Few things make coaches happier than seeing their players play well, play cohesively, and walk off the field as winners.
Brattleboro field hockey coaches Sherryl Libardoni and Kelly Markol were two very happy coaches on Sept. 1, after watching their team play a solid game from start to finish in a 2-0 win over the Springfield Cosmos in the season-opener under the lights at Tenney Field.
“We didn't play any scrimmages before tonight, so we're very pleased to see them play so well and do a good job.”
The Colonels controlled the flow of play for most of the first half, and got a goal from Gracie Frost with 5:03 left in the half. Frost shot from just outside the goal crease, just out of the reach of Cosmos goalie Lizzy Sterer.
“We wanted to see them be more aggressive inside the circle, and that's how we got the first goal,” said Markol.
Kylee Shatrau picked up an insurance goal for Brattleboro with 25:39 left in the second half. Colonels goalie Natayla Forkin was hardly tested as the Cosmos got few open looks at the net.
Libardoni said the Colonels got contributions from every player in the victory. “This is a team that seems to like each other and support each other,” she said. “It's a totally different vibe from other years.”
Best of all for the Colonels was getting a win in the opening game. “That is such a confidence builder,” said Markol. “It takes a lot of pressure off the girls.”
Girls' soccer
• Bellows Falls has more freshmen and sophomores than juniors and seniors on its team, which translates into yet another rebuilding season for coach John Broadley.
Just the same, the Terriers acquitted themselves well in a 3-2 loss to Springfield in the season opener in Westminster on Sept. 2.
Springfield controlled the ball for most of the first half, but BF got the first goal in the 10th minute when Amyra Terena scored on a counter-attack. The Cosmos were held scoreless until the 32nd minute, when Sarah Veysey scored off a corner kick.
With the score 1-1 at the half, BF started winning the possession battle in the second half, but the Cosmos scored twice on counters, with Veysey getting her second goal in the 52nd minute and Julianna Albero-Levings adding an insurance goal in the 70th minute.
Trenna then got her second goal in the 72nd minute and the Terriers just missed getting an open net equalizer 12 minutes later.
“No one played badly today,” said Broadley. “We didn't deserve to lose, but give Springfield credit. Those were all nice goals. What I liked was how we kept playing hard after it was 3-1. It's easy to roll over at that point, but once we got the second goal, the momentum shifted and we had a chance.”
Most importantly, Broadley said, was “now we know what we've got as a team. We'll get the hang of it and, mark my words, we're going to be contending for a championship in three years.”
Football
• Bellows Falls started their defense of its state title on Sept. 1 with a dominating 54-14 win over the Spaulding Crimson Tide in Barre.
The game was briefly competitive in the first quarter. Terriers running back Shane Clark scored on a 6-yard run, and the extra point made it 7-0 BF. Spaulding then took its only lead of the night on a 34-yard touchdown run by Bailey Erwin. Matteo Perantoni added a 2-point conversion to make it 8-7.
From that point, BF pounded the Tide. The Terriers regained the lead late in the opening quarter, then scored on their first two possessions of the second quarter to make it 27-8 with 8:21 left in the half.
By the third quarter, it was 47-8 BF and the final quarter was played under the running clock “mercy rule.”
Clark finished with four touchdown runs in his debut as the featured running back for the Terriers. Logan Cota, this year's starting quarterback, ran for two touchdowns and threw a 30-yard TD pass to Noah Wilkinson. McGregor Vancour closed out the scoring with a 55-yard run. On defense, Reno Tuttle, and Hunter and Shane Clark, combined for eight sacks.
• Brattleboro also opened its season on the road on Sept. 1, but the result was not a happy one with a 44-14 loss to the Rutland Raiders.
The young and undermanned Colonels had no answers for stopping first-year quarterback Jared Miglorie and junior running back Dakota Peters. The Rutland duo ran for three touchdowns apiece. Miglorie finished with 201 yards on 19 carries, while Peters had 198 yards on 18 carries.
Rutland jumped out to a 26-0 lead in the first half before Brattleboro scored its first touchdown. After Brattleboro's Chris Frost recovered a fumble deep in Raider territory, sophomore quarterback Tyler Millerick rewarded Frost with a 7-yard TD pass.
The Raiders put the game away by scoring by three touchdowns in the second half, forcing the final 10 minutes of the game to be played under the running time mercy rule.
Brattleboro did not score again until late in the game on a 1-yard run by Kris Carroll and a 2-point conversion run by Millerick. Carroll finished with 31 yards on eight carries. Millerick scrambled for 18 yards on the ground.
Millerick, who was pressed into emergency service as quarterback as a freshman, has the starting job this season and helped lead the Colonels to 219 yards of total offense. He showed great mobility and has a good arm too; he completed a 40-yard pass to Kyle Derosia.
The Colonels will be on the road again this Friday for a 7 p.m. game at Hadley Field against Bellows Falls.
Senior bowling roundup
• The spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League concluded last week with Team 4 (63-27) winning the season championship.
Team 8 (55-35) finished second, followed by Team 1 (48-42). Team 5 (45-45), Team 7 (43-47), Team 3 (41-49), Team 2 (33-57), and Team 6 (32-58).
Edna Fletcher had the women's high handicap game (243), while Sonya Shippee (561) had the high handicap series. Fred Bump had the men's high handicap game (253) and series (654). Team 3 had the high team handicap game (889) and series (2,584).
Shippee (517) was joined by Jerry Dunham (537), Marty Adams (512), and Warren Corriveau Sr. (561) in rolling a 500-plus series, while Bump and Corriveau each had a 200 game.
At season's end, the women with the highest average score were Shirley Aiken (148), Shippee (144), and Lorraine Taylor (140). Corriveau led the men with an average of 186, followed by Marty Adams (175) and Fred Ashworth (172).
Interested in getting involved in the fall senior league? Give Brattleboro Bowl a call at 802-257-1177.
Golf tourney at BCC benefits wounded vets
• The Brattleboro Country Club on Upper Dummerston Road will host a 9/11 Pig Roast and Memorial Golf Tournament on Monday, Sept. 11, starting at 10 a.m.
Enjoy a full day of golf including lunch, contests, prizes, raffles, auctions and a awards dinner. Registration is $125 per player, or you can sponsor a foursome of clients or friends for $500.
All net proceeds will benefit the Salute Military Golf Association (SMGA) New England's programs at the BCC for local post 9/11 veterans.
SGMA is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization formed in 2006 to use golf as a therapeutic outlet for post 9/11 military veterans recovering from service-related mental and physical injuries.
Register online at www.smgaboston.org/list-of-events/pig-roast-9-11-memorial-golf-tournament or contact Melanie Boese at the BCC at 802-257-7380.
Sportsmen Inc. hosts free open house
• Sportsmen Inc., our local hunting, fishing, and shooting club, invites everyone to their open house event on Sunday, Sept. 17, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the club, which is located at 2081 Creamery Rd. in Guilford.
This free event will give visitors the opportunity to try archery, trap shooting, and rifle shooting. Learn about the many programs the club has in conjunction with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, as well as at local schools. Archery and vintage muzzle loader events start at 10 a.m.
For more information, call Jane at 802-451-8275 or Art at 802-254-1580.
Bowling in the Dark fundraiser for VABVI
• Imagine if you lost your vision. What would you do? For those living in Vermont, there is the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (VABVI), which provides services to help children get the support they need to be successful in school and services that help adults maintain as much independence as possible.
On Saturday, Oct. 14, as part of White Cane Awareness Day, 20 teams will bowl under blindfold to compete for prizes and raise funds to support the continued work of VABVI.
Prizes will be awarded to the highest individual and team fundraisers as well as the highest individual and team scorers. There will also be door prizes, an online auction, and a 50/50 raffle on the day of the event.
The event takes place at Brattleboro Bowl on Putney Road in Brattleboro from 1 to 4 p.m. Registration is through Eventbrite.com. For more information, contact Andrea Capron at 802-254-8761, or [email protected]. All proceeds support VABVI's efforts to provide educational support and rehabilitation services to visually impaired Vermonters.