Academy 17. Franklin Tech 4.

Saves: (SA) Szynal 3. (FT) Baleno 12.

Corners: Smith Academy 17. FC Tech 4.

Turners 1, Amherst 1

Goals: (T) Sulda (A) Green.

Assists: (T) Tela

Shots: Turners 4. Amherst 7.

Saves: (T) Wozniak 6. (A) Sullivan 3.

Corners: Turners 2. Amherst 5.