NORTHAMPTON — After two heartbreaking 1-0 losses against a pair of conference rivals to open their season, the Smith Vocational girls soccer team was hungry for a win – and a goal.
They found both on Friday afternoon.
With their offense firing on all cylinders, the Vikings cruised to an 8-0 win over Commerce in front of a home crowd. Eight different goal scorers found the back of the net for Smith Voc, making the win all the more sweet.
“We were definitely really calm with the ball. We had really good passes and we worked as a team really well,” senior captain Tessa Boisvert said. “The (offense) had really good communication, passing with the ball and working together.”
The home crowd was still settling into their seats when the Vikings struck first – Caitlin Willard picked up a pass from Monique Fredette and fired the ball home just 34 seconds into the contest to give the home team a 1-0 lead. From that moment on, it was all Vikings. Avonna Wickles scored three minutes later on an unassisted tally to double her team’s lead and Fredette picked up a goal of her own off an assist from Wickles 10 minutes later. Katelyn Hennessy scored a header goal off a corner kick from Willard and Jayanna Davis rounded out the scoring off an assist from Paige Krupa to give Smith Voc a 5-0 lead going into halftime.
“It was a good confidence boost for us,” Smith Voc head coach Alicia Carter said. “We just (had) two hard losses to two really tough teams in our league. So it was good to finally get the ball in the back of the net. I think this is going to unleash the scoring for us.”
Carter has been letting her captains, Boisvert, Megan Courtney and Caitlin Willard, take more of a leadership role during games this year. Rather than yelling instructions from the sidelines, she’s letting her players direct from the field, and that seems to have been a game-changer against Commerce.
In the second half of the contest, Smith Voc continued to pepper Commerce’s goaltender. Three more players – Erin Miller, Ayla Mechachonis and Kate Wolcott – scored for the Vikings, with Vanessa Antil picking up a pair of assists and Courtney earning one helper. Maggie Lauder pitched a shutout in the Vikings’ net (two saves), as the club has allowed just two goals in three games this season.
There’s still plenty to improve on – for as many shots that Smith Voc had, the club had a number that went just wide, hitting posts or going over the crossbar, and Carter wants her players to focus on keeping their shape when they’re on the field instead of getting sucked into plays, which she thinks will help as they get into more difficult contests. For now, though, the Vikings are going to enjoy their first win of the season and hope that the offensive boost they got on Friday can carry over into the future games.
Belchertown 3, East Longmeadow 0 – Three different players found the scoresheet for the Orioles in a shutout win on Friday.
Morghan Litz, Madison DaCosta and Madysen Lepage all scored for Belchertown. Alexa Karabestos picked up an assist and goalies Michaela Dubey and Jill Debarge made three and four saves, respectively.
Hopkins 3, Mount Everett 1 – Hopkins never trailed against Mount Everett, breaking a 1-1 tie with a goal from Ephie Viassas in the 30th minute to give them the eventual game-winning goal.
Helen Vissas scored in the 10th minute for Hopkins, and Sadie Cyr scored an unassisted tally to put the game away in the second half. Alayna Bailey picked up an assist and keeper Emmalyn Schmidt made five stops to get the win.
Smith Academy 2, SICS 0 – Two Falcons recorded their first varsity points and Meghann Bell scored twice in a shutout win.
Emily Pearl and Stella Cubi both recorded assists, their first points at the varsity level. Keeper Madison Zononi made 12 stops to earn the shutout.
Holyoke 2, Mahar 0 – Holyoke’s Kyra Lippman scored an unassisted goal in the first half that ended up being the game winner for the Purple Knights against Mahar.
Holyoke peppered Mahar with 16 shots while allowing just one against. Yasani Thompson also scored with an assist from Lippman.
Amherst 3, Ludlow 0 – The ‘Canes needed just three sets against Ludlow (25-10, 25-21, 25-14).
Setter Abigail Como had 19 assists and three digs while libero Liza Beigel and Ruby Austin led the defense with six digs each. Beigel also led the team with eight aces.
Lauren Joy dominated offensively, finishing with 10 kills in the win.
Belchertown 3, Pope Francis 0 – The Orioles needed just three sets to earn a win against Pope Francis (25-15, 25-18, 25-15).
Setter Vivian Ross finished with 17 assists and three aces and Gianna Picardi had six aces. Christina Santiago posted six kills and two aces.
Easthampton 3, West Springfield 0 – The Eagles won a close first set before pulling away in the second and third to com plete a sweep against West Springfield (25-22, 25-15, 25-16).
Kayley Downie paced the back row with 19 digs and Addison Sigda added eight digs of her own. Kierra Carson had four aces and two kills to go along with six digs and setter Erin Teague posted seven assists and three digs.
Smith Voc 3, Duggan 0 – Smith Voc won handily in straight sets against Duggan (25-15, 25-13, 25-13)
Heidymar Diaz-Lopez finished wit h six kills, three digs and one ace and setter Roma Bentrewicz finished with 14 assists and four aces.
Abby Derochers added five kills, one ace and one dig in the win.
PVCICS 5, Hampden East 0 – Goalkepers Damian Loinaz and Richard Ang made three and two saves, respectively, to secure a shutout for the Dragons on Friday.
Nolan Gage scored twice and Teddy Scott, James Scott and Julian Lee-Choi all scored goals for PVCICS, with Scott adding two assists.
Lee-Choi, Patrick Canavan-Gosselin and Eliza Speek also each picked up a helper.
Hopkins 176, Pioneer 184 – Ryley Regan shot the lowest round for Hopkins Academy (42) and scores from Liam Flynn (44), Christian Ciolkos (45) and Jack Dyjach (45) helped the Golden Hawks pick up a tight win at Holyoke Country Club.
Franklin Tech 173, Easthampton 218 – Amelia Gruber shot the low round for the Eagles with a 47.
Anthony Torchia, Angelo Torchia and Maeve Lohring all posted 57s in the loss.
Northampton 3, Smith Academy 0 – Charlotte Johnson Mersack made three saves to secure a shutout for the Blue Devils against Smith Academy.
Roslyn Kaufman, Catherine Dawkins and Chloe Derby all scored for Northampton, with Haly Doucette-Kaplan picking up an assist.
Smith Academy keeper Madison Didonna-Renner made nine saves in the loss.