-Girls' soccer in Bellows Falls has always been overshadowed by its field hockey program, but the Terriers somehow manage to find ways to be competitive.
The Terriers showed some of that grit in a well-played game on Sept. 10 in Westminster as they rallied to beat a much-improved Twin Valley team in a tight 3-2 victory.
"They came back, played really well, and didn't give up and just kept doing what we've been practicing, which is get the ball out to someone's feet, cross it in and put it in the net," said Bellows Falls coach Holly King after the game.
Despite coming into the game shorthanded, Twin Valley took a 1-0 lead just 4:02 into the opening half. BF tied the game with 14:51 left in the half. The Terriers controlled play for long stretches and had some good scoring chances, but Twin Valley goalkeeper Alanna Bevilacqua made several tough saves as the half ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Wildcats retook the lead on a goal by Camryn Ammon just 1:33 into the second half, but BF's pressure on offense gradually wore down Twin Valley defense. BF's Abby Nystrom lofted in a shot just out of the reach of Bevilacqua to tie the game with 23:33 left, and about two minutes later, got the winning tally of an own goal by a Wildcat defender.
King said her team started out flat, but improved as the game went on. "I feel like the third goal was when they felt like 'Oh, we might win this' and they started actually playing their game," King said. "We were just moving and passing, moving and passing, and today that flatness went away as soon as they felt confident."
While the win over Twin Valley showed that the Terriers could defeat a team of comparable ability, the reality check came two days later under the lights of Natowich Field as the Brattleboro Bears rolled to a 6-0 win.
Fionna Toole scored three goals, Bri Brooks added two more, and Kylee Mager also scored as the Bears controlled play for most of the game and created plenty of scoring chances.
Toole got Brattleboro's first goal in the fourth minute, and scored again in the 13th minute. Brooks got her first goal in the 16th minute to give Bears a 3-0 lead at the end of the first half. Mager opened the scoring in the second half in the 48th minute, Brooks got her second goal in the 62nd minute, and Toole completed her hat trick with an unassisted tally in the 76th minute.
Bears goalkeeper Abby Henry needed to make just three saves to earn the shutout, and was able to play the last 20 minutes at forward as her understudy, Naima Harris, finished up the game. Natalie Douglass and Chelsea Stockwell divvied up the goalkeeping duties for BF. They had a combined total of 18 saves.
With a 6-3 win over Palmer, Massachusetts, on Sept. 14, the Bears are now 3-1 on the season. Bellows Falls finished the week with a 1-3 record.
Football
• Last season, the North Country Falcons knocked Bellows Falls out of the Division II playoffs with a 21-20 win. The Falcons went on to win the state title, but graduated 20 seniors off that championship team and is rebuilding itself. Meanwhile, the Terriers are reloaded and ready for another playoff run.
That contrast explains how the Terrriers rolled to a 40-8 win at Hadley Field on Sept. 13. BF dominated from start to finish with a punishing running attack that piled up 378 yards of rushing and a defense that forced several Falcons turnovers.
The tone was set by the Terriers on the first play of the game as freshman running back Jaden Bazin raced 65 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Tristan Boylan's point after kick gave BF a 7-0 lead. A 1-yard run by fullback Joshua Streeter made it 14-0 with 6:53 left in the firsT quarter, and a fumble recovery by Carson Clark set up another scoring drive capped off by 5-yard run by quarterback Eli Allbee for a 21-0 lead with 4:37 left in the quarter.
Another fumble recovery by Will Hallock thwarted a Falcons drive in the second quarter as the BF defense held North Country to just 23 rushing yards and 11 passing yards in the first half. Meanwhile, BF ran for 189 yards in the first two quarters.
It was more of the same in the third quarter as the Falcons were stopped on their first drive and the Terriers marched down the field for another touchdown, this time from fullback Patrick Connors from 1 yard out. Boylan missed the extra point, but BF had a 27-0 lead with 7:16 left in the third.
Hallock got his second fumble recovery of the night, which set up another long scoring drive late in the third quarter by the Terriers that ended with a 1-yard touchdown by Allbee on the first play of the fourth quarter. A missed extra point made it 33-0 Terriers.
North Country ended BF's shutout bid with a 33-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jacob Gregoire to Gage Beaumont with 7:38 left in the fourth quarter. Gregoire ran in the two-point conversion to make it 33-8.
BF closed out the game with one last scoring drive by the Terrier reserves, with fullback Stephen James running in a 4-yard touchdown with 2:08 left in the game.
Senior running back Carson Clark led the BF running attack with 113 yards on 17 carries. Connors ran for 71 yards, and Bazin and Allbee each ran for 67 yards in a classic demonstration of the Terriers ground-and-pound offense that has been their hallmark for decades. The 2-1 Terriers will go for their third straight victory on Sept. 21 when Mount Mansfield visits Hadley Field for a homecoming weekend matinee at 3 p.m.
• It was another rough night for the winless Brattleboro Bears on Sept. 13 as they got blown away by the Hartford Hurricanes, 41-14.
Hartford piled up a 41-0 lead by halftime as Nick Daniels ran for three touchdowns - 46, 19, and 6 yards, respectively. Austin St. Peter and Noah Danielli also had touchdown runs and defensive back Graham Thompson completed the first-half scoring with aN interception returned for a touchdown.
Brattleboro quarterback Sean Cozza threw a pair of touchdown passes in the second half to spoil the host's bid for a shutout win. Alex Papadimitriou had a 31-yard touchdown catch and Hudson Smith had a 22-yard TD catch.
The 0-3 Bears will try for their first win of the season when they host St. Johnsbury at Natowich Field this Friday at 7 p.m.
Boys' soccer
• Twin Valley is looking good right now as the Wildcats have dominated in their early season games. On Sept. 9 under the lights at Hayford Field in Wilmington, the Wildcats shut out Springfield, 3-0. Steven Oyer scored a pair of goals in the first half. The first came on a penalty kick, while the second was a header set up by a Brayden Brown corner kick. Another Brown corner kick early in the second half set up a goal by Chris Eckert.
The Wildcats then hosted Bellows Falls on Sept. 11, and the result was an 11-0 rout by the Wildcats. Twin Valley led 6-0 at the half as Oyer and Carson McHale had three goals each and Brown contributed two goals and two assists. Twin Valley finished the week with a 4-1 record.
• It took a pair of second half goals to give Brattleboro a 4-2 win over Mount Anthony in the opening game of the John James Tournament on Sept. 12 in Bennington.
The Bears snapped a 2-2 tie in the second half when freshman Jackson Patno scored with just 12 minutes left in regulation, and midfielder Teo Ogden got an insurance goal on a penalty kick two minutes later. Ogden also successfully converted a penalty kick in the first half and Eason DeMarsico also scored as the Bears took a 2-0 lead, only to see Mount Anthony tie the game on goals by Bonheur Shizo and Hunter Sherwin.
The Bears advanced into the tourney's championship game on Sept. 14 against the undefeated Burr & Burton Bulldogs. Brattleboro lost, 2-0, to end the week with a 2-2 record.
• Green Mountain got its first goal from Evan Kirdzik just 17 seconds into the game and never looked back as they rolled to a 7-1 victory over Leland & Gray on Sept. 11 in Chester.
Raz Buckland had two goals and Joa Gibson, Mason Parker, and Theo Schilling also scored. Tanner Swisher, who assisted on Kirdzik's goal, picked up three more assists and scored a goal of his own. The Rebels ended the week at 1-3.
• Mount St. Joseph scored three unanswered goals to break a 2-2 tie and defeat winless Bellows Falls, 5-2, on Sept. 13. BF finished a rough week with a 0-5 record.
Girls' soccer
• Leland & Gray played in the Green Mountain Invitational tournament under the lights at Dorsey Park in Ludlow on Sept. 13 and 14. In the opening game against Green Mountain, the Rebels played to a 2-2 tie. The following night, the Rebels lost to Otter Valley, 4-0, to finish the week with a 2-2-1 record.
Field hockey
• Bellows Falls stayed undefeated with a 6-0 win over Brattleboro on Sept. 13 at Sawyer Field. Earlier in the week, the Bears lost to Otter Valley, 2-1, on Sept. 11 at Sawyer Field. Brattleboro finished the week with a 1-4 record.
Asylum seeker, refugee, and immigrant community sports event set for Sept. 28
• The Root Social Justice Center's Asylum Seeker, Refugee, and Immigrant Community (ARC) Program presents its first community sports event on Saturday, Sept. 28, from 1 to 5:30 p.m., at Brattleboro Union High School.
Organizers said in a news release that this event is open to all members of the community "to come together for a day of cross-cultural sportspersonship and community building. Attendees can register to compete or simply show up to cheer on their neighbors in a variety of sports, including soccer, volleyball, running, cycling, and tug of war."
The ARC event, organizers said, "is a platform for moving beyond cultural bias in order to foster social cohesion. By bringing people together through sports - a universal language of camaraderie and teamwork - we are working toward building a shared sense of community. We invite everyone to join us in this celebration of our community's diverse cultures and experiences."
Register online at tinyurl.com/arcsportsevent. Participants are encouraged to register in advance for sports activities. Organizations and businesses are invited to register as a group or team. On-site registration will also be available on the day of the event. For more information about the event, contact Bibimba at [email protected] or call 802-416-1297.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 2 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Sept. 12 saw Team 4 (Lucky Strikes) and Team 5 (Slo Movers) tied for first at 9-1, followed by Team 6 (Candi Men) and Team 9 (Jerry's Team) at 6-4, Team 2 (Rick's Picks) at 5.5-4.5, Team 7 (Spare Change) at 5-5, Team 3 (Number 3) at 4-6, Team 1 (Wunderkind) at 3.5-6.5, Team 8 (Aging Teens) at 2-8, and Team 10 (Pin Heads) at 0-10.
Debbie Kolpa had the women's high handicap game (259) and series (705), while Duane Schillemat had the men's high handicap game (307) and series (816). Candi Men had the high team handicap game (890) and series (2,628).
Schillemat had the men's high scratch series (696) with games of 267, 227, and 202, while Robert Rigby had a 650 series with games of 239, 213, and 198. Mike Pavlovich had a 553 series with a 202 game, Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 540 series, John Walker had a 537 series with a 211 game, Gary Montgomery had a 525 series with a 192 game, and Peter Deyo had a 500 series with an 181 games. Eric Brown and Rick Westcott had games of 207 and 204, respectively.
Kolpa had the women's high scratch series (510) with games of 194 and 175. Nancy Dalzell had games of 170 and 160 game, Shirley Aiken had games of 159 and 156, and Diane Cooke rolled a 156.
Randolph T. Holhut, deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at [email protected].
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.