The Brattleboro field hockey team was winless. The Springfield field hockey team was winless. When the two teams faced each other on Sawyer Field on Sept. 29, one of then was going to walk off happy.
Thanks to Erika Favereau's goal with 6:53 left in overtime, it was the Colonels that got to celebrate their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory over the Cosmos.
“I didn't think it would go in,” said Favereau of her game-winning goal during the 7-on-7 overtime period. It was set up by Emma Gragen, who stole the ball off the stick of Cosmos forward Marthe Fiolka and then snapped a pass to Favereau, who completed the breakaway chance by slipping the ball past Cosmos goalie Zada Gant.
“We were missing a few people today, but I knew if we kept moving and kept up the pressure, we had a chance to win,” said Colonels coach Erin Cooke.
Both these teams have come close to victories over the first month of the season, and both have steadily improved. Someone's luck had to change.
Cosmos coach Alex Nikolovski said her team had a habit of giving up goals in the last two minutes of a period. That was precisely the case as Brattleboro scored first with 2:00 remaining in the first period when Gragen put away a pass from Favereau.
“I kind of black out in moments like that,” said Gragen. “As a forward, you're thinking 'score, score, score.' It was all or nothing. You either score or you don't.”
Springfield got the equalizer when Mackenzie Sidler tipped in a feed from Fiolka with 5:50 left in the second period. It was just the second goal the Cosmos have scored all season.
Brattleboro went back in front when Mallory Newton scored off a penalty corner with 8:02 left in the third period. Moria Rigny then forced overtime with a hard drive in the circle with 4:55 left in the fourth period, with Fiolka getting the assist.
Colonels goalie Maren Sawyer celebrated her birthday with a strong game between the pipes. Brattleboro had a 9-4 advantage in penalty corners and outshot Springfield, 5-4.
“We just try to get a little bit better with every game,” said Cooke. “I'm glad they saw the payoff for all the work they've done.”
Football
• Brattleboro and Bellows Falls journeyed to the Northeast Kingdom for their Week 5 games, and both came away with impressive wins against formidable opponents.
Bellows Falls stayed unbeaten with a 34-27 victory over the North Country Falcons in Newport on Sept. 30 as running back Caden Haskell ran for more than 200 yards and four touchdowns for the Terriers.
North Country scored first as quarterback Watson Laffoon connected with Hayden Boivin with a 75-yard touchdown pass with 1:59 left in the first quarter. BF responded with a 15-yard touchdown run up the middle by Haskell, but a bungled extra point attempt left the Terriers trailing 7-6 with 10:09 left in the second quarter.
The Falcons extended their lead as multipurpose back Boivin threw to Wyatt Descheneau for a 13-yard touchdown and a 14-6 lead with 4:02 left in the first half. Aided by a couple of penalties, BF quickly got it back to a one-point game as Haskell ended the half with a 3-yard TD run.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter as Haskell, fellow running back Walker James, and quarterback Jamison Nystrom took turns running the ball in BF's opening possession. James capped a long drive with a 7-yard touchdown run for a 20-14 lead with 6:03 remaining in the third.
Boivin then got his third touchdown of the game, and his 14th of the season, on a 3-yard run up the middle, but the extra point attempt failed to make it 20-20 with 57 seconds left in the third.
BF took control in the final quarter as Haskell scored on a 5-yard run with 11:48 to play, then he stopped the ensuing Falcon drive with an interception. The Terriers quickly took advantage as Haskell scored on 1-yard run for a 34-20 lead with 2:54 to play.
North Country's last score came on a 4-yard run by Laffoon with 45 seconds to play to cut the BF lead to 34-27, but their onside kick attempt failed and the Terriers escaped with the victory. The 5-0 Terriers host Spaulding this Saturday at 1 p.m.
• If Brattleboro's Week 4 win over Fair Haven was their most complete game of the season, the Colonels' 38-14 victory over the Lyndon Vikings on Oct. 1 was a glimpse of their full potential as a team to reckon with in the Division II playoffs.
The Colonels' high octane offense was on display as quarterback Devin Speno went 16-for-23 for just over 300 yards of passing and five touchdowns. He spread the wealth around as wide receiver Tristan Evans had four receptions for 132 yards and three touchdowns, while tight end Jackson Emery had five catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Charlie Clark had three catches and Cam Frost had two.
It didn't start out promising for the Colonels. On their first possession of the game, they moved the ball down to the Vikings 2-yard line before turning the ball over on a fumble by Speno. Lyndon then drove the length of the field for the first touchdown of the game, a 5-yard run by quarterback Ashton Gould. A successful two-point conversion gave the Vikes an 8-0 lead with 2:38 left in the first quarter.
Brattleboro responded with the first of Evans' TD catches, a 4-yarder, but a missed extra point left Lyndon with an 8-6 lead with 11:13 remaining in the second quarter.
The Colonels' defense took over at that point, and kept the Vikings from scoring until late in the final quarter. Lyndon had no answers for Brattleboro's diversity on offense as they kept the Vikings guessing on who they should stop.
Evans closed out the first half with a 15-yard catch in the end zone and Emery caught the two-point conversion pass from Speno for a 14-8 lead with 3:54 left. The Colonels then started the second half as linebacker Jack Cady recovered a Gould fumble on the Vikings' first play from scrimmage and Emery caught a 15-yard touchdown pass for a 21-8 lead with 11:08 left in the third quarter.
Brattleboro's next possession saw running back Noah Perusse have his best sequence of the season as he had six carries for 40 yards to help set up a 24-yard field goal by Jordy Allembert to make it 24-8 with 1:32 left in the third.
Speno connected with Evans for a 75-yard score that saw Evans haul in a perfectly-thrown ball and then speed up the sideline as he outran the Lyndon defenders to make it 31-8 with 5:34 left in the fourth quarter.
Gould finally snapped the Colonels' scoring binge with a 55-yard run with 3:44 to play. But the two-point try failed, as did an onside kick attempt, and Brattleboro ended the game with Emery scoring on a 14-yard catch in the back of the end zone.
With the win, the Colonels improved to 3-2 and will host U-32 this Friday night at 7.
Cross-country
• On Sept. 27, the Colonel boys and girls finished second and third, respectively, in a multi-team meet in Westminster.
Michael Slade finished fourth in 19 minutes, 17 seconds to lead the Brattleboro boys, followed by teammates Miles Ackerman-Hovis (sixth), Galen Fogarty (11th), Jonas Ackerman-Hovis (13th), and Mitchel Tasca (17th).
Ava Whitney led the Colonel girls with a first place finish in 20:08, followed by Katherine Normandeau (ninth), Alessia Colombo (15th), Addison Devault (19th), and Allie Hutchins (20th).
Most of these runners went north to Thetford Academy on Oct. 1 for the annual Woods Trail Run, a big mid-season meet that attracts runners from all around New England.
Whitney finished 27th overall in a field of 440 runners with a time of 21:41.17 over the 5K course. The Colonel girls finished 26th in the team scoring with strong performances by Miriam Patton (79th, 23:29.37, Normandeau (232nd, 26:25.16), Devault (404th, 33:15.37), Kacjh Hayrapatyan (413th, 34:15.47), Evie Kiehle (423rd, 34:55.88), and Laiba Eager (424th, 35:11.21).
The Colonel boys finished 36th as a team. Slade was 188th out of 553 runners in 20:49.80, followed by teammates Miles Ackerman-Hovis (219th, 21:12.20), Brinley Woodcock (220th, 21:13.50), Jonas Ackerman-Hovis (413th, 24:08.71), James Burke (435th, 24:20.33), Jack Webster-Rose (453rd, 24:58.44), Makailo Coursen (477th, 25:40.91), and Amed Besbes (543rd, 34:16.63).
The individual winners of the meet were Birhanu Harriman of Lebanon, N.H., who took the boys' race in 16:28.94, and Tess Drury of Mount Mansfield, who won the girls' race in 19:40.47.
Field hockey
• Bellows Falls hasn't lost a game this season, but the Terriers had their first tie on Sept. 28 when they played the unbeaten Hartford Hurricanes to a scoreless draw. BF goalie Mary Wallace made 11 saves.
The Terriers took out their frustrations over the tie on winless Rutland with a dominating 6-0 road win on Sept. 30. BF got off to a fast start with a pair of Sadie Scott goals in the first two minutes of the game, both set up by Jules McDermid.
Scott scored two more goals, and Emma Bazin and McDermid also scored for the Terriers. Ava LaRoss assisted on the Bazin goal. BF finished the week at 5-0-1.
Girls' soccer
• Night or day, the Leland & Gray Rebels are ready to play. Under the lights at Wilmington's Hayford Field on Sept. 26, the Rebels rolled to a 9-0 victory over Twin Valley.
Abby Towle scored three goals and Maggie Parker had three assists in the first half. Mary McDonald opened the scoring with a goal in the second minute of the game and Mary Sanderson tapped in a goal in the 11th minute, both set up by Parker. Towle then found the back of the net three times, and Ava LeCours added another goal as the Rebels took a 6-0 halftime lead.
The Rebels' reserves had their chance to shine in the second half as Sam Morse, Sierra Berrie, and Amanda Fontaine all scored their first varsity goal.
• On Sept. 30, Brattleboro got its first win of the season with a 4-0 win over Hartford, while Twin Valley remained winless with a 4-0 loss to Arlington.
Boys' soccer
• Brattleboro snapped its losing streak on Sept. 28 with an 8-1 rout of the Stevens Cardinals. Ozzie VanHendrick had three goals, and Tate Chamberlin, Charlie Kinnersley, Joey Reynolds, Emmett Hoyer and exchange student Javier Hernandez also chipped in with goals.
The Colonels were then shutout by Burr & Burton, 2-0, on Sept. 30 to fall to 4-4 on the season.
• Twin Valley cruised to a 7-2 win over Bellows Falls on Sept. 27. Cody Magnant and Caleb Dupuis each had two goals as the Wildcats put 26 shots on the BF goal.
Trailing 4-0 at halftime, BF's Colby Dearborn cut into the lead with a pair of goals midway through the second half. The Wildcats slammed the door shut with goals from Dupuis, Brayden Brown, and Steven Oyer. The Wildcats then split their next two games, with a 3-1 loss to Rivendell on Sept. 29 and a 3-2 win over Leland & Gray on Oct. 1 to finish the week at 5-1-1.
• After losing to Twin Valley, Bellows Falls got walloped by Green Mountain, 10-0, in Sept. 30 to 0-6 on the season.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 5 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League on Sept. 29 saw Keglers 4 have another 5-0 week to stay in first place at 21-4. Lucky 7 (16-9) went 3-2 but remained in second place, followed by Split Happens, The Strikers, and Good Times (all tied at 13-12), Trash-O-Matic (12-13), Old Farts (7-18), and Slow Movers (5-20),
Nancy Dalzell once again had the women's high handicap game (243) and series (642), while Skip Shine had the men's high handicap game (274) and series (763). Old Farts had the high team handicap game (893) and series (2,593).
In scratch scoring, Shine led the men with a 615 series that featured games of 224 and 211. Chuck Adams had a 591 series with games of 204, 197, and 190, while Marty Adams had a 528 series with a 192 game and Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 522 series that featured a 193 game. Al Dascomb rolled a 200 game.
Josie Rigby had the women's high series (513), which featured a 191 game, while Dalzell had the high scratch game (195) and Shirley Aiken rolled a 180.