Talk about a marquee matchup to end the second week of the golf season.
“Border Battle” rivals Newburyport and Triton project to be two of the top teams in the CAL this year — if not the two best — and their first match of the year on Thursday didn’t disappoint. The two programs put together expected performances, but when the dust had settled at Rowley Country Club, it was the Clippers coming away with the 182-160 victory over the Vikings.
For the undefeated Clippers (3-0), senior Jack Oreal had a fantastic day with 37 quota points, while both Sam Luekens and Tommy Gagnon came home with 33. Meanwhile for the Vikings (2-1), the duo of Jack Gagne and Tedy Magee each had 29 pointsm while Cullen Kohan was right behind with 28.
Nice bounceback win for Amesbury golf
The Amesbury golf team didn’t stay down for too long.
Following a razor-sharp first loss of the season earlier in the week, the Redhawks rebounded on Thursday with a 157-116 win over Manchester Essex. Jack Kusler led the winning effort at Amesbury Golf Club with 30 quota points, while Nick Creps was right behind him with 29. A nice birdie on hole No. 8 helped Shawn Asselin come home with 26 points, and the team’s final pairing of twins Andrew and Nate Parsons combined for 47 points.
The Redhaws (3-1) will next travel to Rockport on Tuesday.
Port volleyball living dangerously, but wins again
Fans of Newburyport volleyball have gone through every emotion across the team’s opening two games this year.
So far, the Clippers have had a flair for the dramatic.
Newburyport once again needed five sets on Thursday night, but was able to pull out the 3-2 victory over Essex Tech (25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 19-25, 15-10). Not only have the Clippers (2-0) gone the full match distance across their opening two games, but both times they won the first two sets, only to drop the following two sets and have to dig deep and rebound in the fifth.
Gabby Vigeant finished with a 15-kill, 5-ace game against the Hawks, while Ava Bailey had 5 blocks.
Massey makes 25 saves for Amesbury
It’s safe to say that Shelby Massey did all that she could.
The junior goalie was incredible for her Amesbury field hockey team on Friday against what appears to be a dominant squad from Manchester Essex. In total Massey made a whopping 25 saves, but the Hornets still proved to be too much for the Redhawks in a 5-0 win.
And it wasn’t only Massey, but both Addy Cooper and Charlotte Kime made defensive saves as well. Lucy Nachytgal and Hope Shanahan were credited with playing strong games for the Redhawks (0-2), who will next host Essex Tech on Wednesday.
Pentucket field hockey close in two setbacks
Eventually, the Pentucket field hockey team will finish on the right side of a nailbitter.
But across the opening two games of the young season, the Panthers have unfortunately dropped a pair of one-goal decisions. They fell against North Reading early last week, 3-2, then came back on Friday and couldn’t find the back of the cage in a 1-0 loss to Essex Tech.
Agatha Quinlan (1a) and Erin Hicks scored the goals during the opener for the Panthers, who will next host rival Newburyport on Monday.