BELCHERTOWN – The Belchertown field hockey team pulled out all the stops for its senior night on Monday, decorating the stadium with orange and black balloons and streamers and honoring its five-member Class of 2023 with a 3-0 County League victory over Amherst.
It was a nostalgic moment for senior Abigail Olden, who scored two of the team’s three goals. Olden has been around the program for a decade.
“It feels really sentimental because I’ve been here since the program started because my mom (Lindsay Wright) started the program,” Olden said. “I’ve been here since second grade, so 10 years of my life. It’s just crazy that it’s coming to an end with all these people I’ve known for 10 years.”
A sizable portion of Belchertown’s roster have been playing together for years, and that chemistry is evident every time the Orioles take the field. Belchertown currently has an 8-2-1 record, 8-1 in County play, and all eight of their wins have come via shutout. It’s a testament to the team’s drive to succeed and the years they’ve put in at both the youth and high school levels.
“I’ve been coaching (most of these kids) since they were in second grade, and they all grow up with this sort of idea of winning,” Belchertown head coach Lindsay Wright said. “Every year I get a different group, and I wouldn’t say we have kids out here doing all those clubs and have all these special skills. But we have a bunch of kids who really want to win and fight hard.”
Olden got the ball rolling with a highlight-reel goal for Belchertown at the 8:30 mark of the first quarter. Weaving through defenders looking for an open space, she danced much closer to the goal than she usually gets before winding up and firing a hard shot into the far corner of the net to make it 1-0.
“A lot of the goals I score are on the outside of the circle because I find that the easiest because they can’t stop it as much,” Olden said. “I was just trying to get to a spot where I wouldn’t hit anyone with my stick and I could have a good shot on goal. It was mostly just trying to get that to the open space.”
The Orioles struck again just over three minutes later on a corner opportunity. During a scrum around the net, Karyna Rondeau fired a cross shot to the front of the net that found Isabella Cebula, who netted the team’s second goal of the period.
Olden scored Belchertown’s final goal in the middle of the third frame, though an Amherst player nearly made a goal-line stop on the shot.
Despite not finding a goal in Monday’s loss, Amherst head coach Sarah Hafele Bugbee was happy with her team’s effort. The first time the ‘Canes faced Belchertown this year, they suffered a 9-0 defeat. This time around, Amherst’s defense was much stingier, keeping the game close all evening and relying heavily on goalie MacKenzie Schreyer, who finished with seven saves.
“I think that was honestly the best game we’ve ever played. Our girls have come so far this season already. They’re making such great strides,” Hafele Bugbee said. “We shut them out for a whole (two) quarters, they didn’t score the entire second or fourth quarter.”
The Hurricanes currently have a 4-6-1 record, and will look to keep improving over the rest of their season. Belchertown, meanwhile, has another goal on its mind. Though Wright and her team have put in a lot of work to build up sustained success, there’s one accomplishment that’s eluded them – earning a win in the state tournament. This is Wright’s last chance to pick that victory up – she’s stepping back from coaching once this season is wrapped up – but this may be the team that pulls it off.
“They all really want to be here. They all have a really good time…. Everyone loves each other, everyone wants to hang out,” Wright said. “This is the easiest year I’ve ever had. Everyone is here on time every single day, in fact early – I don’t even have to look. That has never happened in the history of time.”