BELCHERTOWN — In a matchup between two of the top teams in Hampshire County, things went just about how you would expect as Northampton traveled to Belchertown for both squads’ season opener on Tuesday.
Deadlocked at one goal apiece with under two minutes to go, Blue Devils junior forward Willow Claps raced after a through ball from Hatteras Lewis and beat Belchertown’s defense to it. Claps took a pair of touches that set her up in the box with only Orioles goalie Linnea Anderson to beat.
She fired a low shot off her right foot that sizzled by the dive of Anderson and into the back of the net, giving Northampton a 2-1 advantage — the game’s eventual final score as the Blue Devils hung on for the final minute and change.
“It’s like the perfect soccer story, for us,” Northampton head coach Vanessa Butynski said. “It could always go the other way, because Belchertown is a good squad. We’ve been really working on composure, trying to have game management. We were a little flat in the start of the second half, but our composure and the veteran leadership that we have helped us break through.”
Belchertown fell behind 1-0 early after the Blue Devils scored on a terrific goal from Malia Silver — the first of the year. Claps assisted Silver on the tally and the Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Coming out of intermission, the Orioles looked like a different team. Belchertown turned up its intensity and finally broke through 20 minutes into the half as Alexa Karabetsos scored, beating Northampton’s Anna Oravec to the left post with the ball banking off the inner half and into the net.
Several more chances ensued, but Oravec stood tall and kept the game tied — which set up the Claps winner off an Orioles turnover. Belchertown head coach Kyle Thibeault was pleased with his team’s effort over the second 40 minutes.
“I don’t schedule an easy schedule, and every team that we face is a quality team,” Thibeault said. “I do that on purpose. It only prepares us as the season goes. This was a good first game, and we battled back from being down which is always great to see. I thought we generated quite a few chances in the second half and controlled some of the pace of the game. We just need to limit the mistakes we make that in turn put us under pressure. Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy.”
Oravec finished with six saves, while Belchertown’s goalie duo of Anderson (three) and Ava Stelmokas (three) combined for six stops of their own.
Both teams are set up for success this year with a strong mix of experience and young talent. Belchertown (0-1) next hosts East Longmeadow under the lights on Friday night, while Northampton (1-0) travels to Ludlow also on Friday night.
Belchertown’s Alexa Karabetsos takes a shot on goal during Tuesday’s soccer game between the Orioles and Northampton in Belchertown on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/GARRETT COTE 
Northampton players celebrate after Willow Claps scores the game-winning goal during Tuesday’s soccer game between Belchertown and Blue Devils in Belchertown on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/GARRETT COTE 
Belchertown’s Adelina Gualberto fires a shot on goal during Tuesday’s soccer game between the Orioles and Northampton in Belchertown on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/GARRETT COTE 
Belchertown players celebrate after an Alexa Karabetsos goal during Tuesday’s soccer game between the Orioles and Northampton in Belchertown on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/GARRETT COTE 
Belchertown’s Aubrey McCain battles for the ball with Willow Claps during Tuesday’s soccer game between the Orioles and Blue Devils in Belchertown on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/GARRETT COTE 
Belchertown’s Morghan Litz takes a shot during Tuesday’s soccer game between the Orioles and Northampton in Belchertown on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/GARRETT COTE 
Northampton’s Willow Claps dribbles away from the Belchertown defense during Tuesday’s soccer game between the Orioles and Blue Devils in Belchertown on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/GARRETT COTE 
Northampton’s Zadie Silver works against Belchertown’s Madelyn Philpott during Tuesday’s soccer game between the Orioles and Blue Devils in Belchertown on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/GARRETT COTE 
Belchertown’s Aubrey Klingensmith (right) works against Northampton’s Zadie Silver during Tuesday’s soccer game between the Orioles and Blue Devils in Belchertown on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/GARRETT COTE
Granby 6, Drury 2 — The Rams’ offense looked in mid-season form despite it being game No. 1 of the year, as they ripped off a half dozen goals on Tuesday afternoon to pull away from the Blue Devils.
Kalli White netted a hat trick, Brenna Moreno scored twice and Margo Healy added a goal. Ellie Szlosek, McKenna Zumbruski, Healy, White and Moreno all had assists in the win while Meredith Bartosz made two saves in goal for Granby.
Boys soccer
Easthampton 4, Smith Academy 1 — Luc Tetreault scored a pair of goals for the Eagles, which opened their season with an impressive victory in Hatfield.
Muhammad Mannan and Brayden O’Connor also found the back of the net for Easthampton, and goalie Thomas Meehan turned away three shots.
Jacob Gingras scored the Falcons’ goal, with an assist from Oscar Higuera. Callan Payne recorded five saves for Smith.
Amherst 3, South Hadley 2 — Three different goal scorers for the ‘Canes helped them defeat the Tigers in a game that was tied at one at halftime. Fernando Aguila, David Texeira and David Nunez recorded tallies for Amherst while Aguila and Theo Almeida dished out assists.
Nolan Masse buried a pair of goals for South Hadley with Kaysen Gauthier and Brady Graham picking up helpers. Noah Carrillon put forth a valiant effort in the box with 12 saves for the Tigers.
Granby 1, Southwick 1 — Anthony Santiago found the equalizer from the penalty spot with just five minutes remaining in regulation, helping the Rams secure a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
Daniel Santiago stopped five shots in the Granby net.
Chicopee 2, Belchertown 1 — A night game on the road to start the Orioles season ended in a close defeat as goals from Griffen Wrisley and Evan Tyrell led the Pacers to victory on Tuesday.
Belchertown’s goal was scored by Alex Ryczek and assisted by Tim Haley. Luke Dudek was strong in goal with six saves for the Os.
Ware 4, Hopkins 1 — James Anderson scored and Ari Lewis recorded an assist but the Golden Hawks fell to Ware in their season opener on the road Tuesday night.
Matt Feltovic came up with five saves for Hopkins. Offensively, the Hawks had 13 shots on goal but couldn’t bury their opportunities.
Golf
Longmeadow 138, South Hadley 151 — The Tigers received a pair of stellar rounds of 37 from Luke Guiel and Ryan MacGregor while Ryley McMahon shot a personal best 38, but it still wasn’t enough as two Lancers (Cecily Henshon and Wes Paine) each fired flawless 4-under rounds of 32 to clip South Hadley.
“A ton of good golf was played today,” Tigers head coach Jason Bourque said. “We tip our caps to Longmeadow, who played incredible. I am very happy with the improvement our team is showing and this will only motivate us.”
Belchertown 159, Frontier 161 — Michael Murray carded a 1-under 34 to help the Orioles hold off the Redhawks in a battle of expected powerhouses on Tuesday at Cherry Hill Golf Course.
Brady Wood led Frontier with an even-par 35. Belchertown’s Joey Minnon (45) and Frontier’s Jacob Tomlinson (48) played well in their first varsity matches.
Easthampton 172, Chicopee 242 — Jacob Murrett led a balanced Eagles’ side with a low round of 42 to propel Easthampton on Tuesday.
Kaden Cormier (43), Aiden Subocz (43) and Angelo Torchia (44) also scored for Easthampton in the decisive win.
Westfield 160, Northampton 186 — The Blue Devils fell to 0-3 this season with their loss at Northampton Country Club on Tuesday.
Field hockey
Longmeadow 3, Frontier 2 — Macy DeMaio and Ashlie Galenski each found the back of the net for the Redhawks, but host Longmeadow prevailed in a battle of WMass heavyweights during season-opening action in Longmeadow on Tuesday.
Haly Doucette-Kaplan notched both assists for Frontier, and goalkeeper Brooke Charest made six saves.
Hampshire 2, Northampton 0 — Lily Connor netted both Raiders’ goals, and Hampshire opened its 2025 season in fine fashion with a 2-0 shutout victory.
Raeghan Koske (5 saves) and Grace Layman combined to pitch a shutout for Hampshire in net. Holly Kowalczyk and Madeline Desilets assisted on the team’s tallies.
Northampton goalie Charlotte Johnson-Mersack made 11 saves.
Girls volleyball
Central 3, Easthampton 2 — The Eagles fell behind 1-0 and again 2-1, but battled back in both the second and fourth sets to force a deciding fifth — however they couldn’t pull it out as they dropped their season opener on Tuesday.
Set scores were 25-20, 21-25, 25-13, 15-25, 15-6.
Kathryn Koval (four), Camilla Costello (three) and Sophia Belfakih (three) each put down at least three kills, Brooke Skowron dished out eight assists and had three aces while Summer Routhier recorded three digs and three aces of her own for Easthampton.
Chicopee Comp 3, South Hadley 1 — The Tigers won the first set on Tuesday, but the Colts responded by grabbing the next three in order to seal the come-from-behind victory in Chicopee.
Set scores were 12-25, 25-13, 25-14, 25-20.
Cross Country
Hampshire 15, Granby 50; Hampshire 15, Pioneer 50 (boys) — Owen Cubi picked up the win with a time of 18:28 while Oscar Schiff (18:40), Augustus Niswonger (19:59), Hobbes O’Sullivan (20:29) and Ben Zajac (20:34) rounded out the top five on Tuesday.
Colby Carlton (21:22) crossed the line first for Granby.
Hampshire 18, Granby 43; Hampshire 15, Pioneer 50 (girls) — Kathleen Barry blazed through the course to turn in the top time of 22:10 on Tuesday, and Raiders teammates Ada Corner (22:50) and Alex Henrichon (23:37) were behind her to finish in the top three.
Granby’s Grace Cooney finished in 23:54 while Hampshire’s Brooke Hockenberry (24:06), Addison Hill (24:29) and Charlotte Letendre (24:35) were other top finishers.
