The Brattleboro boys' cross country team is starting to peak.
Earlier last week, the Colonel boys finished first in a four-team meet in Bennington, besting Rutland, Mount Anthony, and Burr & Burton. Against another strong field in the Pickering Invitational in Bellows Falls last Friday, the Colonel boys again finished second, this time to Woodstock.
In the Bennington meet, Isaac Freitas-Eagan came in third overall in 18 minutes, 22 seconds, while Jonah Koch was close behind in fourth in 18:42. Colin Costa-Walsh was eighth in 19:26, Josh Meachen was ninth in 29:28, and Tyler Clement came in 13th in 20:48 to round out the top five.
On the hilly BF course, Freitas-Eagan was fourth in 17:35, while Koch was seventh in 17:45. Costa-Walsh (14th in 18:38) just nipped Trevor Kipp (15th in 18:40) and Meachen (16th in 18:42) at the wire.
“The boys are starting to jell together as a team,” said Colonels coach John Dimick. “We got a half-dozen solid runners, and Isaac is really starting to look comfortable. By the end of the season, he'll be challenging the top Rutland and Woodstock runners.”
• The Brattleboro girls did almost as well against those three Marble Valley League rivals in the Bennington race, finishing second to Mount Anthony, but ahead of Burr & Burton and Rutland.
Dimick said the team's toughest opponent has a flu bug that has been sweeping BUHS and knocked several runners out of commission. At the Pickering, the Colonels barely had enough runners to qualify for a team score and finished third. Senior captain Catey Yost, who was out sick for the Bennington race, finished 10th overall last Friday.
“Catey stepped up today,” said Dimick. “That was almost a personal best.”
In the Bennington race, Liz Morse finished second overall in 22:34, while Sarah Gallagher was third in 22:48. Emilia Dick-Fiora was sixth in 22:39, Kata Blakeson came in 27th in 27:02 and Annie Takacs finished 33rd in 28:03.
• The BF boys' ran well on their home course. Cody Talent was sixth overall in 17:48, while Nic Potter was 19th in 19:36, Jackson Purdy was 22nd in 19:46, Cam Joy was 33rd in 21:21, and Matt Chapin was 48th in 24:01.
Boys' soccer
• When two teams are evenly matched, the difference between winning and losing often comes down to one ill-timed mistake.
In Brattleboro's case against Hartford on Sept. 16 at Tenney Field, it was a mis-cleared ball by the Colonels in the 77th minute that turned into an own goal and a 2-1 Hartford victory.
Hartford had the ball in front of the Colonels' goal and Brattleboro goalkeeper Brian McCarthy did what goalkeepers are supposed to do under pressure - deflect the ball away from the goal. He punched the ball away, but the ball caromed off a Brattleboro defender and went into the net.
“It was a crazy play and those things happen sometimes,” said Colonels coach Paul Sather. “This was a 50-50 game that could've gone either way. I thought we played pretty well. Can we play better? Absolutely.”
Sather also saw the game as an important learning experience for his team. “We still have a tendency to go up the middle of the field and push, push, push instead of playing with a little more composure and patience. We weren't using the whole field.”
Part of that, he said, is due to the nature of Tenney Field, which is narrower than a regulation field. A team such as Brattleboro that has speed on the flanks can have a harder time creating chances.
Brattleboro's only goal of the game came in the 16th minute on a penalty kick. Sam Ognenoff easily beat Hartford goalkeeper Jordan Allard with a low, hard shot to the right side of the net.
The Colonels looked as if they would make that goal stand up, but in the final seconds of the first half, Hartford got a corner kick and Mitchell Kelley knocked in the ball to tie the game with five seconds left.
Giving up a goal like that hurt, but to the Colonels' credit, they kept fighting on in the second half, but couldn't get a goal. Both teams had their chances, though. Hartford had a 20-19 edge in shots of goal, another indication of how close in talent these two teams are.
Brattleboro finished its week at 2-2. “We'll see Hartford again soon, and I think it will be a different game next time,” said Sather.
• Two long winning streaks came to an end in Wilmington on Sept. 17 when Leland & Gray defeated Twin Valley, 2-1.
The Rebels' victory snapped a 39-game winning streak for Twin Valley. The Wildcats' last loss had been in the 2012 state final against Proctor.
It also snapped a 28-game winning streak at Hayford Field. The last visiting team to win in Wilmington was Black River in the 2010 playoffs.
If any team was going to end the Twin Valley streaks, it was fitting that it was their longtime rivals that did the deed.
Leland & Gray struck first when Bryce Karg scored off an Owen McDonald pass in the eighth minute. Twin Valley tied the game two minutes later on an own goal by the Rebels.
The Rebels turned up the pressure in the second half and got the game-winner in the 59th minute. Karg scored again, this time with Clayton Sanderson setting him up.
Leland & Gray improved to 4-3 with the win, while Twin Valley is now 5-1.
Girls' soccer
• Brattleboro started its week with a 4-1 win over Leland & Gray in Townshend on Sept. 14. The teams played to a 1-1 tie in the first half, as Devin Millerick buried a header in the fourth minute for the Colonels, wbile Ashley Bates responded with the equalizer.
After that, it was all Colonels as Millerick, Morgan Derosia, and Bridget Duff all scored in the second half.
Colonels goalkeeper Megan Ayotte made seven saves in goal while Leland & Gray's Jordan Gouger made 22 stops.
On Sept. 16, the Colonels played the make-up game with Woodstock for a Sept. 9 contest that was stopped in the 38th minute due to thunderstorms and never completed.
The two teams had to start from scratch, and the result was a 3-1 win for the Wasps on Sawyer Field. Woodstock outshot the Colonels, 11-5, as senior midfielder Lauren Kaija had a goal and an assist. Alexa Tsouknakis and Anna Deiffenbach also scored.
Brattleboro's lone goal came late in the second half from Axis Balsley-Petraska, assisted by Emma Reuter. Ayotte made eight saves in goal.
Football
• Brattleboro evened its season record to 2-2 with a 51-20 blowout of winless South Burlington last Friday night.
The Colonels put together a tremendous running game, led by junior running back Cheick Diakite, who had a career night with 236 yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries. He scored on touchdown runs of 33, 10, 6, 40, and 11 yards against the host team. Diakite has 11 touchdowns on the season, and has established himself as the go-to guy for the Colonels' offense.
Fullback Kolton Ravenna ran for 45 yards and a touchdown for Brattleboro, which finished with 430 yards on the ground.
Quarterback Tony Martinez also had a great game on the ground as he picked up 135 yards and threw a 15-yard touchdown to Taylor King on the Colonels' first possession of the game. King also kicked a 33-yard field goal at the end of the first half as Brattleboro took a 31-14 lead at the break.
Halfback Colby Barrett led the Rebels with 91 yards on 11 carries and also threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Gruwell. South Burlington quarterback Thomas DeMag passed for 238 yards, ran for a score and threw a 58-yard TD to Nick Liscinsky.
South Burlington had plenty of chances to score, but most of their long drives were sabotaged by either penalties or dropped passes. The Colonels' defense gave up a lot of yards, but kept the Rebels out of the end zone on their opening drive with a fourth-down stop at their own 9-yard line. The Colonels then went 10 plays to strike for a touchdown, and the Colonels started rolling.
• Jahyde Bullard rushed for 187 yards and four touchdowns on 14 carries as visiting Bellows Falls crushed Mount Mansfield, 67-30, last Saturday.
Bullard also hauled in a Zac Streeter pass for a touchdown, while Logan Cota picked up 160 yards and a touchdown on six carries for the Terriers.
Streeter ran for 84 yards and Chris McKeen added 87 yards and a pair of rushing scores for Bellows Falls (4-0), which amassed 547 yards of offense on the ground for the game and led 46-8 at halftime.
Field hockey
• The 2014 season was a winless one for Brattleboro. This season, the Colonels will not duplicate that feat.
The victory drought ended Sept. 15 with a 3-1 win over Fair Haven at Tenney Field. Brattleboro outshot the Slaters, 7-3, and kept the pressure on the Fair Haven net through much of the game.
Laura Freeman got the first Colonel goal of the season midway through the first half, set up by Hannah Wilson. Fair Haven's Emmaline Lipka then got the equalizer with 8:23 left in the half.
Brattleboro broke the tie in the second half as Marly Lynch would assist on both goals. Lynch set up Olivia Reihl for the go-head goal with 23:07 remaining, and she later set up Freeman for an insurance goal that gave the Colonels a 3-1 lead with 8:49 left.
Colonels goalie Natalia Fortin made some key stops in the second half, when Fair Haven tried to seize control of the game.
PVA Hockey starts 40th season with picnic and sign-ups
• Pleasant Valley Hockey Association will hold its annual picnic and hockey sign ups on Sunday, Sept. 27, from 3-5 p.m., at the Vermont Academy ice rink located at 10 Long Walk Drive, Saxtons River. Hamburgers, hot dogs and soft drinks will be served.
PVA's ice hockey programs include a learn to skate/learn to play program, and house and travel teams for children ages 4-18 years old. Registration and information is available on their website at www.pvahockey.org. The season, the 40th for PVA hockey, begins in mid-November and runs through February.
Anyone new to hockey can try it for free on the USA Hockey National Try Hockey for Free event happening at Vermont Academy on Nov. 7. Free equipment is available to kids 8 and under who are new players and an equipment exchange box is available to any player looking to swap gear. For more information, email pvahockey@gmail.com.
BOC hosts final paddle trip of season
• Brattleboro Outing Club (BOC) hosts its final paddle trip of the summer season on Saturday, Sept. 26 on Somerset Reservoir. Join them for an all-day, fall foliage paddle trip that usually features rare sights such as loons and bald eagles, as well as migrating waterfowl and the occasional moose. Bring snacks, lunch, plenty of water, sun screen and whatever else makes a great paddle picnic with nature.
All BOC paddle trips are free and open to the public, however, you will have to provide the boat. Also, all BOC trips are suitable for family canoeing, kayak touring and stand-up paddleboarding. Life jackets are mandatory.
Meet at the Coffee House, in Wilmington at the junction of Routes 9 and 100, next to Tallulah's Antiques, across from the Flea Market, at 9 a.m. Paddlers can meet up at the “carry-in” parking lot at Somerset, around 9:45 a.m. For more information, call Larry at 802-254-3666.
Bellows Falls Rotary Paddle Battle hits the water
• Canoe and kayak paddlers will hit the waters Sunday, Sept. 27, for the seventh annual Bellows Falls Rotary Club Paddle Battle.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. at Herrick's Cove off Missing Link Road, with the race getting underway at 10 a.m. The fee is $20 per paddler and is free for under age 16.
The event features a 7.5 mile paddle out and back on the Connecticut River. Competitive racers will be classed by type of boat and gender, and there will be open classes for females and males. Trophies will be awarded for each class, with a cash prize of $50 for the winner in each class.
Club members will be dishing out hot dogs and hamburgers to spectators. Proceeds will benefit the Rotary Club's scholarship fund and community projects. Further information and registration can be found at www.ctrpaddlebattle.com.