-It took a bit of time for the Brattleboro Bears girls' soccer team to shake off their "bus legs" after having to wait nearly 90 minutes for their ride to show up and take them up Route 30 to Townshend on Sept. 17 to face the Leland & Gray Rebels.
Once the Bears did get warmed up, the result was a 9-1 rout of the Rebels.
Against a young Rebels squad, the Bears scored three goals in the first 20 minutes of the game and then, after the Rebels got their only goal of the game, scored six unanswered goals. Reese Croutworst led the Bears with three goals and Sadie Cheslawski added two more in a game where the victors generously spread around the playing time, especially in the second half.
Croutworst and Cheslawski gave Brattleboro a 1-2 scoring punch that few teams can counter, and if defenses contain those two players, the duo find ways to set up their teammates to score.
"They're both dangerous because they are both so fast, they're both skilled with both their feet, they can shoot with either one and so you don't see a lot of that," said Brattleboro co-coach Jay Cudworth of Croutworst and Cheslawski. "I think that's what separates the two of them. They present challenges that you don't normally see here in this part of the state when you're playing soccer and they both have a knack for being able to put it on frame."
Rebels goalkeeper Annabelle Brookes made 14 saves and did what she could to keep her team in the game. However, some of the shots that led to the Brattleboro goals were tough to stop, such as the corner kick that Croutworst perfectly placed in the goal box for Cheslawski to knock in for a 2-0 lead, or Croutworst's point-blank shot to the top left corner that made it 3-0 midway through the first half.
Leland & Gray did not give up and got back into the game on a goal by Avery Hiner with 14:19 left in the first half. Hiner came close to scoring another goal a minute later, but her shot was wide of the mark.
At that point, the Bears turned up their effort and started to pepper the Rebels goal with shots. Rose Stone finally broke through with 2:30 left in the half when she scored on a high arcing shot just out of Brookes's reach.
Brattleboro kept up the momentum in the second half. Cheslawski scored just 43 seconds in, and the Bears got another goal three minutes later to make it 6-1. The game was finished with a running clock after the five-goal mercy rule was invoked by the officials. Croutworst scored two more goals before she was moved to the back line to play defense.
"It's always good to see a position that you're not used to playing because you have a better appreciation for the position that you usually play," said Bears co-coach Ron Svec.
The Rebels bounced back from that loss with a 2-1 win over White River Valley in South Royalton on Sept. 19. After Liberta Bollman scored for WRV just 2:31 into the game, Leland & Gray shut them down the rest of the way. Sam Morse tied the game a minute later off a crossing pass from Abigail Emerson. Hiner then got the winning goal in the second half off a pass from Morse. The Rebels evened their record to 3-3-1 win with the victory.
Brattleboro lost at Burr & Burton, 3-1, on Sept. 20 to drop their record to 4-2. The Bears host Rutland on Sept. 25.
Football
• St. Johnsbury quarterback Carter Bunnell put on a show on Sept. 20 against the Brattleboro Bears at Natowich Field. Playing in his first game since an injury in the opener, Bunnell threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 156 yards and scored three more TDs as the Hilltoppers won the game, 56-21.
But the senior quarterback was not the only standout for the Hilltoppers. Parker Thompson had a 74-yard touchdown catch and, on defense, ran back an interception for a 15-yard TD. Memphis Mastine ran for 88 yards and a touchdown, Davis Palmieri had five catches for 88 yards and a touchdown, and Justin Louis recovered a fumble for a 3-yard touchdown.
This was a close game to start. Brattleboro scored on its first possession, a 65-yard drive capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by Zach Corbeil. After the Hilltoppers quickly tied the game on Thompson's touchdown grab and took the lead on Bunnell's first rushing touchdown, the Bears responded with a defensive touchdown as Hudson Smith recovered a fumble in the end zone to tie the game at 14-14 with 10:54 left in the first half.
After that, it was all Hilltoppers. Bunnell broke the tie with a 57-yard TD run, Louis recovered a fumble in the end zone following a sack of Bears quarterback Sean Cozza, Mastine scored on a 4-yard run up the middle, and Palmieri took a short screen pass from Bunnell and ran 45 yards for another TD as St. Johnsbury took a 42-14 lead at the half.
The Bears tried to get back into the game with a long drive to start the third quarter, with Donnevhan Hall powering through the line for a 3-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 42-21, but the Hilltoppers got two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a 7-yard run by Bunnell and Thompson's interception to end the game.
Cozza threw for 188 yards and had some success throwing to running back Alex Papadimitriou in the second half, but was continually harassed by the Hilltoppers defense. St. Johnsbury improved to 2-2, while Brattleboro fell to 0-4 and travels to Middlebury this Friday to take on the Tigers.
• Bellows Falls hosted the Mount Mansfield Cougars for its homecoming game on Sept. 21 at Hadley Field and put the visitors away early with a near-perfect display of power football in a 40-21 win.
The Terriers led 33-7 at halftime as they ran roughshod over the Cougars as the BF offensive line gave the backfield of running backs Carson Clark, Patrick Connors, and Joshua Streeter plenty of openings to move the ball upfield.
BF quarterback Eli Allbee threw only two passes in the first half, but one of those passes was a 39-yard strike to tight end Will Hallock late in the second quarter. The only blemishes to a nearly perfect first half were two missed extra point kicks and giving up a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the second quarter.
Allbee finished a 65-yard scoring drive on BF's first possession with a 1-yard sneak, and then returned a punt for 65 yards for the Terriers' second touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 5:59 left in the first quarter. Clark scored the first of his three touchdowns in the first half on a 2-yard run with 1:03 left in the first quarter, and got his second TD late in the second quarter on a 5-yard run. He finished his hat trick with another 5-yard run into the end zone in the final seconds of the half.
The Terriers first-team offense got its final touchdown midway through the third quarter on a 7-yard run up the middle by Streeter. With the lead at 40-7, the BF reserves took over from that point as Mount Mansfield got a pair of touchdowns that had little effect on the outcome.
Now 3-1, the Terriers travel to Fair Haven this Friday to face the undefeated Slaters in a key Division II matchup.
Boys' soccer
• Twin Valley won the John Werner Tournament in Arlington for the third consecutive year with a 4-0 victory over Arlington on Sept. 19.
The Wildcats scored all of their goals in the second half. The first one came 10 minutes in when Steven Oyer scored, set up by a free kick from Brayden Brown. The next goal came three minutes later and was also set up by Brown as Alex Sullivan took a through ball and tapped it over the goal line.
Brown got his third assist of the night with a free kick to Oyer for his second goal of the game with 23 minutes to play, and then got the Wildcats' final goal with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Twin Valley goalkeeper Kaelyn Lackey made five saves to earn the shutout win.
Oyer was named the tourney's Most Valuable Player. Twin Valley advanced to the tournament's title game with a 2-0 win over Mount St. Joseph on Sept. 17. Oyer and Sullivan were the goalscorers in that game.
• Brattleboro senior midfielder Jackson Pals scored the game-winning goal with two minutes left in regulation to give the Bears a 1-0 win over Green Mountain in Chester on Sept. 18.
Green Mountain held its own against a Division I rival, and had their fair share of scoring chances, but Bears goalkeeper Sam Bogart made seven saves to earn the shutout win. GM keeper Derek Hodgdon made 10 saves in the loss.
The Bears were then shut out twice in two days. The first one came in Manchester on Sept. 20, a 3-0 loss to Burr & Burton. The next day, the Bears traveled to Westhampton, Massachusetts to take on Hampshire Regional and lost 1-0 to drop their record to 3-4.
• Unbeaten West Rutland pounded visiting Bellows Falls, 13-1, on Sept. 17. The Golden Horde scored five goals in the first eight minutes of the game and never looked back. Peter Guay had five goals for the victors.
The Terriers then hosted Randolph on Sept. 21 and lost 10-3. After BF's Malik Gordon scored a pair of goals in the first six minutes of the game, Randolph scored six unanswered goals to take the lead to stay. Gordon scored another goal midway in the second half to cut the lead to 6-3, but Randolph then scored four more goals to finish the game. BF is now 0-7 on the season.
• Leland & Gray lost at Woodstock, 3-2, on Sept. 16. The Rebels had only 12 players available for the game as illness and injury thinned their ranks. Spencer Claussen had both of the Rebels' goals. The Rebels then faced Rivendell in the opening game of the Josh Cole Tournament at Dorsey Park in Ludlow on Sept. 20 and lost 4-1 to drop their record to 1-5.
Girls' soccer
• Twin Valley shut out Mount St. Joseph, 2-0, in the opening game of the John Werner Tournament on Sept. 17 in Arlington. Alejandra Bevilacqua and Joselyn Codogni were the Wildcats' goal scorers.
In the tourney's championship game on Sept. 20, Arlington shut out Twin Valley, 2-0. Taylor Wilkins scored both goals for Arlington, one of them off a penalty kick in the first half. Wildcats goalkeeper Kate Oyer made 14 saves in the loss. Twin Valley finished the week at 3-3.
• Bellows Falls lost to Springfield, 3-2, on Sept. 16. Ella Donahue, Macie Stagner and Ella Salisbury scored the goals for the Cosmos, who led 2-1 at the half.
The Terriers rebounded from that loss with a 4-2 win over visiting White River Valley on Sept. 21 to improve to 2-4 for the week. Abigail Nystom opened and closed the scoring for BF and Laura Kamel and Natalie Douglas each added a goal.
Field hockey
• Unbeaten Bellows Falls opened their week with a 6-0 win over visiting Rutland on Sept. 16. Veronica Moore scored three goals to lead the Terriers, with Emma Bazin adding two more and Nola Sciacca also getting a goal. Avery Maxfield had a pair of assists, and Haven Harty was also credited with an assist.
That was just the warm-up for a showdown with the Hartford Hurricanes on Sept. 19, which ended in a 3-3 tie. Madison Barwood scored all three Hartford goals, and the Hurricanes looked like they had the game won after Barwood's third goal with 2:42 left in regulation time. However, Bazin sent the game into overtime when she scored off a penalty corner just a minute later. These two top teams in Division I meet again in Westminster on Sept. 25.
BF finished the week with a 5-1 win over Otter Valley on Sept. 21 to improve their record to 5-0-1. The Terriers had a 1-0 lead at halftime and after the Otters tied the game early in the third quarter, BF scored four unanswered goals as Maxfield broke the tie, and Moore followed with three straight goals. Gracie McGinnis scored the first BF goal of the game in the opening quarter.
• Brattleboro lost to Windsor, 3-1, on Sept. 17, and lost to Fair Haven, 1-0, to fall to 1-6 on the season. Megan Wetmore scored the Bears' only goal of the game against Windsor with 7:06 to play. Bears goalie Erica Fletcher recorded four saves.
Cross country
• Brattleboro placed six boys in the top 10 to win a Southern Vermont League meet in Bennington on Sept. 19. The Bears won it with 21 points, followed by Mount Anthony with 52 and Fair Haven with 63.
Nico Conathan-Leach won the race in 17 minutes, 36 seconds, and teammate Willow Sharma was not far behind in third place in 19:45. Galen Fogarty, Malo Renault, Jonas Ackerman-Hovis, and Charlie Vaughn finished fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively, to complete the Bears' domination of the top 10. Together with the Bears' win at the Eno Invitational on Sept. 13, the Brattleboro boys are starting to come together as a force to be reckoned with in the south this season.
The Brattleboro girls did not have enough runners to record a team score in the Sept. 19 meet. Elodie Hoskins was the top Bears finisher, taking 14th place in 37:24, followed by Jada Dickey (15th) and Meredith Lewis (17th).
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 3 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Sept. 19 saw Slo Movers (14-1) go 5-0 to move into sole possession of first place. Jerry's Team (11-4) moved into second place, followed by Lucky Strikes, Spare Change, and Number 3 (all 9-6), Candi Men (7-8), Rick's Picks and Wunderkind (both 5.5-9.5), Pin Heads (4-11), and Aging Teens (2-13).
Nancy Dalzell had the women's high handicap game (262) and series (661), while Eric Brown had the men's high handicap game (307) and series (716). Jerry's Team had the high team handicap game (902) and series (2,561).
Robert Rigby had the men's high scratch series (648) with games of 237 and 215, while Chuck Adams had a 604 series with a 234 game. Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 577 series with games of 206 and 195, Gary Montgomery had a 547 series with a 192 game, Peter Deyo had a 537 series with a 201 game, Marty Adams had a 536 series with a 201 game, Brown had a 530 series with a 200 game, John Walker had a 529 series with a 193 game, and Wayne Randall had a 509 series.
Dalzell had the women's high scratch series (512) with games of 191 and 182. Carol Gloski had games of 171 and 166, and Diane Cooke rolled a 168.
Randolph T. Holhut, deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at [email protected].
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.