X-C season begins

FALLS VILLAGE — The Housatonic Mountaineers cross-country team, coached by Letitia Garcia-Tripp, opened their season on Sept. 11 on the road at Nonnewaug. 

The boys lost 34-21. Jace Tomaino finished sixth and Shane Stampfle finished seventh. 

The girls lost 43-16. Brooke Stampfle finished fifth; Sammantha Starr finished eighth; Charlotte Clulow finished ninth and Natalie Nestler finished 10th.

On Sept. 11, the varsity girls soccer team lost their away game to Litchfield, 4-3. The JV team tied Litchfield, 4-4. Abby Coolbeth scored two goals and MacKenzie Ongley and Emma Walsh each scored one. Walsh had six saves in goal and Kaylie Anderson had three.

The varsity boys soccer team lost 4-0 to Litchfield. Caleb Shpur had 12 saves in goal.The JV boys soccer team won 3-1 against Litchfield. Noah Lynehan, Daniel Zapata-Bonett and Alex Lopes scored one goal each. Goalie Jacob Sheltra had fives saves.

Fall action continued on Sept. 14 with both the girls and boys varsity soccer teams playing at home due to field conditions at Wamogo. The JV boys game was postponed. Wamogo does not have a JV girls team. 

The girls won their home opener 6-0. The goals were shared among six players: Genevieve Bushey, Abby Dodge, Alexis Galgano, Josie Horosky, Sydney Segalla and Aliza Luminati. The boys team won 2-1 versus Wamogo. Matthew Lopes and Zach Ongley each recorded a goal with Lucas Calhoun getting an assist. Jack McAuliffe had three saves in goal. 

Both varsity and JV volleyball lost to Terryville. Kadie Ford had two aces and Elle Raftery had one kill in the JV match. Maddie Olownia and Anna Coon had one ace each in the varsity match.

The MCW United Football team traveled to Bullard Havens on Sept. 15. Nick Guida (OWTS) rushed for a touchdown. Ethan Galinski (OWTS) ran for a touchdown after intercepting the ball. Max Dodge (Housatonic) ran for a touchdown on a pass from Chris Speaker (OWTS). Vincent Vallilo (OWTS) recovered the ball after a fumble. The team lost 49-18.

The next week started with the JV squad of the MCW United Football team recording its first win of the season, on Sept.17. The team won 18-6 against Bullard Havens. Max Dodge (Housatonic) rushed for a touchdown and completed two two-point conversions. Vincent Valillo (OWTS) rushed for the second touchdown. A strong defense forced a safety, contributing to the win.

Once again the weather played an important role in Mountaineer Athletics. Thanks to Hurricane Florence, the varsity girls soccer game and the cross-country meet scheduled for Sept. 18 were postponed to later in the week. Volleyball faced Nonnewaug. Both the JV and varsity lost in three straight sets. Varsity boys soccer won against Terryville 1-0. Lucas Calhoun scored the goal on a pass from Luke Mollica. Caleb Shpur recorded seven saves in goal. The JV boys soccer also won against Terryville 7-1. Ivan Pascasio (1), Joey Brennan (1), Ryan Dorn (1), Daniel Zapata Bonett (1), Shea Cohn (1) and Jack Wayne (2) contributed goals for the win. Russell Sears had two saves and Jacob Sheltra had three saves in goal.

On Sept. 20, the varsity girls faced Terryville on the road. The team won 6-0. The JV girls team did not play because Terryville does not have a JV girls team. 

The cross-country team ran against powerhouse Shepaug. The girls team lost 42-18 with Brooke Stampfle coming in fourth, Sammantha Starr sixth and Charlotte Clulow finishing ninth. The boys team lost 50-15 with Shane Stampfle finishing eighth, Jace Tomaino ninth and Anthony Fenn 10th. Though the teams lost, all the runners improved upon their times. Volleyball faced out-of-league New Fairfield. Even though both teams lost in straight sets, the games were close and the teams were well-matched.

Almost all the Mountaineer teams were playing on Sept. 21. Volleyball faced Northwestern at home. Varsity lost 0-3 and JV lost 0-2. Varsity girls soccer improved their record to 4-1 with a win on the road against Thomaston. Goals were scored by Alexis Galgano (2), Genevieve Bushey (2), Josie Horosky (2) and Sydney Segalla (1). Maggie Bickford had three saves and MacKenzie Hunter had one save in goal. 

The varsity boys soccer team faced Thomaston at home. Varsity continued their winning streak with a 1-0 victory on a shot from Matt Lopes. Caleb Shpur had four saves in goal. Both JV soccer teams did not have games. 

The MCW United Football team traveled to MIddletown to face the co-op team of Vinal/Goodwin/Whitney. The team lost 46-13. Max Dodge (Housatonic) rushed for a touchdown. Ethan Galinski (OWTS) scored the extra point. Cade Gwinn (OWTS) scored a touchdown on the pass from Chris Speaker (OWTS). Nick Guida (OWTS) had a fumble recovery. 

The cross-country team competed in the Camp Sloper Relays. This unique cross meet features divisions for two-person and four-person relays, including boys only, girls only and co-ed relay teams. Each relay leg is approximately 1.5 miles. The co-ed team of Brooke Stampfle, Shane Stampfle, Anthony Fenn and Easton Murphy finished fourth.

For complete and up-to-date athletic schedules, go to the Weekly Athletic Schedules located on the Announcements tab at www.hvrhs.org.

Anne MacNeil is high school athletic director and middle school athletic coordinator for Housatonic Valley Regional High School and the Region One School District.