TURNERS FALLS – Following a 5-10-1 campaign in 2023, the Amherst field hockey team looks like a renewed group this fall. 

The Hurricanes opened the season with County League wins over Palmer, Hampshire and Holyoke to start 3-0, gaining confidence in the early portion of the season. 

Amherst took its unblemished record up to Turners Falls to take on Franklin Tech — which has reached the Western Mass. finals each of the last three years — on Thursday, but was unable to keep the win streak alive. 

While a back-and-forth game, the Eagles tallied just before the half and tacked on an insurance goal late, with Franklin Tech walking away with a 2-0 league win. 

“I told them after the game that we competed for 60 minutes,” Hurricanes coach Sarah Hafele said. “They got two lucky goals and we could have gotten two lucky goals. I don’t think we got blown out. I think we were two well matched teams and we’re excited to see them again.”

While the score was 2-0, it was a competitive game throughout. Franklin Tech held an 8-4 penalty corner advantage, though the Amherst defense hung tough to keep the Eagles from breaking the game open.

It was McKenzie Sourdiffe-Phelps who put the Eagles on the board just before the half, picking up a deflected ball in the circle and  firing it into the back of the cage to give Tech the opening lead. 

With three minutes to go, and Amherst pressing for the tying goal, Franklin Tech coach Rian Lovett used her timeout to allow her squad to regroup. 

The message during the break worked, as Jazzy Gonzalez raced through the Hurricanes defense before sending a pass to Sourdiffe-Phelps, who was able to knock a shot in to help seal the win for the Eagles. 

Eden Polak made nine saves in goal for Amherst, with Madison Markwell not being called into action to make a save for Franklin Tech. 

Boys soccer

Amherst 2, Minnechaug 2 – The Hurricanes and the Falcons played to a draw in Amherst on Thursday. Victor Nunez Saravia  and Alioun Sarr scored Amherst’s two goals.

Hampshire 2, South Hadley 0 – Owen Miller scored twice, one on an assist from Colin Cahill, to lead the Raiders to a bounceback win and a 3-1 start to the season. South Hadley dropped to 2-2-1.

 In net, Colin Holt made seven saves for Hampshire and Noah Carillon made a dozen for South Hadley.

Granby 3, Mount Everett 0 – Riley Goodhind scored a pair and Brodie Funk also tallied to lead the Rams to their first win of the season. Anthony Santiago dished out an assist and Daniel Santiago made two saves in goal.

Hopkins 0, Greenfield 0 – Neither the Golden Hawks or the Green Wave were able to find the back of the net on Thursday, leading to scoreless Schmid League draw in Greenfield. Liam Grahame-Lawson made eight saves for the Wave while Logan Bye made six saves for Hopkins. 

Pioneer 4, Smith Academy 1 – The Falcons were down just 1-0 at the half, but Pioneer pulled away in the second half for the win. Cajun Benson scored Smith Academy’s goal in the second half and goalie Jake Wilcox made eight saves.

PVCICS 5 PV Christian 0 – The Dragons won their second straight game Thursday, thanks to two goals from Nolan Gage, one each from Rafi Razmi and Sean Wallace and an own goal on a deflection of a shot by James Scott. Patrick Canavan-Gosselin, Sean Wallace and Teddy Scott each recorded assists. Damian Loinaz made 14 saves for PVCICS in goal. On Wednesday, PVCICS JV beat Chicopee Comp JV 6-2 at Ray Ash Park.

Pathfinder 3, Smith Voc 2 – The Vikings fell in an Tri-County North road showdown Thursday to drop to 2-1.

Sci-Tech 2, Gateway 2 – The Gators came back from a 2-1 halftime deficit to notch a draw and move to 2-0-1 on the season. Eli Chepurenko scored Gateway’s first goal, off an assist from Ivan Chepurenko, and Jackson Renaud scored the second, off an assist from Bow Briggs. Goalie Zack Hess made seven saves.

Northampton 4, Central 0 – The Blue Devils went up 1-0 in the first half and then added three more in the second to improve to 3-0-1 on the season. Will Senn-McNally and Sam Busone scored two goals apiece, and Senn-McNally and Johnny Nields-Duffy added assists. Goalie Salem Gregory made three saves.

Girls soccer

Granby 5, Chicopee 1 – Led by a hat-trick from Kalli White, the Rams scored three goals in the first half and added two more in the second half to move to 2-2 on the season. McKenna Zumbruski and Carlie Zobka also scored. Five different players tallied assists – White, Mabel Carillon, Lydia Kicza, Carlie Zobka and Marcela Tapia.

Golf

South Hadley 166, Amherst 194 – Led by 39s from Matt Blaser and Ryan MacGregor, the Tigers took their fourth straight decision Thursday afternoon at Amherst Golf Club to move to 5-1 on the season. Amherst’s Ben Scott (41) and Nate Ziomek (42) and South Hadley’s Caiden Drohan (42) rounded out the top-five scorers.

Hopkins 210, Turners 219 — Golden Hawk Ryley Regan was the match medalist with a 38 in Hopkins’ victory over the Thunder at Thomas Memorial Thursday. 

Hampshire 174, Easthampton 214 – Hampshire improved its record to 7-1 on the season (4-0 in the Suburban West) thanks to a low score of 39 from Brayden Fennessy. Ashton Lashway followed behind with a 42, Robert Herman scored a 46 and Leo Florek scored a 47. Easthampton’s Angelo Torchia, Bryce Evans and Maeve Lohring all tied for the Eagles’ low score with 53s.

Northampton 172, Chicopee Comp 204 – Reilly Fowles earned medalist honors with a 40, followed by Reed O’Connor (43), Jack Carpenter (44), Cody Keel (45) and Brett Baranowski (46).

Girls volleyball

Easthampton 3, SICS 0 – The Eagles secured their first win of the year in dominant fashion, winning 25-14, 25-21, 26-24. Lidie Buttrick led the team with seven kills. Brooke Skowron tallied nine assists and two aces, Camilla Corsello totaled six assists and three blocks and Summer Routhier recorded eight assists and an ace.

Baystate Academy 3, South Hadley 0 – The Tigers dropped their first match of the season to the Div. 5 state semifinalists from a year ago, falling 25-7, 25-17, 25-13. South Hadley now sits at 4-1 on the season, with a road game against Granby on Monday at 5:15 p.m. next up.

Late Wednesday results

Girls volleyball

South Hadley 3, Smith Vocational 2 — A battle of Hampshire County programs came down to the wire on Wednesday, with the Tigers squeaking out a five-set win over the Vikings after falling behind 2-1 through three sets.

Final set scores were 25-21, 17-25, 23-25, 25-8, 15-7.

Aimee George put down 11 kills for South Hadley, while Izzy Scott (eight kills, six blocks, 12 digs) and Milana Stefagolo (15 digs, 12 assists, four blocks, three kills) both made their presence felt with big games.

Girls soccer

Holyoke 7, Mahar 1 — The Purple Knights out-shot the Senators 15-1 and controlled all phases of the game en route to a decisive win on Wednesday night.

Kayshaly Garcia recorded a hat trick for Holyoke, Kyra Lippman added two goals and an assist while Grace Bechard and Leilany Figueroa each netted a goal in the victory.