A single first-half goal was all that was needed to decide a defensive battle between Hampshire Regional and Monument Mountain on Thursday night.

Dan Martin found the back of the net on a pass from Owen Miller to give the Raiders the lead for good, as the Raiders snagged a 1-0 victory in Great Barrington.

Hampshire goalie Liam Pond recorded five saves in a winning effort, including a terrific breakaway save to maintain the lead. The Raiders defense stymied the Spartans attack throughout the entirety of the contest.

Hampshire also doubled up Monument Mountain on corner kicks, 4-2.

Ludlow 2, Amherst 1 – Owen Candito scored the lone goal for the ‘Canes, but it wasn’t enough against Ludlow on Thursday in a battle of two expected heavyweights.

Girls volleyball

Easthampton 3, Lenox 0 – The Eagles won a tight first set en route to a sweep against Lenox (26-24, 25-13, 25-16). 

Kayley Downie was a star on defense, putting up a team best 22 digs, while setter Erin Teague posted 20 assists. 

Kaelin Damon threw down 14 kills and 11 digs and Addison Sigda had 12 digs and one ace. 

Southwick 3, Granby 0 – The Rams dropped their first volleyball match of the season in straight sets on Thursday.

Freshman Cailin Kibbie tallied eight aces for Granby, while senior Annabella Brown stuffed the stat sheet with six digs, four kills, three aces, and an assist. Freshman Audrey Pleisch added eight assists, two digs, two kills, and one ace in the losing effort.

Granby dropped the first set 25-9, but turned things around and came up just shy in the second, losing 26-24 before falling 25-17 in set three. 

Girls soccer

Northampton 8, Chicopee 0 – Olivia Busone continued her blazing start to the season, as she recorded a hat trick and an assist to pace the Blue Devils to their second win of the season. She now has five goals in two games.

Olivia Little also added two goals for Northampton (2-0). Five different Blue Devils tallied goals on Thursday.

Annalise Oravec (two) and Giselle Ohm (one) combined for three saves in goal in the win.

Field hockey

Northampton 4, Mahar 1 – Camilla Brewer netted a pair for the Blue Devils against Mahar for the team’s second consecutive win on Thursday night in Orange.

Emily Lippiello and Haly Doucette-Kaplan scored Northampton’s other goals and Rozlyn Kaufman and Talya Fishman had an assist each. 

Goaltenders Charlotte Johnson-Mersack and Lanaiya Rodriguez split time in net, making three and two saves, respectively. 

 Late Wednesday results

Girls soccer

Pope Francis 5, Hampshire 1 – Anna  Puttrick net ted the lone goal for the Raiders in the second half on Wednesday night.

Pope Francis led 3-0 at halftime. Emma Allyn assisted on Puttrick’s goal, and Makena  Rogalski made 12 saves in net.

Boys soccer

Frontier 6, Lenox 1 — The defending Western Mass. Class C champions kicked off their 2023 campaign in style, scoring three goals in each half to defeat the Millionaires, 6-1, in a Moriarty League contest in Lenox on Wednesday. 

Nico Fasulo tallied twice in the opening 23 minutes of the game while Rosco Palmer found the back of the net in the 16th minute. Aidan Valderrama scored in the 51st minute, Chanhee Son made a penalty kick five minutes later before Fasulo completed his hat trick in the 77th minute. 

Son dished three assists while Ian Paciorek and Gus Radner also tallied an assist for Frontier. Owen Babb and Jack Cusson each made a save in the win.

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