BELCHERTOWN — Still deadlocked 0-0 at halftime against No. 3 Hampshire, the second-seeded Belchertown girls soccer team was feeling a little bit on edge Friday night. Despite coming into the contest as the defending Western Mass. champs, the Orioles were struggling in a physical contest with finding their rhythm.
“The first half we weren’t playing our game,” Belchertown’s Brianna Ribeiro said. “Then at halftime we really just turned around and we really played our game in the second half and that’s how we got our goals. We played as a team.”
Ribeiro scored both of the Orioles’ goals less than three minutes apart at the midway point of the second half to propel the Orioles back to the Class B final.
“It’s great, because we’re repeating from last year, so it feels great because I think we can repeat again,” Ribeiro said.
Belchertown doesn’t yet know whether it will play No. 1 South Hadley or No. 5 Wahconah, but the team would be excited to see rival South Hadley in the finals, a mirror image from last year’s title-tilt. The two teams faced off in their first game of the regular season, a riveting match that saw the Tigers snatch a 3-2 victory in a playoff-like environment.
“We played them beginning of the season, so to see them at the end of our season before state tournament I think would be kind of cool and see how everyone’s progressed,” Belchertown head coach Kyle Thibault said. “That rivalry between us is there now… so it would be a fun atmosphere again.”
Class B semis
Belchertown 2, Hampshire 1 (OT) – Kaden Houle was the hero Belchertown needed on Friday, scoring the overtime winner to propel the No. 1 seed past No. 4 Hampshire and into the Class B final.
The Orioles will play either No. 2 South Hadley or No. 3 Chicopee Comp, which tangle on Saturday night in the other WMass semifinal.
Jack Holt scored the Orioles’ goal in regulation, and Nick Adzima and Chris Rivers each picked up an assist. Belchertown goalies Jack Mandeville and Matthew Devoto made one stop each for the win.
Aidan Moynahan scored for Hampshire and Brendan Stevenson tallied an assist in the loss. Raiders goalie Liam Pond made eight stops in the loss.
Class A semis
Amherst 3, West Springfield 1 – The No. 2 Hurricanes bested No. 3 West Springfield on Friday in the Western Mass. Class A semifinal, earning a four-set win (25-15, 25-15, 24-26, 25-15).
Amalia Martin led her team with 14 kills and 22 assists and also added nine digs. Annabel Ogden had 16 assists and seven digs, Audrey Bowen had 10 kills, and Ruby Austin finished with four aces.
The Hurricanes will play No. 1 Longmeadow in the Class A final on Sunday at West Springfield High School (2 p.m.).
Class B semis
Belchertown 3, Wahconah 2 — The underdog Orioles continued their Western Mass. Cinderella story on Friday, earning a five-set win over No. 1 Wahconah (25-14, 25-23, 22-25, 7-25, 15-10).
No. 5 Belchertown will face No. 3 Paulo Freire, who won the Div. 5 state title last year, on Sunday at Chicopee Comp (2 p.m.).
Katie Collins led Belchertown with 23 digs and setter Vivian Ross tossed up 23 assists. Christina Santiago and Paige Magner had seven kills each. Ava Shea led the team with nine kills and four aces and Gianna Picardi added three aces in the win.
Class C semis
Frontier 3, Southwick 0 — A dominant effort lifted the top-seeded Redhawks into the Class C championship game, where they’ll go for a 17th consecutive sectional title on Sunday.
Frontier swept No. 4 Southwick, 25-8, 25-20, 25-11, in the semifinal round on Friday night at Goodnow Gymnasium, setting up a title-game matchup with No. 2 Easthampton. That tilt is set for noon at Chicopee Comp.
Frontier (19-1) received a team-high seven kills from Eve Dougan, while Caroline Deane followed with five kills and Abi Hernandez and Kate DeMaio each put down three kills in the victory. Seventeen different players saw time in the semifinal win.
Allie Pierce (11 assists) and Sydney Scanlon (10) both posted double-digit passing efforts, while Frontier registered 24 aces as a team. Sam Baker (6 aces), Deane (5) and Dougan (5) were the top performers from the service line.
Girls soccer
Easthampton 5, Chicopee 1 — A hat trick from Maria Belfakih propelled the Eagles past Chicopee on Friday.
Ana Growhoski tallied the other two goals for Easthampton, which led 3-1 at halftime. Abby McClaflin assisted on three goals while Des Redfern and Eva Romero also had helpers. Goalie Addie Barr made six saves.
Lee 2, Gateway 1 — Anna Sakaske scored Gateway’s goal and Kaitlyn Maynard picked up in assist in a loss to Lee on Friday. Gators goalie Jayliana Rivera made nine stops in the loss.
Boys soccer
Amherst 1, West Springfield 0 — The Hurricanes shut out West Springfield on Friday, with Patrick Staudenmayer finding the scoreboard.
Northampton 1, Minnechaug 0 – William Lobley scored Northampton’s goal and Warner Rodriguez tallied the assist in a shutout win over Minnechaug.
Blue Devils keepers Koa Klose and Sky Allen-Bresnyak made four and six saves, respectively.
Girls volleyball
Holyoke 3, Chicopee Comp 1 – After dropping the first set, Holyoke rattled off three straight wins to earn a victory over Chicopee Comp (18-25, 25-15, 25-16, 25-22).
Rhina Cortez Rodriguez posted 13 kills and and Erin Gauthier had 23 digs and 13 aces in the win. Gissel Santos Ruiz and Aliesha Cotto had 10 and nine assists, respectively.