H.S. Roundup: Athol girls soccer scores twice in first half to take down Franklin Tech

A fast start propelled the Athol girls soccer team on Thursday night. 

Taking on Franklin Tech in a Bi-County League contest, the Bears put two goals in the back of the net in the first half to take a 2-0 lead at the break. From there they were able to rely on goalie Ava Adams, who stopped 17 shots in goal, to lift Athol to a 3-1 victory at O’Brien Field. 

“Well played game for our opener,” Bears coach Tim Cleveland said. “Everyone played very well. Ava Adams was great in her varsity debut as a goalie.”

Kylah Blundon got the scoring going for Athol (1-0) before Samantha Mailloux tallied a goal. Hannah Cordosa had the Bears’ second half goal, with Mailloux proving an assist. 

Anne Kolodziej scored Franklin Tech’s goal off an assist from Kyra Goodell while Kylee Gamache made five saves in the loss for the Eagles (1-1). 

Frontier 2, Holyoke 2 — The Purple Knights looked to be on their way to victory after taking a 2-1 lead in the 77th minute. 

Redhawk Jazzy Hayes had other ideas. 

Hayes scored off an assist from Carly Robertson in the 79th minute to tie the game, helping Frontier earn a tie in South Deerfield on Thursday. 

“The girls showed a lot of heart tonight,” Frontier coach Andy Rup said. 

It wasn’t the first deficit the Redhawks faced. Holyoke scored on a PK in the 46th minute but Robertson found the back of the net in the 62nd minute off an assist from Maggie McDermott-White to tie the game, 1-1. Jocelyn Antes made saves for Frontier. 

Turners 166, Pioneer 170 — Jack Day and Reese Ewell both shot a team-low 39 to lift the Thunder to a 166-170 Bi-County East victory over the Panthers at Thomas Memorial on Thursday. 

Joey Mosca (40) and Grady Deery (48) rounded out the Turners scoring.

Pioneer’s Brayden Thayer took medalist honors with a 37 while Ben Werner (41), Ethan Mauthe (46) and Hugh Cyhowski (46) rounded out the Pioneer scoring. 

Westfield 4, Turners 0 — Shea Hurley scored a pair of goals to lift the Bombers to a 4-0 Valley League victory over the Thunder in Turners on Thursday. 

Conner Herzig made 15 saves while Katelyn Connor stopped two shots in the loss. 

Northampton 4, Mahar 1 – Shea Woods tallied the goal for the Senators, which dropped their season opener in Valley League action Thurs day night in Orange.

Lillian Rathburn assisted on Woods’ goal, which came in the second quarter and tied the game 1-1 going into halftime. Goalie Zoey Woodard made 10 saves in net for Mahar (0-1).

Boys soccer

Frontier 6, Lenox 1 — The defending Western Mass. Class C champions kicked off their 2023 campaign in style, scoring three goals in each half to defeat the Millionaires, 6-1, in a Moriarty League contest in Lenox on Wednesday. 

Nico Fasulo tallied twice in the opening 23 minutes of the game while Rosco Palmer found the  back of the net in the 16th minute. Aidan Valderrama scored in the 51st minute, Chanhee Son made a penalty kick five minutes later before Fasulo completed his hat trick in the 77th minute. 

Son dished three assists while Ian Paciorek and Gus Radner also tallied an assist for Frontier. Owen Babb and Jack Cusson each made a save in the win.