BELCHERTOWN – Since taking over goalkeeper duties in the playoffs during her sophomore year, senior Lila Roy has gotten little time in the offensive zone for the Belchertown field hockey team. On Tuesday, head coach Dina Brunetti gave her an opportunity at forward for the first time this season during the second half against Northampton.
With the Orioles up 2-0 in the fourth quarter, Lila Roy put her name on the stat-sheet thanks to some help from her sibling.
Lila Roy’s younger sister Kina Roy, a junior, slapped an elevated shot from the outer circle toward the net. Standing in front of the goalie, Lila Roy redirected the shot for the goal. It was the senior’s first goal of the season, and first connection on offense for the two sisters.
“(Kina) is always saying to stop the ball and swing at it,” Lila Roy said. “But my stick was already up in the air so I kind of just pushed it and it went in.”
Despite a slow start, Belchertown won 3-0 for its third straight win to open the season. After scoring six goals in back-to-back games, the Orioles had their hands full trying to break through the Blue Devils’ defense.
“Northampton played lights out defense on us,” Brunetti said. “We have to work on some of our shots. We got to work on lifting the ball into the net, not shooting into pads.”
It wasn’t until midway through the second quarter on a corner that Belchertown got on the scoreboard. Senior Gianna Zenon received the ball and took a shot from the right side of the circle. After Northampton goalie Abby Xu kicked the shot away, junior Madeline Williams corralled the rebound and got a quick shot off to take the lead.
Despite taking eight shots on net in the quarter, the one goal was all Belchertown could muster. The team also converted on just one out of eight corners in the half.
“We kept waiting until we got far in the circle,” Brunetti said. “I said, ‘I don’t care. The minute you break that plane, we got to start shooting. Let’s get deflection shots rather than these little choppy shots where we’re all in front of the net.’”
More than four minutes into the third, the Orioles finished on another corner. This time it was junior Julia Rainaud who found the ball right in front of the net after a deep shot from senior Addi DiBona.
“We talked about not pulling back and taking big swings,” Lila Roy said. “And just keep our stick in front and try to flick the ball over and lift it up.”
While Northampton was still looking for its first goal of the season, head coach Meshia Begin was impressed with her team’s defense. After giving up nine goals in two games to the Orioles last season, the Blue Devils held them to half their season average.
Xu stopped 19 shots in addition to multiple stops by Blue Devil defenders guarding the net.
“All of our defenders contributed as a unit,” Begin said. “They constantly added pressure right back on the attackers. Our midfield defense, being a first to add pressure, helped keep up that pace of what we do all the way up the field.”
Belchertown looks to keep its win streak going on Wednesday when it hosts Smith Academy. Northampton heads to Palmer on Thursday.
Northhampton field hockey goalie Abby Xu makes a save during the first half of the game against Belchertown on Tuesday. RYAN AMES/Staff Photo 
Belchertown’s Kina Roy, right, controls the ball during the first half of the field hockey game against Northampton on Tuesday. RYAN AMES/Staff Photo 
Northampton’s Amber LaClair, right, dribbles the ball during the first half of the field hockey game against Belchertown on Tuesday. RYAN AMES/Staff Photo
Boys soccer
SICS 4, Smith Academy 0 — The Falcons fell for the third straight game in the shutout against the Bulldogs.
Smith Academy goalie Callan Payne registered 13 saves.
Taconic 1, Easthampton 0 — The Eagles failed to find the back of the net in the shutout loss to the Thunder, their first defeat of the season.
Girls soccer
South Hadley 9, Chicopee Comp 0 — Hannah Haeseart’s hat trick fueled the Tigers past the Colts in their home victory.
Mikayla Weaver, Kelcey Zraunig, Regan Masse, Adalyn Weaver, Olivia Athas and Cadee Killian also scored for South Hadley.
Northampton 3, Ludlow 2 — Two goals from Willow Claps pushed the Blue Devils to 3-0 overall.
Lilah Sage also scored for Northampton, while goalie Anna Oravec made seven saves.
Hampshire 3, Southwick 2 — Three different goalscorers sent the Raiders to their second straight win.
Shayne Moynahan, Addie Miklasiewicz and Morgan Lawler found twine for Hampshire, while Karaghan Rogalski registered six saves as its goalkeeper.
Girls volleyball
Easthampton 3, Chicopee 0 — The Eagles made easy work of the Pacers en route to its second win of the season.
Brooke Skowron secured 11 assists and eight aces, while Summer Routhier recorded eight digs.
Set scores favored Easthampton with scores of 25-18, 25-15, 25-15.
Smith Voc 3, Sci-Tech 0 — The Vikings picked up their first win of the season in the sweep against the Cybercats.
Set scores read 25-10, 25-17 and 26-24.
Ainsley Chrzanowski totaled three aces 10 assists, five digs and two kills while Irelyn Marcoux had two aces, three assists, eight digs and 10 kills for Smith Voc.
Golf
Frontier 164, Amherst 168 — The Redhawks clipped the Hurricanes at Cherry Hill Golf Course in Tuesday’s competitive match.
Frontier’s Jamie McCarthy eared medalist honors with a four-over par 39.
Amherst was led by Graham Van Geissen’s 41, with Callum Bohne (42), Sawyer Ferro (42) and Gavin Duncan (43) filling out the Hurricanes’ scorers.
Easthampton 153, Chicopee 243 — The Eagles were no match for the Pacers at Wyckoff Country Club, easily earning win No. 4 on the season.
Tanner Kmetz fired a one-under par 33 to pace Easthampton, while Amelia Gruber (39), Brady McGinn-Stevens (40) and Jacob Murrett (41) posted good rounds.
Westfield 155, South Hadley 181 — Ryley McMahon shot a three-over par 39, but the Tigers dropped to 0-4 on the season in the loss to the Bombers.
Hampshire 170, Chicopee Comp 186 — The Raiders have now won four of their last five following the victory over the Colts at Blandford Country Club.
Brayden Fennessy’s 39 was good enough for medalist honors, while Colby Cabrini carded a 43 as Hampshire’s next best finisher.
Boys cross country
Mahar 24, Smith Voc 31; Smith Voc 15, McCann 50 — Theo Wojcik took second place with a time of 22:16 as the Vikings split its meet on Tuesday.
Ezra Durrant-West also finished in the top-five with a fourth place finish at 24:57.
Benjamin Maclean (seventh, 27:39) and Fenno Salus (10th, 29:42) rounded out the top 10 for Smith Voc.
Hampshire Regional 17, Southwick 46; Hampshire Regional 22, PVCICS 37; PVCICS 19, Southwick 44 — Hampshire picked up two wins while PVCICS outran Southwick on Tuesday.
The Dragons’ Grafton Tolopko took first place (16:09) overall and beat the next runner by 40 seconds. He was followed by a trio of Raiders runners: Owen Kuni (second, 16:44), Hobbes O’Sullivan (third, 16:45), and Aiden Conklin (fourth, 17:17).
Ayden Klatte (seventh, 17:57) and Kristof Knyt (eighth, 18:04) added a pair of top 10 finishes for PVCICS.
Amherst 25, Ludlow 33 — The Hurricanes won a competitive race in its dual meet against Ludlow. Otis Fairey’s time of 18:08 led Amherst and earned him second place.
While Ludlow had three of the top four runners, Jeremiah Hayslip (18:32) and Alhassan Abdel-Maksoud (18:36) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Strike Barrett (eighth, 18:48) and Ian Burns (ninth, 19:15) helped ensure the Hurricanes came out on top.
Easthampton 20, Palmer 39; Easthampton 15, St. Mary’s 47 — Despite not having the individual winner, the Eagles put together a dominate performance at their tri-meet. Six of the top eight runners donned an Easthampton uniform.
William Jourdain’s time of 19:33 was the low time for the Eagles and good for second overall. Russell Grant (third, 20:56) and Asa Healey (fourth, 21:01) were the next two scorers for Amherst.
Finley Foster and Otto Koen finished within milliseconds of each other at 21:21 and grabbed fifth and sixth.
Belchertown 21, Greenfield 40 — The Orioles had eight runners finish in the top 10 in their race at Greenfield.
Asher Johnson-Jones ran 17:36 for second place and tops for Belchertown. Emmett Howard (third, 19:21) and Clan Lindsay (fourth, 19:50) both ran under 20 minutes.
Ryan Tomer (fifth 20:01) continued the string of Oriole runners and Sean Lindsay (seventh, 23:13) scored for the team.
Northampton 15, Minnechaug 49 — Henry Daggett missed out on breaking 17 minutes after running 17:00.01 on Tuesday. His win began a string of six straight Blue Devils runners to cross the finish line before a Minnechaug runner.
Northampton’s top five runners all ran under 18 minute times. Charlie Sidoti (second, 17:06.8) and Gus Frey (third, 17.18.4) rounded out the podium .
Shea O’Neil (fourth, 17:34.7) and Owen Daggett (fifth 17:37.9) posted scoring times for Northampton.
Girls cross country
Smith Voc 15, Mahar 50; Smith Voc 15, McCann 50 — The Smith Voc girls picked up two wins in their meet. Neither Mahar nor McCann had enough runners to qualify.
Keisha Johnson had the fastest time for the Vikings, running at 37:14 and a fourth-place finish overall behind three McCann runners.
Amherst 15, Ludlow 50 — The Hurricanes won another meet in dominating fashion.
Ella Austin had the fast time for Amherst at 21:28 with Anoushka Sen finishing right behind (21:29).
Quynh Ly (21:39), Maeve Cunningham (21:48), Genevieve Dole (21:57) all posted sub-22:00 times for Amherst.
Hampshire Regional 15, Southwick 50; Hampshire Regional 19, PVCICS 40; PVCICS 18, Southwick 37— The Dragons picked up a win over Southwick while the Raiders swept the tri-meet.
Kathleen Barry (first, 19:02), Brooke Hockenberry (second, 19:20) and Ada Corner (third, 19:41) were the top overall finishers at the race.
Astrid Knyt (fourth, 20:40) and Eunice Lo (fifth, 20:48) were the top two runners for PVCICS to round out the top five overall. Ellery Maier was the third Dragon in the top 10 (eighth, 21:45).
Gateway 15, Granby 50; Gateway 25, Westfield Tech 34; Westfield Tech 15, Granby 50 — The Gators won a close one over Westfield Tech and beat Granby to add two wins on the year.
Gateway’s top five runners finished in the top 10. Anya Niles led the team at 23:33 and a second place finish. Ava Christie got fifth with a time of 25:53 while Charlotte Hansen took sixth at 26:07.
Granby also got strong runs out of its top three runners. Addie Hill took third place (24:42), plus Rowen Cook (seventh, 26:56) and Fiona McNutt (tenth, 28:56) both had strong runs.
Easthampton 15, Palmer 50; Easthampton 15, St. Mary’s 50 — The Eagles took the top seven places to grab two wins on Tuesday.
Amelia Dodge (first, 22:42) and Gwen Banz (second, 22:55) broke 23 minutes in the race.
Sabine Ritchie (third, 24:37), Lily Malloy (fourth, 25:26), and Fern Stauffer (fifth, 25:51) all placed for Easthampton.
Belchertown 20, Greenfield 43 — After Greenfield’s Lauran Healy won the race, eight consecutive Belchertown runners cross the finish line to win the team competition.
Kylie Fitzgerald (second, 24:49) set the pace for the Orioles while Serena Jones (third, 25:16) joined her in the sub-26:00 club.
Margret Wheeler (fourth, 26:26), Mary Rose Johnson-Jones (fifth, 26:37) and Sami Deren (sixth, 26:45) all placed for Belchertown.
Northampton 22, Minnechaug 33 — It was a close race, but the Blue Devils’ top five runners did enough to take down the Minnechaug.
Maired O’Neil won the race by over a minute at 19:19.2. After Minnechaug nabbed second, Zea Meerbergen (third, 21:16.8) and Maya Zink (fourth 21:32.4) finished back-to-back to keep Northampton ahead.
Simona Lobdell Loveless (sixth, 22:37.5) and Miriam Poe (eighth, 23:54.9) broke up what would have been six consecutive Minnechaug runners.
