A perfect weekend for the Amherst Regional boys ultimate team culminated in a state title on Sunday.
The Hurricanes followed up their undefeated run in pool play with three straight single-elimination wins on Sunday to capture the Division 1 state championship at the Oxbow in Northampton.
“It’s really emotional, and mixed emotions, too,” explained Amherst coach Joe Costello. “The senior class, especially, many on my team had played a whole high school season in ninth grade on a JV team and had dreams of doing exactly what we just did for many years. So it was an emotional high school career for these seniors to go through what they went through.
“There was an outpouring of emotion at the end,” he continued. “Just trying to bank that really good feeling together.”
Amherst upended Lexington in the title game on Sunday, 15-12, to cap a perfect 6-0 weekend.
“We’ve played them once before at the Amherst Invite so we knew they were a really good team,” Costello said of Lexington. “In the second half, we had a little energy dip and we called a timeout to re-center ourselves, specifically to generate some joy in playing and being together. I think we scored six of the next seven points after that timeout and managed to win the game going away.”
After wins over Sharon (10-8) and Masconomet (13-5) in pool play, the ’Canes opened Sunday’s bracket play with a 12-7 win over Northampton in the quarterfinals. That led to a dominant semifinal victory, where Amherst took down Xaverian 13-3, setting up the title-game showdown with fellow unbeaten Lexington.
“We’re a very, very good team and I think we showed that throughout the weekend at times,” Costello said. “This is as talented a team as there is in high school ultimate, I think. And to be able to meet all of the challenges of the weekend is a really great experience for us.”
The Northampton boys went 3-3 on the weekend and ultimately took sixth place in the tournament after falling to Sharon in the fifth-place game, 12-11. The Devils scored wins over Needham (11-7), St. John’s Prep (13-3) and Newton North (11-8).
Top contributors for Northampton included Roan Dunkerley (14 goals), Joe Brooks-Kahn (14 goals), Soren Fischer (12 assists) and Liam Reynolds (13 deflections).
It was also a successful weekend for the Amherst and Northampton girls ultimate teams, as both squads won multiple games at the Division 1 state championship.
The Devils went 4-2 and finished third, dropping games to eventual champion Four Rivers and second-place side Lexington. Northampton notched victories over Amherst (8-5), Newton North (8-4), Lincoln-Sudbury (9-5) and Sharon (11-2).
“Beating [Amherst] convincingly at the state tournament was an especially huge accomplishment for the team and an indication of how much we’ve grown this season,” Northampton coach Travis Norsen said.
Amherst went 3-3 over the weekend, notching victories over Sharon (11-2), Lincoln-Sudbury (11-4) and Newton North (8-6).
Rubeck, ECSU softball go 1-2
It was quite a trip to the NCAA Division 3 College World Series for Easthampton’s Maggie Rubeck and her Eastern Co nnecticut State University softball team.
The Warriors went 1-2 in their trip to Salem, Va., bowing out of the eight-team, double-elimination field on Satu rday via a 6-4 loss to Berry College (Ga.).
Rubeck, a freshman shortstop who graduated from Hampshire Regional last year, was 0-for-2 at the plate against Berry.
The tournament began with a wild opening-round game against Trine University ( Ind.) on Thursday. The teams were tied 2-2 in the sixth inning when weather postponed the finish until Friday. Trine notched a 4-2 win in eight innings, sending ECSU into the elimination bracket.
In that game against Millikin University (Ill.), the Warriors shook off a quick 1-0 deficit, took the lead in the fourth and then pushed acro ss five insurance runs in the seventh en route to an 8-1 victory.
The loss to Berry ended the tournament for ECSU, which finished its season with a sterling 44-7 overall record.
MIAA Div. 3 track
Holyoke’s Jael Cabrera paced the locals at Sunday’s MIAA Division 3 Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Westfield State University.
Cabrera finished seventh in the 100-meter dash, running a time of 11.42 seconds in the finals. West Springfield’s Roman Conca captured the state title in 10.90 seconds.
Holyoke junior Dylan Lubold nabbed 19th place in the javelin with a top throw of 122 feet, 8 inches.
Veronica Colon took 39th in the girls 100 meters (13.63).