NORTHAMPTON — Over seven games this season, Westfield Tech outscored its opponents 36-0, not allowing a single goal in an impressive unbeaten streak.
That run ended on Thursday afternoon when they traveled to Smith Vocational.
The Vikings gave Westfield Tech a taste of its own medicine, shutting the Tigers out and scoring twice in a 2-0 victory. It was the fifth consecutive game that Smith Voc hadn’t allowed a goal; during that five-game stretch, they’ve outscored their opponents 25-0.
“Defensively we’re just trying to stay really strong and when we get the ball not panic, try to get to the outsides and then get it up the field. That’s been working really well for us,” captain Tessa Boisvert said.
Keeper Maggie Lauder earned the shutout in net with six stops and freshman Julianis Suarez scored both of the Vikings’ goals, striking first in the seventh minute of the game and then again 17 minutes into the second half. Her second goal featured an assist from Caitlin Willard.
Her first goal sent a huge wave of energy through the home team, showing the crack in Westfield Tech’s defense was there if they kept pushing. The second one gave them the breathing room they needed against a competitive opponent.
“Willard, she shot at the goal and it deflected off of one of the players on the field and I saw the ball there. So I just took my chance and took the shot and it went in,” Suarez said on her second tally.
Head coach Alicia Carter was impressed with the team’s improvement, and particularly their finishing ability, something they’ve been working on during practice recently.
“This is huge confidence (boost) for us. We took a whole week’s worth of practice just trying to find the back of the net. We’ve been able to possess great on the field…it’s just finding the back of the net that has been our struggle,” Carter said. “We talked the whole week about how Westfield has not been scored on and we wanted to be the first ones and they went out and they got the job done.”
While the offense stole the show when it came to getting a pair of goals against the Tigers, the defense and the midfield have been the supporting cast keeping Smith Voc at the top of their game.
“Our center midfield has been awesome. They’re really the ones who have been controlling all the games, even when we played Franklin Tech on Monday. Our center midfield is what’s keeping us in these games,” Carter said. “And when it gets back to the defense, they do an incredible job too. But I would say throughout it’s our whole formation in general. They just all work great together as a team.”
The Vikings will get some time off before traveling to Commerce on Tuesday for their next match.
Easthampton 1, St. Mary’s 0 – Ana Growhowski scored the Eagles’ only goal off an assist from Ella Belcher-Timme.
Goalie Addison Barr stopped all nine shots she faced.
Gateway 1, Greenfield 1 — Anna Sakaske scored for the Gators in the first half but the Green Wave equalized in the second half, leading to a 1-1 draw in Huntington on Thursday.
Hopkins 7, Lee 0 – Helen Vissas netted a pair of goals and Sadie Cyr finished with a goal and three assists for Hopkins.
Maggie Potter, Cassie Dion and Cassidy Fyden scored the Golden Hawks other goals, with Olivia Earle adding two assists and Layni Bailey posting one helper.
Mount Everett 2, Smith Academy 2 — Caitlin Graves scored a pair of goals for the Falcons in a tie with the Eagles in Hatfield on Thursday.
Meghan Bell and Anna Scagel each had an assist while Madison Zononi made 10 saves for Smith.
South Hadley 4, Pittsfield 0 — Lauren Marjanski finished with a hat trick while Maddie Soderbaum had a goal and an assist in the Tigers’ win over the Generals on Thursday.
Allison Fleury dished two assists, Sofie Quinn had an assist and Drew Alley made three saves in the victory.
Frontier 174, Amherst 203 — Ryan Cetto was the match medalist with a 38 while Cade Allenby fired a 44 to lift the Redhawks to a victory over the Hurricanes at Cherry Hill Golf Course on Thursday.
Cam Skiffington (45) and Tyler Galenski (47) also scored for Frontier. Ben Scott (41), Nate Zionek (44), Owen Howard (59) and Oliver Hansell (59) scored for Amherst.
Belchertown 155, Ware 203 – Three Belchertown golfers shot below 40 in an impressive win over Ware.
Michael Murray led the Orioles with a 37, followed closely by teammates Henry Poissant (38) and Cal Orzech (39). Daniel Hulmes (41) also scored for Belchertown.
Northampton 169, Hampshire 175 – The Blue Devils’ unbeaten streak continued in a tight win over Hampshire.
Galen Fowles earned medallist honors with a 39 for Northampton. Also scoring for Northampton was Brett Baronowski (40), Reilley Fowles (45) and Jamie Fowler (45).
Cole Boissonneault shot the low round for the Raiders with a 41 and teammate Pryden Messier shot a 44.
Pioneer 165, Hopkins 178 – Brayden Thayer shot the lowest round of the day for Pioneer with a 36.
Hopkins’ Christian Ciolkos and Liam Flynn both shot 43 for the Golden Hawks.
Hampshire 2, Pope Francis 1 – Aidan Miklasiewicz scored an unassisted game winner to give the Raiders a close win over Pope Francis.
Brendan Steveson scored Hampshire’s first goal assisted by Dan Martin.
Lenox 4, South Hadley 3 – Nolan Masse netted a couple goals and Brady Graham scored South Hadley’s other goal in a close loss to Lenox.
Spenser Parsons, Ethan Markham and Jack Chagnon all had an assist.
Keeper Noah Carillon made five saves.
Smith Voc 3, Renaissance 2 – The Vikings held out in a five-set match against Renaissance ( 29-27, 25-19, 16-25, 21-25, 15-10).
Heidymar Diaz-Lopez had 18 kills, five digs and four blocks and setter Roma Bentrewicz added 24 assists. Abby Desrochers had five kills and six digs and Irelyn Marcoux had six kills and seven digs.
Northampton 7, Mohawk Trail 2 – Rozlyn Kaufman netted three goals and Camilla Brewer had a goal and an assist in the Blue Devils win.
Haly Doucette-Kaplan scored a pair of goals and Maya Berman-Lagier also netted a goal for Northampton.
Keepers Lanaiya Rodriguez and Charlotte Johnson Mersack made one and two saves, respectively.
Franklin Tech 5, Holyoke 0 — Kait Trudeau finished with a pair of goals and assists to lift the Eagles past the Purple Knights in Turners on Thursday.
Girls soccer
Amherst 2, Southwick 1 — After a Rams goal tied the game up at one apiece in the second half, Maddie Hockman struck for the Hurricanes to regain their lead for good.
Hockman scored in the 64th minute on a pass from Myla Peltier to secure Amherst the 2-1 dub. Maeve Fitzgerald scored three minutes into the game to get the scoring started, assisted by Hockman. Neena Chinappa recorded six saves in the ’Canes’ win.