HATFIELD — Despite the rain, the Smith Academy field hockey team put on a show Tuesday.
The Falcons battled with visiting Southwick, ultimately pulling out a tight 3-2 victory in a Valley League contest.
It’s been a season for celebrating thus far. The Falcons improved to 9-0-1 with the victory, though it didn’t come easy with Southwick in town.
Smith Academy had defeated the visiting Rams 5-0 when the teams met to open the season, though Southwick didn’t go away easily in Tuesday’s rematch. It took a full quarter for an adjustment to be made as both teams were scoreless in the opening 15 minutes.
“Our energy and play really picked up in the third and fourth quarter,” Smith Academy coach Judy Strong said. “We were talking more, passing more and we had more people around the ball.”
“We have 10 seniors on the team and you have that veteran leadership. You have that senior, ‘This is it’ and they didn’t get to play last year because of COVID,” Strong said. “I feel like this is extra special for them.”
Cat Kokoski, Charlotte Hennings and Makena Valentine all tallied in the win for Smith Academy, while Crista Kemp and Elena Baarnoski notched an assist each. Smith goalie Hadley Szynal made five saves.
South Hadley 3, Agawam 1 – A big first half propelled the Tigers to a 3-1 Suburban League win over the Brownies on Tuesday in South Hadley.
South Hadley (6-1-2) led 3-0 at halftime thanks to first-half tallies from Gabi Moroney, Jenna Hobert and Lily Provost. Isabella Alcaraz and Ashley Scott notched assists for the Tigers, and goalie Kaitlyn Lynes stopped 13 shots to keep Agawam at bay.
Next up is for South Hadley is a key road tilt Thursday night at Minnechaug.
Frontier 3, Minnechaug 2 – Emily DeMaio had a hand in all three Frontier goals, helping the Redhawks edge the Falcons, 3-2, in Suburban League action Tuesday in South Deerfield.
DeMaio tallied once and assisted on two others in the win. Rebecca Wallace-West and Ashley Taylor also scored goals for Frontier, with Maeve Huit adding an assist. Ella Flanders recorded nine saves in the Frontier net.
Belchertown 1, Franklin Tech 1 – Adianna Dubuque tallied for the Orioles, which led 1-0 before the Eagles notched the equalizer just before halftime.
Abigail Olden assisted on Dubuque’s tally. Belchertown goalie Eliza Rothstein made eight saves in net.
Amherst 1, Athol 0 – Caitlin MacDougall scored the game’s only goal with 13:58 remaining in the third quarter to lift the Hurricanes.
Maria Konieczny assisted the tally, and goalie McKenzie Schreyer stopped all 11 shots she faced for the shutout.
Northampton 1, Turners Falls 1 – Pearl David tied the game with 13:04 left for the Blue Devils on the road. Northampton matched the hosts with three corners apiece.
The Blue Devils put six shots on frame.
Belchertown 3, Minnechaug 0 – Jack Holt buried a pair of goals in the Orioles’ 3-0 win on Tuesday.
Nathan Davis also scored for Belchertown, with assists credited to Dominic Mancuso, Joe Bianco and Shay O’Neill. Jacob Chaisson recorded the shutout with one save.
Northampton 2, Chicopee Comp 1 – Ryland Breen and Brady McDonald found the net to aid the Blue Devils second-half comeback.
John Senn-McNally Zeke Kimball added an assist each.
Alex Caldonaro made seven saves for Northampton.
Gateway 1, Hoosac Valley 0 – The Gators netted the winner in the first half on the road.
Smith Voke 3, PVCICS 0 – Madison Clark had a goal and an assist for the Vikings in a 3-0 win.
Ayla Mechachonis and Kaleah Gamache also scored in the win, while Morgan Ball added an assist.
Smith Voke goalie Maggie Lauder made five saves while PVCICS’ Maeve Doherty stopped 13 shots.
Easthampton 0, Holyoke 0 – Purple Knights keeper Jayvah Stuckey turned away nine shots at home, and Eagles goalie Addison Barr made six saves in the draw.
Northampton 0, Chicopee 0 – Caroline Riordan made three saves to keep the clean sheet at home in a draw. The Blue Devils put 21 shots on the Pacers’ net.
Hopkins Academy 3, Pioneer Regional 0 – Tia Fyden played a part in all three Golden Hawks goals. She assisted Helen Vissa in the 27th minute then found the net herself in the 55th and 73rd minutes.
Cassidy Fyden saved three shots for the clean sheet.
Anna Dyjach and Helen Vissas also had assists for Hopkins Academy.
Northampton 23½, Frontier ½ – All six Blue Devils shot 46 or better in Tuesday’s win over Frontier at Northampton Country Club.
Galen Fowles was the match medalist with a 2-over-par 37, followed by Evan Yurko (39) and Jack Mattison Gulotta (40). Reilly Fowles (41), Camille Richmond (43) and Ben O’Connor (46) also played well for Northampton, which improved to a perfect 11-0 on the season.
Frontier’s Cam Skiffington (49) scored the only one-half point for the Redhawks.
Hopkins 14, Greenfield 10 – Behind a medalist performance from Connor Asselin in the No. 1 spot, Hopkins Academy notched a 14-10 win over Greenfield Tuesday at Holyoke Country Club.
Asselin shot 43 and won three points in his match for the Golden Hawks. Tyler St. Hilaire shot 51 and won 2½ points for Hopkins, while Taylor Barry (54), Christian Ciolkos (55), Benson Li and Nolan Struspeck (64) all won points toward the team total.
Ware 16, South Hadley 8 – Ben Gardiner won three points in his match at No. 4 for the Tigers in a loss to Ware Tuesday.
Keegan Earle split four points with Ware’s Doug Mulligan in the No. 1 spot, while South Hadley’s Nick Hartley, Bennett Allen and John Viola won one point each.
Hampshire 14, Monson 10 – Levi Zielinski took the medalist honors for the Raiders, shooting a 39 at Beaver Brook. He defeated Mason Dumas 3-1 at No. 1.
Hampshire’s Owen Lech bested Averee Nissenbaum at No. 4 3-1.
Raiders No. 5 Pryden Messier beat Tyler LaBonte 3½-½. At No. 6, Tim Florek handled Charlie Wahlund.
Gateway 25, Easthampton 33 – Dominic Zajko clocked the winning time for the Gators in 14:59, and teammate Jacob Maynard followed in second (15:20). Gateway’s Jesse Balboi placed fifth (18:23), Logan Hawley eighth (18:50) and Jeff Antonellis ninth (19:30).
Easthampton’s Leverett Horrigan took third (15:21). Gianni Soucy was fourth (15:39), James Aquino Sixth (18:29) and Braden Lynn seventh (18:45).
Greenfield 15, Hopkins Academy 48 – Chris Rex placed seventh (18:17), and Jackson Graham took eighth (20:17) for the Golden Hawks at home.
Gateway 18, Easthampton 46 – Gateway seventh-grader Anya Niles set a new course record, traversing the 2.4-mile course in Huntington with a time of 17 minutes, 42 seconds to lead the way for the Gators (10-0).
Gateway had the first three runners across, with Alexandra Henrichon (18:42) and Sawyer Wilkinson (19:42) taking second and third, respectively.
Easthampton’s Brooke Bongiovanni finished fourth overall in 19:52, while teammates Marley Reardon (sixth, 20:46) and Julianne Markee (10th, 24:40) also cracked the top 10. Gateway’s Lucy Pitoniak took fifth overall (20:41).
Hopkins Academy def. Greenfield – The Green Wave didn’t have enough runners to contest the meet.
Auroroa Dnota-Venman placed third for the Golden Hawks (20:36). Cora White was fifth (25:15), Eve Lanzafame placed sixth (25:15), Autumn Casagrande finished seventh (28:21) and Ruby Peiffer was eighth (28:22).