The Brattleboro Colonels have turned into road warriors at the most important time of the year, going 2-0-1 last week.
The unbeaten streak began with a 3-0 triumph over Leland & Gray in Townshend last Monday. Jackson Batchelder gave the Colonels a 1-0 halftime lead with a goal in the 26th minute. Travis Elliot-Knaggs then salted the game away with two goals - the first off a lead pass from Matt Dunn, the second on a header of a cross from Travis Beeman-Nesbitt.
On Wednesday, the Colonels went to Rutland and avenged their only loss of the season with a 6-2 beat down of the Raiders. Jose Diego-Silva scored three goals, Elliot-Knaggs added two more and Greg Reuter also scored. Goalkeepers Galen Finnerty and Evan Darling combined for a dozen saves.
Their week on the road ended Saturday with a 2-2 tie with Mounment Mountain in Great Barrington, Mass. Reuter scored both goals to cap off what could have been a difficult week for Colonels, which improved their record to 9-1-1.
Boys soccer
• Twin Valley had a easy time of it with a 2-0 win over Green Mountain at Baker Field last Monday. Tony Bernard needed to make only four saves to earn the shutout and Trey Cunningham and Dylan Speigel were the goal scorers.
It was a lot tougher for the Wildcats last Wednesday as they pulled out a 1-0 overtime win against Windsor. Speigel got the game winner with 5:16 left in the second overtime on a corner feed from Colin Lozito. Goalkeeper Tony Bernard earned his fifth shutout, despite hurting his knee late in the second half.
• The injury bug has bit Bellows Falls hard and that has dampened hopes for what coach Larry Slason was going to be a great season. The Terriers lost 2-1 to Green Mountain on Tuesday as forwards Jose Cantor, Matt Marchica and Ryan Mammone all got roughed up by the Chieftains in an extremely chippy game. On Thursday, BF was shut out by Black River, 2-0.
• Noah Chapin kept up his scoring binge with three goals in the first half as Leland & Gray cruised past Black River, 4-0, in Ludlow on Tuesday. On Saturday, the Rebels spread around the scoring in a 5-2 win over Windsor. Colin Nystrom had a goal and three assists, and Jake Huston, Matt Bizon, Josh Fontaine and Tyler Miller also scored.
Girls soccer
• It doesn't happen often, but the Woodstock Wasps walked off the field with three minutes left in their game last Monday against the Brattleboro Colonels. Brattleboro had a 3-0 lead at the time the Wasps said no mas after complaining about rough play by the Colonels. Becca Bird, Halle Lange and Maddie Rollins were the goal scorers for the Colonels. On Thursday, Ashley Watson scored her first varisty goal as the Colonels played Rutland to a 1-1 tie.
• Green Mountain shut out the Bellows Falls Terriers, 2-0, last Monday in Chester. Alaina Savage and Madison Huntley were the goal scorers for the Chieftains. The Terriers had another 2-0 shutout loss, this time to the Leland & Gray Rebels, on Thursday. Sarah Seaton and Nicole Sherman were the goal scorers for the Rebels.
• Shannon Lozito scored twice and assisted on a third goal as Twin Valley beat Windsor, 3-1, last Tuesday. Abbi Molner also scored for the Wildcats. On Saturday, Twin Valley lost to Stratton Mountain School, 4-2. Devin Logan had both goals for the Wildcats.
Football
• Too many penalties added up to a 13-12 loss for the Bellows Falls Terriers to the Woodstock Wasps on Saturday at Hadley Field.
While BF running back Ryan Hayward had another big day carrying the football - 225 yards and two touchdowns - the Terriers played an uncharacteristically sloppy game that opened the door for Woodstock to pull out the win. BF is now 4-3 overall, 4-1 in Division III. The Terriers travel to Winooski on Friday night.
• It was cold, blustery and damp last Friday night at Natowich Field, but the Rutland Raiders were red hot as they torched the Brattleboro Colonels, 55-13. Rutland took a 34-0 halftime lead as quarterback Troy Devine threw for 204 yards and three touchdowns and tailback Jon Sullivan rushed for two more touchdowns.
Brattleboro didn't get on the board until late in the game on touchdown runs by Ivan Jackson and Nate Forrett. Jackson ran for 148 yards on 22 carries. Now 0-7, the Colonels travel to Hartford to face the Hurricanes on Friday night.
Field hockey
• Brattleboro battled Mount Anthony to a 1-1 tie last Tuesday in Bennington. Kyle LaFantino scored the equalizer with just 3:40 left in regulation. Goalie Caroline McCarthy made 10 saves. On Saturday, the 1-7-1 Colonels were shut out by Springfield, 4-0.
• Bellows Falls got shut out by Fair Haven, 4-0, last Wednesday, to fall to 0-8-1.
Cross country
• Brattleboro's Jacob Ellis broke his course record for the 5K loop on East Orchard Street last Tuesday, scorching the boys field with a time of 17 minutes, 30 seconds. Hannah Reichel was Brattleboro's top female runner in 21:49, good for sixth overall. Mount Anthony won the boys team event, while Stratton Mountain School was the top girls team.
Other local competitors in the meet included Bellows Falls' Tim Jones, who was 15th in 20:04. Teammate Colin Johnson was 19th in 20:12. The Terrier girls were led by Becky O'Neill, who was 17th in 24:09. Leland & Gray's Lauren Scott was 27th in 26:03, while teammate Bailey Whelchel clocked in at 32:07 in the boys race.
A facelift for Withington
• One of most heavily used public spaces in Brattleboro between November and March is the Nelson E. Withington Skating Facility. Between youth hockey, high school hockey, adult hockey, figure skating and open skating, it's a building where something on ice is always going on from early in the morning to late in the evening.
All that activity over the years has left the rink a bit frayed at the edges, but this season, patrons will see new Plexiglas and dashers around the rink and upgraded bench areas and a scorekeeper booth for the hockey programs. It cost nearly $147,000 for these upgrades - half of the funding from a loan taken out by the town, the other half from donors and grants.
For hockey players, the upgrades mean truer bounces off the boards, more space in the bench area and an easier time getting on and off the ice. For the rest of the skating public, they'll have a rink that is brighter and more pleasant to be in. For a town known for winter sports, it's a great thing to see.