H.S. Roundup: Ryley McMahon earns medalist honors, South Hadley golf cruises past Hopkins

SOUTH HADLEY — Last week, the South Hadley Golf team put together its three lowest team scores of the season, including two rounds shooting under 180, and still lost all three matches. On Monday, the Tigers broke 180 again, this time earning themselves their second win of the season, and first at their home course, Ledges Golf Club.

South Hadley broke a six match losing-streak with a comfortable 178-205 win over Hopkins Academy on a sunny afternoon.

“It’s always good to play well at home,” South Hadley head coach Jason Bourque said. “To see our improvement in each match has been great.”

Senior Ryley McMahon led all golfers with a 42. After the Tigers lost five seniors from last season, she vaulted up to the No. 1 slot on the tee sheet. Bourque has been impressed how the senior has stepped for the squad this year, watching her shoot under 40 three times already.

“I’m just here to have fun with my team and make the most out of it,” McMahon said. “I try to keep a level head and not worry about (pressure) too much.”

Though Monday she was still the best golfer on the course, she balances holding herself to a high-standard while also taking the time to enjoy her final season of high school golf.

“Today was a decent day, it definitely could have gone better,” she said. “We’re going to try and build on it and take the experience and make it into something. I’m trying to cherish these last few matches I have for my team.”

While McMahon has been performing at a high-level all season, the rest of the Tigers have slowly been seeing their scores improve. Richie Brown jumped from being the team’s eight-spot last season to the No. 3 option. Knowing he was going to be counted on to score for his team, he got to work over the summer and into the fall.

“I’ve gotten down about six strokes over the summer,” Brown said. “My coach has been a big help. He helped me improve all my short game and my chipping.”

Brown shot a season-low 43 on Monday. He credited several strong drives and a birdie on hole 17 to his best round of the year. He has gotten below a 50 in his last four matches.

Colin MacGregor and Mason Peters rounded out the scoring for the Tigers. After beginning the season with four rounds above 50, Monday marked MacGregor’s fifth straight round below the mark.

Peters tied his second-lowest score with a 47.

“We’ve put a lot of focus on putting,” Bourque said. “I think we’re starting to see those results. They’ve been helping each other practice and we’re seeing each other continue to get better.”

McMahon says she also has seen the newer players improve thanks to the coaching.

“They definitely focus on helping the younger guys and making sure they’re comfortable and introducing them to the sport,” she said. “I think our coaches are doing a great job.”

The loss is Hopkins’ fourth in a row, falling to 2-6. Jessica Waskiewicz and Jack Rathbun  were the two Golden Hawks who shot below 50 with a 48 and 49, respectively. With no seniors and several middle schoolers on the squad, coach Joe Whalen has preached patience to a group of golfers who have plenty of rounds ahead of them.

“The hardest part for younger golfers is to be patient,” Whalen said. “To not rush a shot, to take a pre-shot routine. We try to teach them ready golf, just to keep them moving. But that’s one of the tougher things to do, to keep them focused.”

Siddarth Parmar shot 53 while John Siano and Quinn Dufault tied for 55 for Hopkins.

South Hadley faces Pope Francis on Tuesday for the second time this season at home. The Tigers dropped the first matchup 150-177. Hopkins heads to Wyckoff Country Club on Tuesday to face Smith Voc.

Easthampton 170, Pathfinder 194 — Co-medalist honors from Tanner Kmetz and Jacob Murrett (41) paced the Eagles to their fifth win of the season at Cold Spring Country Club in Belchertown.

Angelo Torchia (43) and Brady McGinn-Stevens (45) factored into Easthampton’s team score too.

Field hockey

Belchertown 1, Smith Academy 1 — The Orioles and Falcons battled hard for a tie on Monday.

While senior Lila Roy only made two saves in the game, it was enough to record her 200th of her career. Kina Roy scored the lone goal for Belchertown, assisted by Gianna Zenon.

Bella Gavron scored off the assist from Shae Moulton for Smith Academy. Chloe Avery made 14 saves for the Falcons.

Hampshire 4, Palmer 1 — The Raiders earned their second straight win by beating Palmer.

Neely Rondeau scored twice for Hampshire while Bella Lafortune also had a multi-point game with a goal and an assist. Sunali Driver also scored for Hampshire and Ella Brunelle tallied an assist.

Grace Layman and Sarah Zajac combined for seven saves.

Boys soccer

Springfield Central 4, Easthampton 0 — The Eagles struggled to find the back of the net against Central at home, falling to 2-2 on the season. Lewin Coady made five saves for Easthampton.

Gateway 1, Drury 0 — Jacob Fernengal scored the game’s only goal to keep the Gators undefeated at 2-0-3.

Zack Hess picked up the shutout with three saves.

Girls soccer

Hopkins Academy 3, Palmer 0 — The Golden Hawks improved to 6-0 this fall after their second straight shutout win.

Ephie Vissas assisted on goals by Bridget Benoit and Avelynn Augustin. Bridget Benoit tallied an assist herself thanks to Daniela Valle Dardano’s first goal of the year.

Smith Voc 4, Ware 2 — The Vikings doubled up the Indians in Pioneer South action.

Julianis Suarez (two goals, assist) and Erin Miller (goal, assist) earned multiple points for Smith Voc while goalie Evelyn Wanczyk finished with one save.

Volleyball

Easthampton 3, Ware 2 — After nearly letting a 2-0 set lead slip away, the Eagles fought hard in the final set, winning 16-14, to beat Ware.

Kathryn Koval and Eliza Scott-Smith each had nine kills for Easthampton. Scott-Smith added 10 digs while Koval slammed a block.

Brooke Skowron contributed on offense and defense for the Eagles. Skowron led the team with 27 assists and five aces while also getting three digs. Summer Routhier also played an important role on defense with a team-high 18 digs.

Weekend Results

Girls soccer

Hopkins 6, Smith Academy 0 — The Golden Hawks soared past the Falcons on Saturday for their fifth straight win to open the season.

Ephie Vissas led the way with a goal and three assists while Olivia Earle (goal, two assists), Cassie Dion (two goals) and Abigail Lewis (goal, assist) pocketed multi-point games for Hopkins too.

Belchertown 1, West Springfield 0 — Morghan Litz broke the deadlock with a second-half strike to lift the Orioles past the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Belchertown goalie Ava Stelmokas made two saves for the shutout.

South Hadley 0, Northampton 0 — Neither goalie blinked in the scoreless draw on Friday.

Blue Devils goalie Anna Oravec turned aside all 10 shots she faced, while Tigers keeper Olivia Athas totaled eight saves.

Granby 7, Amherst 2 — The Rams tallied four second-half goals to runaway from the Hurricanes on Friday.

Margo Healy and Kalli White (four points) scored twice for Granby while Bri Anne Kraus dished out a pair of helpers.

Rams goalie Meredith Bartosz picked up career save No. 500 in the win.

Chelon Schwartz and Nora Hannah served as Amherst’s goalscorers.

Boys soccer

Hopkins 7, Smith Academy 0 — The Golden Hawks picked up their first win of the season in dominate fashion against the Falcons on Saturday.

Wyatt Soriano, Jason Campbell, Nate Rickles, Abouallah Safir and Matthew Feltovic netted goals for Hopkins. Smith Academy suffered two own-goals to make it seven total goals.

PVCICS 3, Mount Everett 2 — Kai Petit-Darling deposited the game-winning goal during the 79th minute to propel the Dragons to their first win of the season.

Aiden Kailola and Simon Speek also found the back of the net for PVCICS. Simon Doherty-Girard grabbed three saves in goal for the victors.

Smith Voc 2, Holyoke 2 — A pair of multi-goalscorers highlighted Friday’s Bi-County East draw.

Josh Cole scored twice for the Vikings while Henry Koziol secured both Purple Knights’ strikes.

Girls volleyball

South Hadley 3, Chicopee 0 — Grace Matyszewski recorded a team-high 19 digs and eight kills to power the Tigers to the shutout victory on Friday.

Tali Quinn posted the most blocks with 10 for South Hadley, which won by scores of 25-18, 25-20, 25-20.

Amherst 3, Baystate Academy 1 — The Hurricanes improved to 5-0 with the four-set victory on Friday.

Amherst nearly completed the sweep, but lost the third set in extra points. Set scores read 25-11, 25-16, 25-27, 25-11 in favor of the ‘Canes.

Belchertown 3, Putnam 2 — The Orioles claimed Friday’s back-and-forth battle, clawing back from a 2-1 set deficit.

Final set scores of came out to 19-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-15, 15-9.

Harper Bean and Cassidy MacLean combined for nearly 35 kills while Kaiya Cavanaugh (33 digs) and Olivia Skora (45 assists) played well for Belchertown.

East Longmeadow 3, Easthampton 0 — The Eagles couldn’t get on the board in the shutout to the Spartans on Friday.

Kathryn Koval’s eight kills served as a bright spot for Easthampton, which fell by scores of 15-25, 11-25, 12-25.

Field hockey

Belchertown 3, South Hadley 1 — Two points each from Kian Roy and Gianna Zenon launched the Orioles to their fourth win on Friday.

Kian Roy registered a goal and assist while Zenon had two helpers.

Belchertown goalie Lila Roy made 14 saves.

Nora Vaughn counted as the Tigers’ goalscorer.

Golf

Hampshire 154, Westfield Tech 187 — Three Raiders’ golfers broke 40 in the victory against the Tigers at Blandford Country Club on Friday.

Brayden Fennessy (36), Wes Adamski (38) and Kameron Locke (39) led the way for Hampshire, which moved to 8-2 overall.