-There will be more soccer at Hayford Field in Wilmington this week as both of Twin Valley’s teams advanced into the Division IV semifinals.
• Brooke Davis scored in the 78th minute to give top-seeded Twin Valley a 1-0 victory over the eighth-seeded Mount St. Joseph Mounties in a Division IV girls’ quarterfinal on Oct. 24 at Hayford Field.
The Wildcats swept the two regular season games against the Mounties, but their third meeting turned out to be the closest game of all. Now 11-2-2, Twin Valley were set to host the winner of No. 5 West Rutland and No. 4 Winooski in a semifinal game on Oct. 27.
• The Twin Valley boys advanced into the semis with a 3-1 win over No. 8 Long Trail School on Oct. 24 at Hayford Field.
Brayden Brown returned to the lineup after being injured in the next-to-last game of the regular season and made his presence known when he scored an unassisted goal just 2 minutes into the first half. Alex Sullivan scored two minutes later on a Niko Gerding through ball that left the Wildcats with a 2-0 lead at the half.
Long Trail’s Leif Lamson cut the Wildcats’ lead in half when he scored three minutes into the second half, but Twin Valley got their two-goal lead back with Brayden Brown’s second goal of the night, set up with a free kick by his younger brother, Landon, in the 53rd minute of the game.
Twin Valley outshot Long Trail, 21-7, and Davis Cole finished with five saves in goal for the 14-1 Wildcats. They will host No. 5 Arlington in a semifinal on Oct. 28.
Rebel boys advance to semis
• Leland & Gray, the No. 6 seed in Division IV, has gotten hot at the right time. The Rebels defeated No. 11 Grace Christian, 3-0, in an Oct. 21 first-round game in Townshend, then headed north to Danville on Oct. 24 and upset No. 3 Caledonia United with a 4-2 quarterfinal victory.
Freshman midfielder Allen Lawley led Leland & Gray with two goals against Caledonia; seniors Kenrick Ewing and Spencer Claussen each added a goal and junior goalkeeper Frank Flood had three saves for the Rebels. The 10-5-1 Rebels will travel to North Clarendon on Oct. 28 to face the No. 2 Mill River Minutemen in the Division IV semifinals.
Enosburg tops BF in OT
• In a game dominated by defense, it was junior forward Eliza Pratt who was the deciding factor as she scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, to give the 10th-seeded Enosburg Falls Hornets a 2-1 victory over the No. 7 Bellows Falls Terriers in a Division III girls’ soccer first-round playoff game in Westminster on Oct. 21.
Unfazed by a nearly three-hour, 175-mile bus ride, the Hornets came out strong and kept the Terriers’ top two scorers, striker Gracie Patterson and midfielder Abby Nystrom, off the scoreboard in the first half. BF’s defense was just as stout as the teams were scoreless heading into the second half.
Pratt got her first goal three minutes into the second half, when a crossing pass went off the gloves of Terriers goalkeeper Grace Hayes. Pratt was able to tap in the deflected ball into the net. Nystrom, who had a shot carom off the crossbar late in the first half, then got the tying goal with 25:17 left in the second half.
The game stayed tied through the rest of regulation time and the first eight minutes of overtime. Pratt then sent everyone home when she pounced on a loose ball in front of the BF goal, and tapped in the game winner.
“It’s just a bad clearance, bad decision, turning the ball in versus turning it out,” said BF coach Jason West. “Those mistakes do happen at this level. That’s sometimes all it takes, and it’s unfortunate.”
BF finished its season with an 8-6-1 record, and will be losing seniors Nystrom, Hayes, Arianna Jensen, and Jenna Atwood to graduation in June. “I’m very proud of them,” said West. “They definitely competed [all season].”
Soccer roundup
• No. 7 Brattleboro had an early exit from the Division I boys’ tournament with a 5-0 loss to the St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers on Oct. 20 at Natowich Field. St. Johnsbury took control of this game with four first-half goals.
Brattleboro head coach Jonathan Elwell said the Bears had trouble dealing with the speed and physicality of the Hilltoppers. “I think there were moments when we dealt with it well, but there were also enough moments where we didn’t, and they made us pay,” said Elwell.
Elliott Stratton scored just 6:34 into the first half off a through pass from Sebastian Fernandez. Felix Fortham then scored off a Sebastian Mariscal Murra corner kick to make it 2-0 at the 10 minute mark. The Bears looked like they would rally as goalkeeper Dylan Shine turned away a couple of shots by the Toppers and Seamus Bald and Wyatt Mann had some good chances to score. But St. Johnsbury took back control and got goals from Patricio Murguia and Felipe Gomes in the final 3:30 of the first half.
Brattleboro pressed hard to get back into the game in the second half, but Toppers goalkeeper Ethan Ackerman earned the shutout victory. Luke Raser got the final St. Johnsbury goal with 20 seconds remaining in the second half.
After starting the season with a 6-1-1 record, the Bears lost five of their last six regular season games. They finished with a 7-7-1 record, and will lose seniors Oscar Dawson, Sajjad Ahmadi, Levi Green, Eli Welch, Beckett and Wyatt Mann, Eason DeMarsico-Thorne, Jude Paris, and Teagan Lavalley to graduation. “I’m really proud of the seniors,” Elwell said, “and I think they are leaving the program in a better place than they found it.”
• Ashlyn Carr scored the winning goal in overtime as the 10th-seeded Proctor Phantoms defeated the seventh-seeded Leland & Gray Rebels in a Division IV girls’ first-round playoff in Townshend on Oct. 20.
Most of this season’s 4-8-2 team is expected to return, as the Rebels will lose just three players to graduation — midfielders Sophia Hallock and Josanna Passino, and forward Lenore Witham.
• Brattleboro, the No. 13 seed in the Division I girls’ playoffs, lost 6-0 to fourth-seeded St. Johnsbury in a first-round game on Oct. 21. The Bears ended the season with a 2-10-3 record and will lose Naima Harris, Natalie Knutson, Caitlin Bloom, Macie Tkaczyk, Juliette Pals, Jaiden Denny, and Emma Houghton to graduation.
Terriers reach field hockey semis
• Avery Maxfield scored three goals as second-seeded Bellows Falls cruised past seventh-seeded Middlebury, 6-0, in a Division II quarterfinal on Oct. 22 in Westminster. Johanna Kissell and Elyse Thurber each had a goal and an assist.
With the win, the Terriers advance to the semifinals against No. 6 Otter Valley. That game will be played either Oct. 28 or 29. In their one regular season meeting earlier this season, BF won, 2-0.
The winner of this game will play the winner of the other semifinal, which pits top-seeded U-32 against No. 4 Hartford, in the state championship in Manchester on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1:30 p.m.
Football
• The 113th gridiron battle between Bellows Falls and Springfield on Oct. 24 at Brown Field ended with the Terriers rolling to a 45-12 win. It was the 16th straight loss for the Cosmos in this series, which dates back to 1894, as BF reeled off 45 unanswered points after Springfield scored on the first possession of the game.
After Springfield’s Josiah Martinez had a 31-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Jace Beamon to finish a four play, 60-yard scoring drive to open the game, it looked like the Terriers would have their hands full with an explosive Cosmos offense. A missed extra point made it 6-0 with 10:10 to play in the first quarter.
After that, it was all BF as junior running back Jaden Bazin ran for four touchdowns, ran for three two-point conversions, and threw to quarterback Jason Kissell for another conversion. Bazin finished with 216 yards on 18 carries.
Junior fullback Carter Harper scored BF’s first touchdown, and Bryar Barnett rushed for 82 yards on 10 carries as the Terriers ran for 346 yards, and threw the ball just twice. It was another display of BF power football, thanks to superb blocking by the offensive line of seniors Peyton Haskins, Rylan Ernst, Steve Joslyn, and Brock Lovell, and junior Tim Fletcher.
Kissell didn’t have a touchdown on offense, but at defensive back, he ran back an interception 30 yards for a Pick-6 score. The BF defense also sacked Beamon five times and kept a lid on Springfield’s two main offensive weapons, Martinez (held to 53 yards rushing and 30 yards receiving) and Dimitri Jasinski (combined 22 yards rushing and receiving).
With the victory, Bellows Falls (6-2) earned the third seed in the Division III playoffs and will host Milton. Springfield (5-3) ended up with the fourth seed and will host Windsor.
• The Elwell Trophy will spend another year in Bennington as the Mount Anthony Patriots defeated the Brattleboro Bears, 40-8, in the Route 9 rivalry game Oct. 23 at Natowich Field.
This game followed a familiar script for the Bears — fall behind early and struggle to catch up. The Patriots scored to open the game on a 6-yard run by Talin Bartholdi. The first of Rowan Behan’s four point-after kicks made it 7-0 with 9:41 left in the first quarter.
Brattleboro responded with a long drive that covered 65 yards and burned up seven minutes of the clock, but they stalled out on the Patriots 27-yard line. Mount Anthony got the ball on downs and went on a 10-play, 73-yard scoring drive capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jonathan Crossman to make it 14-0 with 10:41 left in the second quarter.
On the next Patriots possession, Crossman connected with Behan for a 36-yard TD reception for a 20-0 lead with 6:40 left in the first half. Bartholdi followed that up with a 56-yard run for.a touchdown and a 27-0 lead with 4:15 left in the first half. Following an exchange of turnovers, Brattleboro came up with the ball with 3:44 left in the half and had its second long drive of the night, but again came away with no points as the half ended.
Behan got his second TD of the night with a 38-yard reception from Crossman to push the lead to 34-0 with 4:35 left in the third quarter. After a Bears fumble at the start of the final quarter, the Patriots scored on a 12-yard run by Robert Lee with 8:06 to play.
The game finished with a running play clock due to the mercy rule, and the Bears salvaged a bit of dignity with an 80-yard scoring drive. With 35.6 seconds left, Kymarion Hall caught a 6-yard pass from quarterback Logan Casey, who also threw a two-point conversion pass to Lucas Dizoglio to break up the Pats’ shutout bid.
Brattleboro’s season ended at 0-8, the second winless season in the past three years. Before the game, departing seniors Hall, DiZoglio, Hunter Roth, Tucker Jenks, Kimani Baugh, Charles O’Connell, Jesse Johnson, Conner Emery, Lucas Lamorder, and student coach Hailey Bristol were honored.
Cross-country
• The Vermont state cross-country championships were held at Thetford Academy on Oct. 24. The Brattleboro boys finished seventh in Division I. Liam Jonathan-Leach was 22nd in 18 minutes, 7.4 seconds, followed by teammates Jackson Ferreira (25th, 18:24.2), Walker Korb (36th, 18:58.3), Connor McColgan (47th, 19:33.8), Jack Schibley (49th, 19:40.5), Dylan Bouchard (59th, 20:15.6), and Casey Connor (61st, 20:18.1).
The Brattleboro girls finished eighth in Division I. Grace Rosa was the Bears’ top finisher at 33rd in 23:32.9, followed by Maayan Coleman (37th, 24:03.9), Nya Lawson-Westfall (57th, 25:57.9), Victoria Douglas (67th, 28:40.5), and Luca Barkow (70th, 29:27.8).
In the Division III girls’ meet, defending individual champion Desi Broadley of Green Mountain surrendered her crown to Stowe’s Leila Griffith. Griffith finished first in 20:25.5 seconds, nearly 20 seconds ahead of Broadley’s second place time of 20:44.3. Annabell Bazin, the lone Bellows Falls runner, finished 42nd in 26:35.6.
The Bellows Falls boys finished 10th in Division III. Fabian Patterson came in 18th in 19:29.8, followed by teammates Louis Sunflower (69th, 23:23.8) Joel Robertson (80th, 24:35.9), Jason Doxsee (94th, 27:08.3), Andrew Pratt (97th, 27:47.8), and Atlas Bezanson (104th, 1:10:28.5).
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 8 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League on Oct. 21 at Brattleboro Bowl saw Assisted Living (32.5-7.5) have a 5-0 week to solidify their hold on first place. Four On The Floor (25-15) also went 5-0 to move into second place, followed by Rolos (24-16), SDWM (21-19), In the Worx (20.5-19.5), Slow Moves (17-23), Stuff Happens and Gutt-ER-Done (both 16.5-23.5), Single Pin (14-26), and Girls & Boys (13-27).
Vicki Butynski had the women’s high handicap game (245) and series (701). Assisted Living had the team high handicap game (902) and series (2,516).
Kevin Napaver rolled a perfect game with a 300 as part of his 838 high scratch series, which was the second-highest series score in Brattleboro Bowl’s 65-year history. Napaver just missed a second perfect game with a 289, and also rolled a 249. Five men had 500-plus series: Peter Deyo (543, with games of 205 and 190), Robert Rigby (539, with two 183 games), Rich Westcott (539, with a 198 game), Rich Pietro (525, with a 213 game), and Warren Corriveau Sr. (505). Notable games included Milt Sherman (211 and 198) and Rich Garren (195).
Butynski had the women’s high scratch series (461) and game (175). Carol Gloski had a 167 game, and Shirley Aiken rolled a 159.
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.