-If you are a Vermont field hockey fan, you never want to miss a chance to see the Hartford Hurricanes take on the Bellows Falls Terriers. Year in and year out, these two teams with a long and proud tradition of success give fans games that are filled with drama and high tension.
Their first meeting of the year on Sept. 15 in Westminster was no exception. It took an overtime goal from Elyse Thurber to give the Terriers a 3-2 victory.
BF took a 1-0 lead when Avery Maxfield got an unassisted goal with 5:38 left in the first quarter, and doubled their lead with a one-timer from the top of the circle by Haven Harty that whistled into the cage to make it 2-0 with 12:28 left in the second quarter.
That lead would not last, however. Hartford was buzzing around the BF circle in the first quarter, but couldn’t covert on its scoring chances. That changed after the Harty goal as Amaya Argyros scored twice in the remainder of the quarter. The first goal was from close range with 11:21 left, and the equalizer came off a penalty corner with 2:36 remaining.
The second half saw the two teams battle to take control of the game as Hartford goalie Gracie Roberts, BF goalie Brook Parker, and the defenders in front of them were stout to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Johanna Kissell, McKenna Applegate, Maxfield, and Harty all had their chances at getting the game-winner, but Roberts turned away their shots as BF swarmed around the Hartford cage. BF had three straight penalty corners, and came up empty.
Hartford counterattacked, but Delany Stoodley made a key defensive play that set up Thurber’s winning goal with just 16 seconds left in overtime.
“I saw Johanna, she was carrying it down the field and then she just crossed it and I was there,” said Thurber after the game. “My stick was down and I just hit it right in, I was at the right place at the right time.”
“They worked hard, we definitely didn’t play amazing … but they turned it on, they didn’t give up,” said BF coach Bethany Coursen. One area where she did see room for improvement was on penalty corners. BF had 18 of them in the game, with 13 coming in the fourth quarter and overtime, but they resulted in no goals scored.
The two teams will face each other again in Hartford on Oct. 2. That game should be just as close and exciting as this game was.
The Terriers then had to host U-32 on Sept. 19 in a rematch of last year’s Division II state championship game, which Bellows Falls won, 4-1. “That’s going to be another tough one,” said Coursen after the Hartford win. “We beat them last year in the states, so it’s someone that definitely wants to beat the heck out of us.”
Coursen’s prediction was right as the undefeated Marauders came away with a 3-0 victory and handed the Terriers their first loss of the season.
Football: BF blanks Bears, 42-0
• After a tough 21-8 loss to Fair Haven on Sept. 11, the Bellows Falls Terriers took out their frustration on the Brattleboro Bears with a dominating 42-0 win on Sept. 18 at Natowich Field.
The Terriers took a 30-0 lead by halftime as the one-two punch of running backs Jaden Bazin and Bryar Barnett punished the Bears defense. By the end of the first half, Bazin ran for 104 yards on 14 carries and Barnett ran for 119 yards on 11 carries.
BF set the tone on the opening kickoff as Bazin and Barnett ran roughshod over the Bears’ defense with a seven-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown for Bazin. He also ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with 8:50 to go in the opening quarter.
After the Bears were stopped at midfield on their opening possession, the Terriers got the ball following a short Bears punt and covered 75 yards in five plays, all on the ground. Barnett had a 38 yard run and blasted into the end zone on a 5-yard run to complete the scoring drive. Another Bazin conversion run made it 16-0 with 2:19 left in the first.
The Bears’ next possession ended in a punt, and BF responded with a five-play, 49-yard scoring drive that featured a 22-yard run by quarterback Saul James and ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Bazin. Quincy Knapp’s point-after kick made it 23-0 with 10:07 left in the second quarter.
Brattleboro showed a sign of life when Lucas DiZoglio picked off a James pass — the only one he threw in the first half — at midfield with 5:50 remaining in the first half. Unfortunately, on the very next play, Bears quarterback Logan Casey was intercepted by Andrew Goyette on the BF 10.
That turnover set up a 90-yard scoring drive by the Terriers that ended with Bazin throwing a 16-yard touchdown pass to Barnett. Knapp’s extra point made it 30-0 with 21.1 seconds to play in the half. Brattleboro managed 32 yards of passes in the first half, minus-7 yards of rushing, and zero points.
With the game in hand, BF started using its reserves early in the second half, but the points kept on coming. Goyette had his second interception of the night and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. Knapp missed the extra point, but the lead was now 36-0 with 6:44 left in the third quarter.
BF’s final touchdown came on the play of the night, a 71-yard run by Bazin up the sideline, just barely staying in bounds as he raced into the end zone. Another miss by Knapp made it 42-0 with 4:29 remaining in the third, and the rest of the game was played under a running clock as the mercy rule was invoked.
The only suspense left was whether Brattleboro would score their first touchdown of the season. They came close twice in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t score. The game ended on a Casey fumble that was recovered by BF’s Thomas Nowers.
Bazin finished with 203 yards rushing, while Barnett ran the ball for 134 yards. BF threw only three passes, as nearly all of their 402 yards of total offense came via the ground game. Both teams will be on the road this Friday night, with the 2-1 Terriers going to East Montpelier to face U-32, and the 0-3 Bears traveling to Hartford to play the Hurricanes.
Girls’ soccer
• Brattleboro and Fair Haven played to a scoreless tie on Sept. 19 at Natowich Field. Fair Haven controlled the flow of play through most of the 100 minutes, but failed to cash in on the scoring chances they had. Steady goalkeeping by Desiree Thibault and a good defensive effort by her teammates helped the Bears get the shutout.
The 0-4-1 Bears have struggled at the start of this season, so walking off the field with a tie was an accomplishment. “They left everything on the field, and you can’t ask for more than that,” said Bears coach Jay Cudworth.
Cudworth said the team is still trying to piece things together with the graduation of all-time leading scorer Reece Croutworst. “We had missed touches and bad passes,” he said. “We still need to work on our spacing and our communication. When we stay connected, we can be a dangerous team.”
• Twin Valley lost its first game of the season at Long Trail School, 2-1, on Sept. 15, and defeated Mount St. Joseph, 3-1, on Sept. 18 to finish the week with a 5-1 record.
• Leland & Gray finished the week at 3-4 after a 1-0 loss at Windsor on Sept. 17 and a 2-1 win over Rivendell on Sept. 19.
• Bellows Falls is also 3-4 after a 4-2 loss at Randolph on Sept. 17 and a 3-0 win over Sharon Academy on Sept. 19.
Boys’ soccer
• Twin Valley once again won the John Werner Tournament in Arlington, and celebrated a milestone in the process.
In beating Long Trail School, 9-3, in the opening game on Sept. 14, Brayden Brown had four goals and an assist to break the Twin Valley program record for most points in a career (awarding two points for a goal and one for an assist), a record that had been held by Scott Hayford for 16 years. Hayford had 192 points on 81 goals and 30 assists. Brown entered the LTS game with 190 points on 61 goals and 68 assists.
Alex Sullivan had two goals and two assists for the Wildcats, Niko Gerding scored two goals, and Landon Brown had an unassisted goal. Liam Mathiau and Carter O’Neil each picked up an assist.
Twin Valley then clinched its 12th Werner title in the past 13 years with a 2-0 win over host team Arlington on Sept. 19 to improve to 7-0.
• After having a week off following a 5-1 victory over Mount Anthony on Sept. 12, Brattleboro improved its record to 5-1 with a 4-3 win over Rutland on Sept. 19 at Natowich Field.
• Leland & Gray got a pair of home wins last week as they beat Proctor, 5-1, on Sept. 15 and had a 4-2 victory over Rivendell on Sept. 18 to up their record to 3-2.
Field hockey
• Brattleboro had its best week of the season thus far, with a 1-1 tie at Windsor on Sept. 16, and a 3-0 win over Rutland at Sawyer Field on Sept. 19.
The Rutland victory was the first of the season for the 1-3-2 Bears, who scored all of their goals in the second half.
Cross country
• The Bellows Falls boys competed in a four-team meet on Sept. 15 at Long Trail School in Dorset.Long Trail had the only team with enough runners to log a team score. Arlington’s Harry Reeder won the 5K race in 22 minutes, 7 seconds. Louis Sunflower led the Terriers with a sixth-place finish in 23:43. Other BF finishers included Jason Doxee (eighth, 24:49), Joel Robertson (11th, 28:22), and Andrew Pratt (14th in 28:46).
• The Brattleboro boys edged Mount Anthony, 27 to 28, to win a four-team meet Sept. 15 in Bennington. MAU’s Thomas Crowers won the 5K boys’ race in 17 minutes, 28 seconds.
BF hosts its first varsity golf match in 50 years
• This year marks the first time since 1976 that Bellows Falls has fielded a varsity golf team. On Sept. 14, the Bellows Falls Country Club played host to something that hasn’t happened in five decades — a Terriers’ golf team hosting a varsity match against its neighbors, Springfield and Green Mountain.
Green Mountain won the match with a team score of 202, edging out Bellows Falls with 204. Springfield was third with 218. Playing on the BFCC’s nine-hole par 35 course, GM’s Cooper Garvey finished first with a score of 43, Springfield’s Carter Streeter and Chase Strong tied for second, with each shooting 47. BF’s Colton Shanks and Leroy Marino of Bellows Falls were fourth and fifth with 48 and 49, respectively. Springfield’s Maddie Streeter was the lone girls’ golfer and shot a 44.
BF’s Jaden Bazin and Saul James took a break from their football duties to play in this march, shooting a 52 and 55, respectively. Another BF football player, lineman Timmy Fletcher, shot a 57 to round out the team scoring for the Terriers. Also on the links for BF were Wilson Bacon, Morgan Haskell, and Bobby George, who finished with scores of 51, 52, and 64, respectively.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 3 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League on Sept. 17 at Brattleboro Bowl saw Assisted Living (12-3) remain in first place. Gutt-ER-Done and In the Worx (both 11-4) are tied for second, followed by SDWM, Girls & Boys, and Rolos (all 7-8), Slow Moves and Four On The Floor (both 6-9), Single Pin (5-10), and Stuff Happens (3-12).
Diane Cooke again had the women’s high handicap game (244) and series (687), while Robert Rigby had the men’s high handicap game (256) and Mike Pavlovich had the high handicap series (690). Gutt-ER-Done had the team high handicap game (878) and SDWM had the high handicap series (2,497).
Rigby had the men’s high scratch game (248) and series (598), while Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 585 series with a 235 game, Pavlovich had a 585 series with games of 212 and 190, and Kevin Napaver had a 569 series with games of 199, 185, and 185. John Walker had a 527 series with games of 207 and 187, Peter Deyo had a 523 series with a 213 game, Rich Pietro had a 510 series, and Skip Shine had a 500 series with a 191 game. Gary Montgomery rolled a 187.
Cooke had the women’s high scratch series (495) and game (180). Carol Gloski had a 170 game and Darlene Ladabouche rolled a 160.
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.
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.