H.S. Roundup: Amherst girls soccer survives Frontier comeback bid (VIDEO)

AMHERST — Aliya Morales-Fernandez bled for a victory for the Amherst Regional girls soccer team on Thursday afternoon. While protecting a one-goal lead with less than 30 seconds to play, Frontier Regional’s Skyler Steele found some room and sent a shot at the senior keeper.

Morales-Fernandez made the save, but during the ensuing rebound, a teammate’s knee hit her square in the face. With blood coming from her lip and nose, Morales-Fernandez watched from the bench as the last nine seconds came off the clock in a narrow 2-1 Central league win for the Hurricanes.

“I just saw the ball going,” Morales-Fernandez said. “I saw my teammate and the other team coming and I am like ‘I have to put my body on the line’ to see if I can save it…all I felt was a ‘boom’ from my nose and lip, obviously. Then there was really bad pain, and I had to come out. I wish I hadn’t bled so I could have stayed in.”

The Hurricanes closed out the last nine seconds for their teammate. Amherst avenged a loss to the Redhawks earlier in the season. Amherst took down Southwick on Tuesday.

“The momentum kept us going,” Amherst coach J.W. Benoit said. “The girls are coming together as a team. We are looking at our leaders to pull our younger players up. That’s what we are seeing on the field at this point in the season.”

Morales-Fernandez made six saves in net.

“You can’t ask anything more from a goalkeeper to come out and put her body on the line,” Benoit said. “She stepped up. Our starting goalkeeper got injured. She’s turning around and making a name for herself as a top goalkeeper.”

The Hurricanes took a quick 2-0 lead in the first half. Bea Eggemeier sent a shot from distance just under the crossbar to give Amherst a 1-0 lead. Josie Duncan assisted on the play. On Amherst’s next goal, Nora Hannah found some room along the left side of the field after a pass from Maeve Fitzgerald. Hannah found the net, giving Amherst a 2-0 lead with 26 minutes, five seconds left in the first half.

Frontier started the comeback attempt with a goal by Danica Kopcza. Adelaide Ehle sent a beautiful entry into the 18-yard scoring box to initiate the play. Ehle’s pass found the feet of Kopcza, who made the score 2-1 with 20:57 left in the game.

The remainder of the game saw Frontier peppering the offensive zone but not quite getting the chances it needed until the final minutes.

“It took us until the last 15 minutes to get crazy,” Ehle said. “Then we were locked in…it was really good play from us. I saw everyone doing things they were supposed to…playing together and working like a machine.”

Amherst brought a little more physicality and speed to the game, compared to their first matchup.

“They came out faster with their pace of play,” Frontier coach Lauren Sullivan said. “It was way faster than the last game. I think they surprised us with their physicality. We struggled to possess. They were quick to the ball.”

Kayla Tudryn had an active and effective game in net for the Redhawks. The freshman keeper made 15 saves for Frontier.

Mahar 5, Franklin Tech 1 —Mackenzie Matthews scored three goals for the Senators in a Bi-County win over the Eagles in Turners Falls. Lilian Bajnoci and Maggie Ringer also scored. Erin Parse and Aubrey Johnson had assists for the Senators. Jaya McBroom made five saves. In her first career varsity start in net, Bella Liebnow made seven saves for the Eagles. Faythe Sobieski scored for Franklin Tech, with an assist coming from Kaelyn Mclean.

Golf

West Springfield 159, Frontier 165 — The Terriers got past the Redhawks at Cherry Hill Golf Course. Braiden Dion finished with a 40 for Frontier. Addy Wood and Teddy McCarthy both shot a 41.

Mohawk 185, Athol 206 — The Warriors pulled off their first win since 2024 at the Country Club of Greenfield. Chayton Massa (43), Conner Bergeron (46), Jacob Richardson (48) and Preston Charboneau (48) had the low rounds for the Warriors. Tyler Kaczmarczyk shot a 46 for the Bears.