Southwick’s Sam Perusse (1) makes a move with the ball against Amherst. (Photo by Chris Putz)
AMHERST – All eyes for Southwick were on one Hurricane Thursday, and she was not named Matthew.
Amherst senior forward Sage DeChiara recorded a hat trick – scoring three goals – and the Amherst Hurricanes defeated the Southwick Rams in a girls’ soccer team Thursday.
“We couldn’t put the ball in the net,” Southwick coach Todd Downey said. “It wasn’t really anything they did, except for that one player, Sage … Defensively, it was a little bit uncharacteristic of us.”
Alex Mello put Southwick out front early with a goal in the fifth minute. Amherst surged ahead with three straight goals. Mello’s second goal pulled the Rams within one of a tie in the 55th minute. Five minutes later, Amherst reclaimed a two-goal lead. An own goal resulted in the final score of the game.
Hannah Garrish made eight saves in net for Southwick (5-3-2).
Saints fight back
Renaissance 4, St. Mary 0
St. Mary goalie Aisling Butler made 16 saves, and St. Mary’s Madie Donais turned away several Renaissance scoring opportunities.
It was an improved effort for St. Mary, which lost to Renaissance 10-1 in their first meeting of the season.
Tigers tie Eagles
Westfield Technical Academy 1, Franklin Tech 1
Westfield Tech’s Liliya Stepanchuk scored off a pass from Ilona Gladysh. Diana Solokhina made four saves for the Tigers.
BOYS’ SOCCER
Bombers knot Blue Devils
Westfield 2, Northampton 2
For the second straight game, an opponent swooped in for a game-tying goal in the waning minutes to tie Westfield.
“Having a team tie it up in the last 10 minutes of the game two games in a row is pretty gut-wrenching,” Westfield coach Andrew Joseph said after Northampton scored a game-tying goal late in regulation. The Gateway Gators tied the Bombers earlier this week with a late second-half goal.
Northampton scored the game’s first goal on a corner kick about 10 minutes in. Ryan Prenosil tied it four minutes later when he took a great combo feed from Aiden Dunn and Tyler Stanton. Stanton sent a nice cross to Prenosil.
Dante White scored off a nice individual effort from Sam Winiarski five minutes into the second half for a 2-1 lead.
“At that point, things were going really well for us,” Joseph said. “I think maybe because we scored so early in the second half, maybe we thought the game is over.”
Northampton took advantage of the brief letdown by Westfield in the closing minutes, mounting an offensive push to tie the game 2-all with 10 minutes remaining.
“It’s important against, just like against Gateway, that we bounce back and move on to the next one,” Joseph said. “That will be our challenge, and I’m sure our guys will do it.”
Gators post shut out
Gateway 4, Mohawk 0
Evan Lee scored two goals, Joel Sacaski recorded his first-ever varsity goal and assist, and Shane Mastello (3 saves) earned a shutout in net.
GOLF
Saints catch Tigers
St. Mary 18, Westfield Technical Academy 6
Luke Willenborg shot a match-best 7-over 42, and teammate Andrew Florek finished with a round of 43 in St. Mary’s win at Tekoa Country Club.
Rams knock out Cards
Southwick 22.5, Pope Francis 2.5
James Longhi shot a 35, and Jagger Turgeon (40), Matthew Garrity (42), Chris Molta (43), Bradley Durand (45), Chris Baker (45) each finished in the 40s as Southwick eliminated perennial challenger Pope Francis (formerly Cathedral) from the Western Mass. race at Edgewood Country Club.
Southwick improve to 12-2 overall, 9-0 league.
FIELD HOCKEY
Bombers net tie
Westfield 2, Greenfield 2
Olvia Chaoush and Hannah Jarvis each scored a goal for Westfield. Dian Shia had an assist.
Westfield goalie Gwen Smith finished with 21 saves.
JV GIRLS’ SOCCER
Amherst 3, Southwick 1
Freshman Maura Wurster tallied the lone Southwick goal. Sophomore Shea O’Neill assisted.
Southwick goalies Isabella Poules and Lauren Sussmann combined for 13 saves.
