-The surprise team of the fall sports season has been the Bellows Falls girls' soccer team. After so many lean seasons, the Terrier girls have come into their own in 2025.
With four games left in the regular season, BF has a 9-1 record and the No. 5 ranking in Division III. Their only loss this season came on Oct. 2 with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Mount St. Joseph.
The Terriers had a combined record of 6-40 in the previous three seasons, but they had steadily improved under coach Holly King. Despite having only 12 to 13 active players on the roster, BF is playing with confidence and cohesion.
There are only three seniors on the team - goalkeeper Natalie Douglass and midfielders Maisie Ferenc and Gwen Guild. Sophomore Gracie Patterson and junior Abby Nystrom have provided the scoring punch, and King has masterfully used her players all over the field to get contributions from everyone.
All these things were in play on Oct. 4, as the Terriers were at Hayford Field in Wilmington to take on a much-improved Twin Valley team. The Terriers rallied to win, 5-4, in an exciting and evenly-matched game.
BF got its first goal after what could've been a disastrous setback for the Terriers. Midway through the first half, Douglass was hit in the face by a Twin Valley defender and left the game with a bloody nose. Nystrom had to take over as the emergency goalkeeper. She stopped the only shot she faced and Patterson scored a short time later.
The Wildcats tied the game with 3:22 left in the half on a blast into the left corner of the net by Yolyanis Reyes. The teams then traded goals in the first three minutes of the second half as Twin Valley ninth-grader Joslyn Codogni and Nystrom both scored.
Nystrom then scored on a penalty kick and Patterson gave BF a two-goal lead with a blast from the wing with 13:11 to play. The Wildcats rallied when sophomore Scarlett Cimino converted a penalty kick with 12:45 to go and then tied the game with another Cimino goal two minutes later.
With overtime looming, the Terriers then got what proved to be the game winner as Nystrom lofted a 30-foot shot that eluded the grasp of Twin Valley goalkeeper Kate Oyer with 6:27 to play.
"I have not seen such a full-team effort like this one all season," said King. "That was awesome."
With the loss, Twin Valley fell to 3-6 on the season.
Terriers get revenge with 52-27 win over Slaters
• Last season, the Fair Haven Slaters knocked out Bellows Falls in the Division II playoffs. The Terriers moved down to Division III, but Fair Haven was one of the Division II rivals they kept on the 2025 schedule and BF got a chance to get some payback against the defending champs.
After a wild first half that saw the Slaters take a 27-22 lead, the Terriers scored 30 unanswered points in the second half to win 52-27 on Oct. 3 at Hadley Field in one of the most action-packed games of the season.
While both teams had more than 300 yards of offense in the first half, Fair Haven had the upper hand. Against the toughest team they have faced this season, it was the first time that the Terriers defense had allowed any points in the first half.
"We were playing soft and you can't do that against a team like Fair Haven," said BF head coach Bob Lockerby. "This game was a gut check for the guys. They needed more intensity."
The Terriers found that intensity and proceeded to show why they are one of the top teams in the state with an explosive third quarter. After stopping the Slaters on their first possession of the second half, BF got the ball and sophomore sensation Jaden Bazin ran 70 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the drive.
On the ensuing kickoff, BF lineman Tim Fletcher raced downfield and ripped the ball out of the hands of the Slaters' kick returner. Fletcher recovered the fumble and Bazin turned it into another touchdown run, this time from 15 yards out.
Bazin was getting great run blocking all night from fullback Stefan James and linemen Brock Lovell and Rylan Ernst, and Lockerby - knowing it was working - kept running the ball to the right side and letting Bazin do his thing. After another defensive stop, Bazin again got the call and ran 53 yards for his third touchdown of the third quarter.
BF now had a 46-27 lead with 4:21 left in the third and the Slaters were staggering. They were unable to generate any offense the rest of the way and the Terriers capped off the scoring with a 5-yard TD run by Patrick Connors in the fourth quarter.
Bazin finished with 23 carries for 305 yards and five touchdowns, while Connors had 18 carries for 211 yards, plus a 15-yard reception, for two touchdowns. They also had one interception each on defense.
"It was great for us to face adversity," said Lockerby. The lessons learned by the 5-0 Terriers will be applied again this week as they take on another Division II foe this Saturday. BF will make the trip north to Lyndonville for a 1 p.m. game against Lyndon Institute.
Bulldogs bite Bears, 49-6
• Brattleboro, still searching for its first win, made a slew of changes in its offense when they faced the Burr & Burton Bulldogs on Oct. 4 in Manchester, but the result was the same as the Bears lost, 49-6.
Sophomore Logan Casey made his first varsity start at quarterback in the afternoon match-up, replacing three-year starter Sean Cozza. Casey started slow but settled in as the game progressed, finishing with a team season-high 181 passing yards. He completed 52% of his passes and added 13 rushing yards.
While Cozza lost the starting quarterback job to Casey, the senior remained involved on offense in a big way. Making his first varsity appearance at wide receiver, Cozza broke out with nine receptions for 134 yards. Senior John Harrison, the Bears' leading receiver on the season, remained involved with 4 receptions for 47 yards.
The Bears' lone score of the day came courtesy of Cozza in the third quarter, with the newly-minted receiver beating his defender on an out-and-up route and Casey finding him alone in the end zone.
Unfortunately, the outcome was not in doubt at that point, as the Bulldogs led 42-0 at halftime. Quarterback Samuel Dowd threw for three touchdowns and backup QB Sam Bury threw for another touchdown. Samuel Gilliam, Blaine Niquette and Caleb Perry all had a receiving touchdown. Junior captain Owen Cassan scored twice on the ground, finishing with 79 yards in one half of play.
Against the Bulldogs' reserves, the Bears defense recovered a pair of fumbles and held Burr & Burton to one touchdown in the second half. In his return from concussion protocol, junior Kymarion Hall wrestled the ball away from a BBA receiver on a deep pass attempt to the end zone, securing the ball for Brattleboro's second interception of the season.
Brattleboro (0-5) will host Rutland (4-1) for its homecoming game this Friday night at 7 at Natowich Field.
Boys' soccer
• Anyone who says there's nothing more boring than a 0-0 soccer match should have been in Townshend on Oct. 1, as Leland & Gray and Springfield gave fans 100 minutes of intensity before the teams finished in a scoreless tie.
Both goalkeepers - Leland & Gray sophomore Frank Flood and Springfield senior Nicolas Wiese - were outstanding, but it was Flood who was tested early and often and singlehandedly kept the Rebels in the game. Flood finished with 16 saves.
"Time and time again, he keeps showing up and proving himself," Rebels coach Beth Wells said of Flood, who got defensive help from senior Ryder Butynski in the backfield, and juniors Lucas Gleason and Spencer Claussen and senior Ethan Clark in the midfield.
"Ryder has really taken command of the team on defense," said Wells. "They didn't give up and just kept fighting and [got] the result that they wanted."
The Rebels' offense had trouble putting together quality scoring chances for most of the game, which made Flood's performance even more important.
With a 4-1 loss to Proctor on Sept. 29 and a 4-1 loss to Arlington on Oct. 3, the Rebels ended the week at 3-5-1.
• Twin Valley improved to 10-0 with a 3-0 shutout of the Green Mountain Grizzlies on Oct. 1 in Chester.
Alex Sullivan scored in the first half, and Brayden Brown scored a pair of second half goals. Niko Gerding, Tucker Magnant, and Landon Brown all had an assist. Kaelyn Lackey had three saves in goal for the Wildcats.
• Brattleboro is in a slump with a pair of losses. The Bears lost 3-1 to Rutland on Sept. 30 and were defeated by Frontier Regional, 1-0, on Oct. 3 to fall to 5-5 on the season.
Girls' soccer
• Brattleboro is now picking up steam with two more wins last week to run their unbeaten streak to seven games.
On Sept. 29 in Bennington against Mount Anthony, Reese Croutworst scored three first-half goals as the Bears beat the Patriots, 4-1. Naima Harris made three saves in goal, with the Patriots' lone tally coming in the second half from Haleigh Thompson. Brattleboro's Leanna Rago-Marker scored with two minutes left in the game. At home on Oct. 3 against Fair Haven, the Bears won, 5-3, to improve to 8-2.
• Leland & Gray picked up its first win of the season with a 3-0 shutout of the Green Mountain Grizzlies on Oct. 4 in Townshend.
Field hockey
• Bellows Falls clobbered winless Rutland, 9-0, on Oct. 2 in Westminster, and shut out Hartford, 2-0, on Oct. 3 to finish their week at 8-1-1.
• Brattleboro had their fifth 1-0 loss of the season on Sept. 30, this time against Burr & Burton. The 1-9 Bears have played decent defense, but have scored just two goals this season, both of them coming in their 2-0 win over Rutland on Sept. 20.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 5 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Oct. 2 saw first place Ricochet (18-7) have a 1-4 week, while Slo Movers (17-8) went 4-1 to move into second place. 3 Plus One (15-10) also went 1-4 to fall into third place, followed by Stayin' Alive (14-11), Strike Away (13-12), Pinocent Bystanders, SOS, and Wayne's World (all 11-14), Strikers (9-16), and Lucky 7 (6-19).
Nancy Dalzell had the women's high handicap game (223) and Darlene Latabuche had the high handicap series (423), while Ian Diamondstone had the men's high handicap game (238) and Robert Rigby had the high handicap series (603). Strike Away had the high team handicap game (864) and SOS had the high handicap series (2,548).
Rigby had the men's high scratch series (603) with games of 237 and 212, while Peter Deyo had a 602 series with games of 206, 202, and 194. Kevin Napaver had a 589 series with games of 211 and 191, and Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 579 series with games of 202 and 197. Milt Sherman had a 533 series with a 190 game, and Gary Montgomery had a 505 series with a 190 game.
Pam Greenblott again had the women's high scratch series (426), while Shirley Aiken had the high scratch game (160). Dalzell had a 159 game 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 news@commonsnews.org. Thaddeus Sawyer of WTSA Radio contributed to this report.
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.