St. Mary goalie Bryce Kibbe makes the save in between players from both teams yesterday at Jachym Field. (Photo by Chris Putz)
WESTFIELD – St. Mary’s goalie Bryce Kibbe stood on his head, or rather collected several balls off the heads, legs, and feet of Westfield Voc-Tech, and the Saints squeaked out a late second-half goal to defeat the Tigers 1-0 yesterday at Jachym Field.
Zack Slepchuk collected a Jeff Hockenberry cross pass in the 65th minute as Tigers’ goalie Vitaly Covilieac charged the play. Slepchuk tapped it well inside the post for the only goal of the game.
“The ball came right to me,” Slepchuk said of the pass, which deflected off a Voke player. “I was just trying to get a foot on it.”
Voc-Tech was the team having very little trouble getting a foot on the ball. The Tigers peppered Kibbe with more than a dozen shots, while the Saints managed just a few.
But the Saints’ goalie stood tall, thwarting every offensive surge that came his way.
“A hot, hot keeper can win a game,” Voc-Tech coach Kyle Dulude said of the opposing goaltender. “We had some good crosses and headers on redirects. But no matter whether it’s a Western Mass. tournament or league game, a goalie can win it.”
It was the first time this season that Voc-Tech (3-2) was shut out of a game.
‘We put the ball in the box, but we didn’t finish today,” the Tigers coach explained. “We lost our composure.”
About a minute before St. Mary’s scored the game-winner, Voc-Tech had one of several golden opportunities. Colin Fecteau launched a header toward the upper reaches of the net. But Kibbe corralled the ball for a save.
The Tigers outshot the Saints by a 3 to 1 ratio, but it was not enough to rattle the opposing goaltender.
“Bryce Kibbe made some excellent, excellent saves,” said St. Mary’s coach Andrew Martin. “Some edge-of-your-seat type saves. He’s a good keeper. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. I’d give him the MVP.”
It was the first win of the season for the Saints (1-2).
“It wasn’t pretty but we’ll take it,” Martin said. “It’s nice to get that first win under our belt than being 0-3 and pressing against Ware. There is a lot more positivity after today’s win.”
While Martin was ready to hand over the hardware for Player-of-the-Game honors to his starting goaltender, he said his stopper, Joe Lubanski, midfielder Mike Tassinari, and Brendan Gawron, in his first start at right fullback deserved a lot of credit for the victory too.
Smith Academy 2, Gateway 1
Gateway outshot Smith Academy 8-7, but fell short in the win column. Zack Mackechne scored in the 13th minute for the Gators.
Smith scored both goals in the second half. Gateway goalie Mike Arel finished with seven saves.
FIELD HOCKEY
Northampton 1, Westfield 0
Westfield goalie Karly Mastello collected 14 saves, and defenders Meaghan McClure, Sara Wailgum, Monica Browne, and Rachel Scalankiewicz delivered a solid game in defeat.
The Northampton Blue Devils outshot the Bombers 14-12.
JV FIELD HOCKEY
Westfield 2, Northampton 1
Westfield freshman forward Gabbi Lunardini scored off a strong assist from Mackenzie Millikan in the 21st minute, and freshman Jill Wroth netted her first goal of the season on a pass from Liz Marcyoniak.
Bombers goalie Jourdan Frisbee made five saves en route to the victory.
Westfield improved to 5-2.
BOYS’ CROSS COUNTRY
Southwick 25, Holyoke Catholic 33; Southwick 27, Frontier 28
Southwick’s Chris Roy finished second overall.
Westfield 21, Minnechaug 36; Westfield 19, Agawam 39
Westfield’s Tim Dostie won the race in 15:58, and teammate Blake Croteau was a close second (16:03).
Renaissance 33, West Springfield 43, Sci-Tech 57, St. Mary’s 93
West Springfield’s Liam Garvey won the race, and Renaissance had five runners finish in the top 10.
GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRY
Minnechaug 20, Westfield 42, Agawam 21, Westfield 40
Westfield junior Ally Morin set a new course record with a first-place finish of 19:46.
West Springfield 33, Renaissance 51, Sci-Tech 65, St. Mary’s 69
St. Mary’s Abbie Rix and Erin Dow, managed to crack the top 10 with sixth- and eighth-place finishes, respectively.
GOLF
St. Mary’s 15.5, Westfield Voc-Tech 8.5
Noah Parker shot a low of 39, and Zack Brown finished with a 37 to lead St. Mary’s. Voke’s Connor Hall shot a team-low 45.
West Springfield 271, Southwick 313
Jake Hough finished with a team-low 45 for Southwick at Springfield Country Club.
