Pioneer League title up for grabs
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The Pioneer League girls soccer championship is coming down to the wire.
Hopkins Academy and Granby won Monday while Gateway Regional lost as the three teams keep jockeying for position with each having one league game remaining.
Hopkins beat Gateway 1-0. The Golden Hawks (6-2-1) and Gators (6-2-1) are now tied for second place with 13 points.
Granby (6-1-2) beat Easthampton 3-0 to take sole possession of first place with 14 points.
Gateway plays at Ware at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Granby hosts Holyoke Catholic and Easthampton is at Hopkins Academy . Both games are at 3:30 p.m.
Hopkins Academy 1, Gateway Regional 0 - Jessie Stowell converted an assist from Katarczyna Szymborn in the 19th minute and that was enough for the Golden Hawks (12-3-2, 6-2-1 Pioneer) in Hadley.
Virginia Keough made five saves in goal for Hopkins.
Brook Fairman had six saves for the Gators (10-3-2, 6-2-1 Pioneer).
Granby 3, Easthampton 0 - Katie Goff had one goal and one assist as the Rams (12-2-3, 6-1-2 Pioneer) cruised at home.
Carmen Marino and Emily Lafleur added goals for Granby, while Tori Cebula and Hillary Ladeau were credited with assists.
Abby Hurlburt had two saves in the shutout.
Shealyn Berube made 20 saves in the loss for the Eagles (7-9-1, 3-5-1 Pioneer).
Hampshire 1, Northampton 0 - Shelby Benoit scored a goal in the 66th minute to break a scoreless tie and lift the Red Raiders (10-1-3, 3-1-2 Central) over the Blue Devils and into first place in the league. Sara Sypek assisted on the goal.
Goalie Nicki Stasz made four saves in Hampshire's 13th shutout in 14 games this season.
Emersyn Pullan make six saves for Northampton (4-6-6, 3-2-2 Central).
Frontier Regional 2, Central 1 - Meg DeGregorio had one goal and one assist as the Red Hawks (9-3-3, 5-2-1 Grieve) won in Springfield.
Cara D'Antonio broke the tie in the 60th minute from DeGregorio and the Frontier defense made the lead stand up.
DeGregorio gave the Red Hawks a 1-0 lead just 2 minutes, 5 seconds into the contest.
Mariel Brown made eight saves in goal for Frontier.
South Hadley 0, Monson 0 - Abby Kusek turned away 15 shots to preserve the tie for the Tigers (5-9-2, 2-5-1 Grieve) on the road.
The back line of Morgan Desjardins, Abby Foster, Morgan Provost, Maddie Dowd and Katie Tierney keyed South Hadley's effort.
Stephanie Morin had three saves in goal for the Mustangs (10-2-3, 6-1-1 Grieve).
Belchertown 5, Amherst Regional 1 - The Orioles scored three quick goals in the first half to take control against the Hurricanes.
Emma Norden scored two goals while Katherine Goodale, Jordan McConnell, and Cate Taras each had one for Belchertown (8-5-2, 5-1-1 Kurty-Fielding).
Brittany McDonald, Goodale, and Natalie Caney all had assists for the Orioles.
Amherst's only goal came on a penalty kick by Simone Frank in the second half.
Belchertown goalie Samantha Sugrue played the first 68 minutes making three saves and allowing one goal, and then was relieved by Sara Mackiewicz who made one save.
Zoe Langsdale made seven saves in goal for the Hurricanes (1-11-1, 1-6 Kurty-Fielding).
Ware 2, Holyoke Catholic 0 - Goalie Mary Beth O'Hare made 10 saves, but the Gaels (3-13-1, 0-9 Pioneer) lost at Williston.
Boys soccer
Holyoke Catholic 3, St. Mary 1 - Ryan Ferriter had two goals and one assist as the Gaels (6-6-2) moved to .500 with three regular-season games remaining on their schedule.
Tyler Limoges had one goal and one assist for Holyoke Catholic, while James Clancey added an assist. Brett Valcourt made six saves in goal for the Gaels.
Northampton 5, West Springfield 2 - The Blue Devils took a 4-0 lead at halftime and made their postseason berth official as they won at home.
Charlie Cronin had two goals for Northampton, Ellis Cooper assisted on the first two goals and scored the third one and Jon Butler added a goal and an assist.
Sam Goodwin-Boyd scored the other Blue Devils goal on an assist from Keaton Zavis.
Jeff Powers and Ben Weaver split time in goal for Northampton with three saves apiece.
Gateway Regional 2, St. Joseph 0 - Sam Cummings had a goal and an assist as Gateway held off the Crusaders at home.
Todd Langdon had the other goal for Gateway (8-2-3) while Kevin Ray added an assist.
Gators goalie Gabe Craig had four saves.
Field hockey
Frontier Regional 5, Mahar Regional 0 - Five different players scored for the Red Hawks (12-3-1) who won in South Deerfield.
Kayla Sharpe, Tierney McKenna, Jessica Zewski, Kacey Roberts and Haley Perret each had goals for Frontier.
Emily Williams had three assists for the Red Hawks, while Lacey Judge and Kate Vandendolder each added one.
Goalie Bridget Stryszko made one save for her eighth shutout of the year.
Northampton 2, West Springfield 0 - After a scoreless first half, the Blue Devils got two goals after intermission to snap a seven-game winless streak.
Steve Mailloux converted a Bridget Keefe assist to put Northampton (5-9-3, 4-4-1 Central) ahead, and Dayna Carpenter had a goal in her first game back after a concussion. Lauren Weston got the assist on Carpenter's goal.
Goalie Molly Brooks earned the shutout with 11 saves.
Smith Academy 6, Pioneer Regional 0 - The Falcons (16-1) controlled the Panthers (7-7-1) in Hatfield with a balanced offensive attack that saw four players have multiple-point games.
Emiko Barker and Sarah Wickles each had two goals, and Lindsay Gondek and Steph Slysz each scored once for Smith. Slysz also had two assists, and Gondek and Wickles had one apiece.
Kierstan Mulcare made three saves in goal for the shutout.
Cathedral 1, South Hadley 0 - The Tigers (7-6-3, 6-2-2 Central) dominated play in the first half and outshot the Panthers 7-0. But South hadley was unable to score on Jamie Tabb, the goaltender for Cathedral (7-8-2, 5-3-2 Central).
Goalie Mic Boyer made nine saves for South Hadley.
Greenfield 1, Amherst Regional 0 - Goalie Ellie Massengill made 13 saves for the Hurricanes (3-10-2) at Greenfield.
Girls volleyball
East Longmeadow 3, Belchertown 0 - The Spartans (8-9) improved their chances for a playoff bid with a 25-19, 25-14, 25-16 win at Belchertown (10-7).
Sabis 3, South Hadley 0 - The Tigers lost at home 25-21, 25-22, 25-18.
Caulien Cockley served strongly and Rachel Beiermeister and Lindsay Pelkey also played well for the Tigers (9-9).
