NORTHAMPTON — Two goals 65 seconds apart gave the Northampton boys soccer team the cushion they needed against Monson in a 4-0 shutout win Thursday night.
Finn Norsen and Sam Busone each netted a pair for the Blue Devils under the lights at Northampton High School and keeper Salem Gregory made one save to secure the shutout.
“I thought we played well, we controlled the game, which is what we wanted to do,” Northampton head coach CJ Holt said. “Probably didn’t score as many goals as we created chances, but we’re still working on that.”
The Blue Devils (5-2-1) had plenty of chances to capitalize all game long, but needed just shy of 20 minutes to score the first goal of the night, a tally from Norsen assisted by Owen MacLachlan. In the 38th minute, Busone got his first goal of the night from Minti Peterson to send the home team into halftime up 2-0.
Norsen got the scoring started again in the second half to make it 3-0, converting on a corner kick play with a helper from Rhys MacLachlan. Busone scored just over a minute later, breaking away from the rest of the field and sending the ball home to make it 4-0.
Holt praised the leadership from center back Koa Klose and keeper Gregory, who both kept the team organized and communicated well during the game. The squad this year is younger and still learning as the season goes on – Klose, formerly a goaltender, switched to center back this year to help the team’s depth. Despite that, Holt has seen improvements over the course of the season and during Thursday’s game against Monson.
“I think that just shows that when we play simple and we switch the point of attack and make the easy pass and don’t try to be individualistic we can finish those chances and create those chances,” Holt said on his team’s back-to-back goals in the second half. “I think we have a lot of guys pressing a little bit in the final third because we’re having trouble scoring. So when they start trusting each other, then good things happen.”
Northampton looks to keep it going against Chicopee Comp next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Granby 3, Gateway 0 – Riley Goodhind, Ben Berger and Tristan Moe all scored for the Rams in a shutout win over Gateway.
Granby goalie Daniel Santiago made three saves and Gateway keeper Zachary Hess stopped five shots.
Hopkins 2, Mt Everett 1 – Liedson Fernandes Miranda scored unassisted and broke a 1-1 tie to give the Golden Hawks a win on Thursday afternoon.
Ryder Gallo opened the scoring off an assist from Lucas Carbal Dasilva. Hopkins goalkeeper Logan Bye made four stops.
PVCICS 5, Franklin Tech 1 – Teddy Scott scored a pair and James Scott also secured a goal for the Dragons against Franklin Tech. The other two PVCICS goals were own-goals from Franklin Tech.
Patrick Canavan-Gosselin and Rafi Razmi got an assist apiece. Dragons goalie Damian Loinaz made one stop and Richard Ang made four saves.
Smith Academy 1, Greenfield 0 – Sam Stanton scored in the second half off a free kick, scoring the game’s lone goal. Ben Hudzik got credited with the assist and keeper Jake Wilcox made three saves for the shutout.
The win improved the Falcons record to 4-0-4.
West Springfield 1, Belchertown 0 — Obensly Justin scored a second-half goal for the Terriers in a 1-0 Smith League victory on Thursday.
Belchertown’s Jack Mandeville made three saves in net.
Pathfinder 1, Smith Voc 0 — Evan Costa scored the game’s lone goal for the Pioneers.
Belchertown 4, Holyoke 1 — Lila Roy slammed a pair of goals into the back of the net as Belchertown earned a 4-1 independent win over Holyoke on Thursday.
Bella Cebula and Molly Mazzaferro were the other goal scorers for the Orioles, while Laura Cote, Karyna Rondeau and Chloe Moss notched assists.
Holyoke’s Maura Dulude scored her team’s goal.
Frontier 2, Agawam 0 — Ashlie Galenski and Ashley Taylor scored for the Redhawks in a Suburban League victory over the Brownies in Agawam on Thursday.
Claire Kirkendall picked up an assist on Taylor’s goal while Kyra Richards made five saves in the victory.
Franklin Tech 7, Hampshire 0 — Hannah Gilbert netted a hat trick and Kait Trudeau had two goals for the Eagles in a County League victory on Thursday in Turners Falls.
Easthampton 3, Hampden West 0 – The Eagles allowed Hampden West to get into the double-digits just once on Thursday in a three-set win (25-9, 25-11 25-7).
Kayley Downie reeled off eight aces and five digs and Emersyn Nadin had seven assists, two aces and two digs. Aziza Menedez picked up five aces and Sophia Faginski had three kills and two digs.
Smith Voc 3, Duggan 0 – The Vikings needed just three sets against John Duggan (25-15, 25-13, 25-19).
Jaelyn Kulas had 10 digs and one assist, Roma Bentrewicz had 11 assists and Heidymar Diaz-Lopez had three kills and four digs. Irelyn Marcoux had three aces and four kills and Jennifer Bouchard had two blocks and two kills.
Chicopee 3, Belchertown 2 — Ava Shea put down 10 kills for the Orioles in a tight five-set loss to the Pacers on Thursday.
Set scores were 17-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-23, 15-10.
Chrissy Santiago followed with eight kills, Paige Magner had seven and Gianna Picardi tossed in six. Setter Vivian Ross dished out 31 assists for Belchertown.
Smith Academy 2, Franklin Tech 1 — The visiting Falcons tallied both of their goals on free kicks, rallying from an early deficit to snatch a 2-1 independent victory Thursday night in Turners Falls.
Anne Kolodziej got the Eagles on the board 11 minutes into the first half, putting home a shot off a long throw-in from Laken Woodard for a quick 1-0 advantage.
Anna Scagel tied the game midway through the first half when she potted a direct kick from about 25 yards out to make it 1-1. Scagel helped set up the winner in the second half, when her free kick into the box was eventually put home in the 52nd minute by Caitlin Graves to make it 2-1.
Smith Academy goalie Madison Zononi stopped nine shots in the win.
South Hadley 164, Amherst 224 — Ryan MacGregor was the match medalist at Ledges Golf Course on Thursday, shooting an even-par 36 to pace the Tigers.
Bennett Allen was next for South Hadley with a 44, followed by Caiden Drohan (44) and Matthew Blaser (44).
Ben Scott shot the low round of the day for Amherst with a 42.
Northampton 164, Minnechaug 169 — Galen Fowles posted a 2-over 38, as the Blue Devils won again and stayed undefeated on Thursday.
Reilly Fowles was next with a 40, while Jack Carpenter fired a round of 42 and Ben O’Connor wasn’t far behind with a 44 to round out the scorers for Northampton.
Greenfield 159, Frontier 177 — Johnny Marchefka was the match-medalist, shooting a 36 to lead the Green Wave to a victory over the Redhawks at the Country Club of Greenfield on Thursday.
Cam Skiffington (42), Ryan Cetto (43), Cade Allenby (45) and Gabe Solodky (47) scored for Frontier.
Franklin Tech 168, Hopkins 170 — Ryley Regan led the Golden Hawks with a round of 38 at Thomas Memorial in Turners Falls.
Also scoring for Hopkins on Thursday were Cooper Beckwith (42), James Burke (44) and Jack Dyjach (46).
Pioneer 170, Hampshire 171 — Pryden Messier shot the low round for the Raiders (40).
Brayden Fennessy followed with a 42, and other scorers for Hampshire were Riley Florek (44) and Owen Lech (45).
Granby 21, Monson 37 – Nathan Hutchinson finished second overall with an 18:53 at Granby’s home meet on Thursday, the fastest time that a Ram has run on that course.
Nate Benson took third (20:42), Colby Carleton finished fourth (21:48) and Trevor Sullivan finished fifth (22:06) to round out the top five.
Granby 25, Monson 30 – Addy Hill crossed the finish line first in 24:52, the fastest time a Granby runner has run on their home course. Quinlin Cook took second for Granby in 25:19.
Girls soccer
Smith Voc 9, Hampden Charter East 0 — The Vikings put forth a very balanced effort with five goals in the first half and four in the second to cruise past Hampden Charter East. Caitlin Willard scored two goals and tallied an assist while Megan Courtney found the back of the net and added two assists to lead Smith Voc’s offense.
Ayla Mechachonis, Monique Fredette, Tessa Boisvert, Daelin Murdock, Jayanna Daniels, and Paige Krupa were the other six goal scorers for the Vikings. Maggie Lauder had two saves in the win.
Granby 7, Ware 1 — The Rams came out firing in the first half, putting up six of their seven goals to pull away from Ware early. Brenna Moreno (four goals) accounted for more than half of Granby’s goals, and Kalli White also scored two times while adding two assists. Cassie Flaherty netted the other goal.
Five different players recorded assists for the Rams, led by White’s two and Kelly Lynne Kennedy’s two. Meredith Bartosz and Eleanor Szlosek each had one save in the win as they split time in goal.
Boys soccer
Belchertown 8, Holyoke 1 — Joseph Yoon erupted for a hat trick and Tanner Lockwood put up three assists as the Orioles took a 4-0 lead into halftime and never looked back.
Junior Ian McDonald and sophomore Gianni Damato each scored two goals, and Esat Cayan added one of his own. Yoon and McDonald had an assist apiece while Austin Raymer, Noah Yankson, and Mason Rodrigues tallied assists as well. Holyoke’s Ryan Kennedy put up the lone Purple Knights goal off a pass from Jaybriel Rivera-Soto. Keeper Landon Koziara put forth a magnificent effort in goal for Holyoke, grabbing 24 saves in the loss.