Welcome to the world of college field hockey, Raegan Hickey.
The former Greenfield High School standout made the most of her long overdue collegiate debut on Saturday night. Hickey tallied her first career college goal in her first-ever contest, lifting No. 10 Stonehill College to a 1-0 victory over No. 2 East Stroudsburg University in a top 10 NCAA Division II battle at W.B. Mason Stadium in Easton.
Hickey broke a scoreless game with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation. It was an unassisted strike.
Stonehill (1-0) is right back in action with another stern test, as it hosts No. 1-ranked West Chester (Pa.) University Monday at 1 p.m.
Parker at Westfield State
If you’re one of the many backlines that former Mahar soccer player Delaney Parker weaved her way through, just know you aren’t alone.
Parker opened her collegiate career at Westfield State on Friday, scoring a hat trick and dishing an assist as the Owls beat Kean University, 4-0.
She opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before finding the back of the net twice in the second half.
The Owls battled Stockton State (N.J.) to a 0-0 draw on day two of the Cougar Classic Tournament, Saturday. Westfield will be back in action Monday, traveling to the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine for a non-conference game.
O’Sullivan, Poplawski at Westfield State
Greenfield’s Amy O’Sullivan captured the individual championship Saturday, as the Westfield State University senior won the short-course Keene Alumni Invitational to start the 2021 cross-country season.
O’Sullivan hit the tape in 11 minutes, 8 seconds over the 2-mile course.
The Owls placed fourth in the eight-team meet. Smith, Springfield and Division II Assumption completed the top three spots.
Rowe’s Grace Poplawski, a Mohawk Trail alum, took 35th in 12:36 to complete the Westfield State scoring group.
Franklin County Bulldogs
Holding a one-score lead entering the second half, two turnovers forced by a tenacious defense enabled the Franklin County Bulldogs to come away with a 21-0 victory over Ware in a Suburban League Senior Division (grades 7 and 8) football game on Sunday.
After leading 7-0 at halftime, the Bulldogs were buoyed by forced fumbles from Ronnie Stone (recovered by Levi Dunn) and Nehemiah Rice (who also recovered). Rice finished with six tackles, including two for losses, while Owen Hill (five tackles) and Beni Santiago (four) also played well.
Offensively, Rice finished with 76 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, including a 15-yard score. Gavin Arsenault had a 45-yard touchdown pass to Brody Girard, and Arsenault also added a conversion run and a conversion toss to Girard.
In other action, behind a strong offensive line, Bryce Zraunig ran for over 200 yards and scored three touchdowns to help the PeeWee Bulldogs score a decisive 40-18 victory over Ware.
Casey Burke scored two touchdowns and added a two-point conversion for the Bulldogs. Defensively, the line held strong with Xavier Woodard, JJ Bones, Wes Darling and Alden Parker combining to force four fumbles (recovering three of them).
Elsewhere, the Junior Division Bulldogs rolled past Ware, 34-0.
Cole Bassett, Mason Bassett and Joey Disciullo all scored touchdowns in the victory for Franklin County, which received standout defensive work from Dustin Reid, Hunter Parker and Carmelo Bashaw.
Western Mass. Fall League
Three pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts, as Greenfield, sponsored by Allstate Corp. and Land Solutions, notched a 5-0 victory over Granby in a Western Mass. Fall Baseball League contest Sunday at Beacon Field.
Hugh Cyhowski struck out five in three innings of work before TJ Thibeault came on and dominated for his three frames, striking out eight of the nine batters he faced. Jackson Campbell closed it out with two punchouts in a scoreless seventh.
Offensively, Jason Quinn was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored to pace the club. Tyler Podolski was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run, while Ethan Quinn (hit, RBI, run), Braeden Tsipenyuk (hit, run) and Jake Sak (hit) also contributed.
The weekend kicked off with a 9-6 win over South Hadley on Saturday at Landers Field in South Hadley, as Ethan Quinn, Jason Quinn, Podolski and Cyhowski combined f or 11 strikeouts on the mound.
Cyhowski paced the offensive outburst with three hits and four RBIs. Campbell slashed two hits and scored two runs along with an RBI, while other contributors included Jason Quinn (hit, two RBIs), Ethan Quinn (hit, RBI, three runs), Tsipenyuk (hit, two runs) and Podolski (hit).
CFC women’s club championship
Terry Boyce held off a charge from Jill Rogalski to capture the Crumpin-Fox Club Women’s Club Championship title over the weekend in Bernardston.
Boyce posted a two-day, two- round total of 175 to score low gross honors. Rogalski was just one stroke behind at 176. Low net honors went to Jill Waldron (161).