NORTHAMPTON — The host Northampton field hockey team found itself in the mix with powerhouse Westfield on Thursday afternoon, trailing just 1-0 midway through the third quarter.

But unlike the Blue Devils, the Bombers capitalized on their chances in front of the goal mouth – putting home three unanswered goals over the next 20 minutes to pull away. Northampton fell 4-0 despite a valiant effort from junior goalie Charlotte Johnson-Mersack, who recorded 29 saves in goal.

Although the score looked one-sided, the game was evenly contested until the fourth quarter.

“It was a good matchup, and we played with intensity,” Blue Devils head coach Meshia Begin said. “We had a few injuries early, so we had to do a lot of shifting around and changing of positions early, but we bounced back as best we could. Our goalie had some amazing saves, but they just had better shots.”

Shea Hurley put home a pair of goals for the visitors while Britney Paredes and Audrey Leonard added the other two.

Northampton certainly had its opportunities to score, including a handful of corners in the second half that led to accurate shots on goal. But the shots couldn’t get past Westfield goalie Kelsey Blais.

Still, the improvement offensively was encouraging for Begin.

“We had some opportunities with corners toward the end of the game, and we were close to capitalizing on them, but they just didn’t go our way,” Begin said. “I’m really happy with what they did with their corners, because it’s getting better every game. We struggled the first couple games.”

In her first start for Northampton, Haly Doucette-Kaplan brought energy to the line up alongside Camilla Brewer. Jordan Sage played fantastic defense as did Jenna Talbot and Casey Barber, according to Begin.

“Haly had her first starting game, which she brings absolute fire and intensity when it comes to our offense – so our attack was much better today,” Begin said. “Defensively, we are getting more organized, and everyone’s strengths are coming out.”

Northampton (3-3-1) hosts Greenfield on Monday afternoon.

East Longmeadow 6, Smith Academy 0 — The Falcons held the defending western Mass. champs scoreless through the first quarter, but ultimately dropped to 4-3 with a loss.

Smith Academy goalie Madison Didonna-Renner made 21 saves.

Boys soccer

Amherst 2, Belchertown 2 – The visiting ‘Canes came back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to hold the Orioles to a draw in a Smith showdown. Joey Borelli and Ian McDonald scored for Belchertown, while Victor and Daniel Nunez Savaria scored for Amherst. Belchertown goalie Jack Mandeville made six saves and Amherst goalie Ronald Hernandez Duran made seven.

Girls soccer

Frontier 7, St. Mary’s 0 — The Red Hawks forced 20 saves on Thursday afternoon, and hat tricks from Carly Robertson and Skyler Steele led them to a win.

Maddie Fagan tallied a goal and two assists, Maggie Nichols recorded three assists and Jazzy Hayes and Payton Rup added one assist each. Goalie Aylen Shaw made a pair of saves.

Easthampton 5, Holyoke 0 – Samone Young scored twice and added an assist, and Arie Kuchyt and Liv O’Neill-Garvey also tallied on the scoresheet to give Easthampton its seventh win in eight games.

Girls volleyball

Frontier 3, Minnechaug 1 — The Redhawks fought back after dropping a closely contested second set to pull out a 25-21, 28-30, 25-22, 27-25 victory over the Falcons in Wilbraham Thursday. 

Abigail Hernandez tallied 18 kills, 17 digs and five aces, Bailey Martin recorded 11 kills, Parrish Stilla dished 33 assists and three aces while Arianna Miller put down six aces made seven digs in the win. 

Ludlow 3, Belchertown 2 – The Orioles went to three sets for the third match in a row, but fell to Ludlow, 25-27, 25-23, 25-18, 18-25, 5-15. Layla Liminski led Belchertown with 13 kills, followed by Melina David with 11 and Gianna Picardi with 10. Vivian Ross dished 34 assists.

Golf

Chicopee Comp 180, Amherst 186, Chicopee 234 – The ‘Canes split on Thursday, with Nate Ziomek (40) and Ben Scott (42) tallying the two lowest scores.

Hampshire 168, Belchertown 180 – Brayden Fennessy hit the low score Thursday, a 38 to push the Raiders to 10-2. Teammates Ashton Lashway (43), Colby Cabrini (43) and Riley Florek (44) also scored. Jared Haynes led Belchertown with a 43, followed by Michael Murray (44), Nathan Fink (46) and Brady Jolly (47).

Easthampton 178, Turners 203 – The Eagles turned in their best performance of the season, led by Amelia Gruber’s 40. Jacob Murrett (43) and Kadin Cormier (45) also scored.

Northampton 166, Ware 210 – Reilly Fowles won medalist honors yet again with a 37 at Cold Springs on Thursday afternoon. Jamie Fowler followed behind with a 41 and Jack Carpenter scored a 42.

Boys cross country

Hampshire 19, Gateway 36 – Hampshire’s Augustus Niswonger won Thursday’s 2.92-mile race at Hampshire Regional in 18:44 to lead the Raiders to a 7-0 start to the season. Hampshire runners Luke Pickard (third, 19:44), Ben Zajac (fourth, 20:10) and Adam Muller (fifth, 21:44) picked up top-10 finishes. Jacob Maynard (second, 19:05) led Gateway, followed by Steven Savoy (seventh, 22:49), Jeff Antonellis (eighth, 23:06), Otis Puffer (ninth, 23:18) and James von Deck (10th, 24:26).

Girls cross country

Hampshire 23, Gateway 33 – The Raiders girls kept their undefeated start (6-0) going as well, led by race winner Alex Henrichon (20:34). Gateway runners Anya Niles (22:27) and Ava Christie (23:39) took the other podium spots, but Hampshire runners Talia Craig (fourth, 24:10), Estella Steffenhagen (fifth, 24:15), Corinne Somes (sixth, 25:34), Lucy Skawski (25:59) picked up the next four spots. Gateway’s Laurel deMoss (eighth, 26:37) and Lily Peloquin (ninth, 26:44) and Hampshire’s Julia Caputo (10th, 26:55) rounded out the top-10.

Late Wednesday results

Boys soccer

Northampton 5, Holyoke 0 — Ryland Breen, Will Senn-McNally and Owen McLaughlin each had two points in the Blue Devils’ big win, tallying a goal and an assist apiece.

Jasper Cantor and Charlie Ames netted goals for Northampton while Sam Busone added an assist. Five different Blue Devils accounted for the five goals on Wednesday.

Pioneer Valley 3, Gateway 2 — Ivan Chepurenko netted both of the Gators’ goals, but they weren’t enough against the Panthers on Wednesday afternoon.

The game was tied at one at halftime before a pair of Pioneer goals were the difference. Theo-DeAngelis-Page had an assist for Gateway while goalie Zachary Hess stopped a dozen shots in goal.

Golf

South Hadley 169, Chicopee Comp 195 – Ryan MacGregor led South Hadley with a 39, followed by Matt Blaser (43) and Liam Yates (43).