The regular season for soccer, field hockey and cross country concluded last week. The playoffs will begin this week and several of our local soccer teams have a legitimate shot at going deep into their respective tournaments.
Boys soccer
• Leland & Gray finished the regular season strong and as a result earned the top seed in the Division III tournament and a bye into the quarterfinals.
They started last week with a 3-1 home win over Windsor last Monday. Colin Nystrom assisted on both of Noah Chapin's goals, while Nick Lawley scored off a Matt Bizon pass.
The next day, the Rebels shut out Bellows Falls, 6-0. Chapin had three of the goals, and assisted on two others. Nystrom, Chayse Jarvis and Lawley scored the other goals and defenders Zachary Wilkins, Josh Fontaine, William Nupp and Eric Ginter shut down the BF attack.
The Rebels finished up a winning week with a 3-0 win over Green Mountain. All the goals came in the first half as Nystrom, Lawley and Chapin all found the net.
Leland & Gray ended the regular season at 12-2. They will face the winner of the Enosburg/Lake Region playdown game on Friday at 3 p.m. in Townshend.
• Twin Valley bounced back from a 1-3 start to win 10 straight games. With an 11-3 record, they took the No. 2 seed in Division IV.
Goalkeeper Tony Bernard posted his sixth shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over Black River on a blustery Monday afternoon at Baker Field. All the scoring was in the second half as Colin Lozito scored twice - assisted by Eli Park and Bernard, respectively - and Ian Murdock scored an unassisted goal.
Last Friday in the regular season finale, the Wildcats clinched a share of the Marble Valley League title with a 3-1 home win over Bellows Falls. Lozito scored one unassisted goal and assisted on goals by Nick Birch and Dylan Barge. Ryan Mammone scored for BF, which finished its season at 5-9.
• Brattleboro crushed Hinsdale, N.H., 8-0, on Senior Night last Monday at Tenney Field. Greg Reuter scored two goals and assisted on four others. Tarique Rashed and Jose-Diego Silva also had two goals each. Travis Elliot-Knaggs and Charles Greene-Cramer also chipped in with the scoring.
The Colonels got the No. 2 seed in the Division I tournament with a 11-2-1 record and a bye into the quarterfinal round. They will face the winner of the Colchester/St. Johnsbury play-in game on Friday at 3 p.m. at Tenney Field.
Girls soccer
• Brattleboro capped off Senior Night last Wednesday with a dramatic 1-0 overtime victory over Mount Anthony. Sophomore Halle Lange got the game winner three minutes into the first overtime period with a 20-yard shot that sailed over the MAU goalkeeper's head.
The Colonels wrapped up the regular season with a 7-5-2 record and were seeded No. 7 in the Division I tournament. They host No. 10 South Burlington on Oct. 27 at Tenney Field.
• The Leland & Gray Rebels beat Windsor, 3-1, at home last Monday. Callie Ginter had two goals and Chelsea Cox had a goal and an assist. The Rebels finished the regular season at 5-6-3, and got the No. 11 seed in Division III. They will be on the road on Oct. 27 to face sixth-seeded Oxbow.
• Twin Valley shut out Green Mountain, 1-0, last Monday in Chester. Shannon Lozito scored off a direct kick from Devin Logan in the 25th minute for the game's only goal. The Wildcats closed out the regular season with an 8-5-1 record and, as the No. 9 seed in Division III, will travel north to face BFA-Fairfax on Oct. 27.
• Arlington blanked Bellows Falls, 5-0, last Monday. The Terriers had another 5-0 shutout dropped on them on Thursday in Wilmington, this time at the hands of Twin Valley. Devin Logan scored four goals and Sammy Cunningham added another for TV. Bellows Falls ended its year at 1-12-1.
Football
• The Brattleboro Colonels are still winless after a 55-0 thrashing by the Hartford Hurricanes last Friday night. Hartford scored early and often, taking a 21-0 lead after one quarter and a 48-0 lead at the half. The Colonels will try to salvage their season with a home win over arch-rival Mount Anthony at Natowich Field on Friday night.
• Bellows Falls rolled over Winooski, 40-6, on Saturday. The Terriers' ground game again proved unstoppable as Ryan Hayward ran for two touchdowns, include a 90-yard run on the opening kickoff. Leo Barnett, Joe Aslin and quarterback Jeremy Killburn also notched rushing touchdowns and Kilburn threw a touchdown pass to Will Bourne. BF is now 5-1 in Division III play and wraps up the regular season at Springfield on Saturday.
Field hockey
• It has been a long, difficult season for the Brattleboro Colonels, but the payoff came last week with a pair of home wins at Tenney Field.
The Colonels picked up their second win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Burr & Burton last Monday. Kelsey Kinsman, Brenna DeVincentis and Tatiana Frizzell were the scorers as the Colonels put 13 shots on goal.
That was good, but it got even better the next day when Frizzell knocked in the winning goal with just 39 seconds left in overtime for a dramatic 2-1 victory over Rutland. Kim Crosby scored for the Raiders 26 minutes in, but with 1:14 left in the first half, Brattleboro's Jesse Woodcock converted a penalty stroke to tie the game. Goalie Caroline McCarthy had six saves.
The Colonels tried to make it three wins in a row on Friday night, but were shut out by Windsor, 3-0, on Senior Night at Tenney Field. The Colonels wrapped up the regular season at 3-8-2 and were seeded 10th in the Division I tournament. They will be on the road to face No. 10 Colchester on Oct. 27.
• Despite finishing the regular season with a 0-12-1 record, the Bellows Falls Terriers are going forward with a trip to the playoffs. They travel north to face the top seed in Division III, Missisquoi, on Friday, Oct. 29.
Cross country
• Brattleboro's Jacob Ellis was the top boys' finisher at the Marble Valley League championship meet in Bennington on Tuesday. He ran the three-mile course in 17 minutes, 4 seconds. Four other Colonels placed in the top 20: Zeke Fitzgerald (sixth in a personal best time of 18:18), Austin Lester (10th in 18:33), Spencer Olson (12th in 18:39, a personal best) and Allen Unaitis (13th in 19:07, also a personal best. Brattleboro finished second in the boys' team meet to Mount Anthony.
Hannah Reichel continues her steady improvement, as she took fourth in the girls' meet in 21:17 to lead Brattleboro to a fourth place finish in team competition. Maud Benit finished 13th in 22:44, followed by Helen Manning (25th in 24:12), Emma Straus was next (35th in 26:15) and Kayla Bailey (38th in 27:10).
Next up for the Colonels is the Division I state meet at Thetford Academy on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Rec briefs
• Rosters for women's basketball are due at the Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main St., Brattleboro, by 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5. Women's basketball pick-up scrimmages will be held on Mondays from 6-8 p.m. through Nov. 22.
• The annual Ski, Skate & Snowboard Sale, sponsored by the Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department and the Brattleboro Outing Club, will be held Saturday, Nov. 6, from 8-11 a.m., at the Gibson-Aiken Center.
Snowboards, skis, ski boots, poles, and bindings (both downhill and cross country) will be on the second floor gymnastics room. Skates, all winter sports clothing and hockey equipment will be for sale in the senior center.
People who wish to enter items in the sale must bring them to the Gibson Aiken Center on Friday, Nov. 5, between noon and 7 p.m. only. Any winter sport article can be listed for sale, but only 10 items per family will be accepted for each floor. For more information, contact the Recreation & Parks Department office at 802-254-5808 between the hours of 10 a.m. and noon and 1-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or visit www.brattleboro.org and click on “Recreation & Parks.”
Claremont tops Putney in CRVBL exhibition
The Claremont, N.H., Cardinals avenged their Sept. 12 loss to Putney with a 4-2 victory in Dummerston on Oct. 17. The game featured some very good pitching for both teams.
Claremont pitcher Mike Wells (from Thetford) went six innings allowing five hits, four walks, and one earned run while fanning four. He was relieved by Scott Christian who allowed two hits, two walks, one unearned run, struck out two and picked up the win.
Putney's Danny Lichtenfeld scattered five hits over eight innings, walking five and striking out six. He took the tough loss on three unearned runs in the eighth. Richard Bissell was perfect in one inning of relief. Gabe Pozzi had two hits, a stolen base, and scored a run for Putney.
The Connecticut River Valley Baseball League is interested in hearing from potential players, teams, and sponsors for the 2011 season. For more information visit www.crvbl.org.