The Conant golf team introduced Pelham and John Stark to the humbling hills of the Shattuck Tuesday afternoon, but despite the course knocking the visitors down a few pegs, the Orioles may have played their way out of the postseason.
“We need to take care of business and then get some help as well,” said head coach Brandon Kear Tuesday, after the Orioles dropped to 6-10 on the year, hovering just outside the 10-team Division III playoff cut along with ConVal (5-11).
Conant had their chances, as undefeated No. 1 Pelham, which averages about 90 points per match, scored a 66 on the unfamiliar Jaffrey terrain. John Stark, too, scored their lowest of the season with a 44, but with several Orioles having off days, Conant ended with a 43, one point away from improving their record.
“The score doesn’t show it today,” Kear said, “but the growth amongst the kids has been a ton. Short game, thinking around the course more…the improvement has been great.”
Freshman Marcus Somero led the young Oriole team Tuesday, finishing in 46 strokes and scoring 17 team points, good for third individually in the medalist contest behind John Stark’s Kyle Provencher (18 points, 45 strokes) and Pelham’s Russ Hamel (21 points, 42 strokes).
“Marcus shot pretty well,” Kear said. “He was really the only one that came and played the way he normally does. It was a grind-it-out type of day for sure.”
Jordan Ketola was next for the Orioles with a 12 (51); the finish was below his standards and he immediately sought out Kear for the next day’s practice strategy to get his game back on track.
Francesca Ketola (8 points, 55 strokes) and Grant Ketola (6 points, 57 strokes) made up Conant scoring four.
Whether Conant makes the playoffs or not remains to be seen, but Kear said given the lack of year-round golfers and the improvement over the course of the season, his team has made the most of it.
“The fact that we’re hanging around making the playoffs is satisfying in itself,” Kear said. “We would obviously like to make playoffs, but I don’t think a lot of people had Conant making the playoffs this year, and the fact that we’re right there has said something.”
Conant has two more regular season matches: Thursday at Lebanon and Tuesday at Monadnock. If the Orioles make the cut, the Division III tournament is to be held at Laconia Country Club on Oct. 12.
Francesca Ketola will compete in the girls’ individual championship on Saturday at Campbell’s Scottish Highlands with an 8 a.m. tee time. It’s a course she was able to play last year and Kear said that familiarity could give her an edge.
“She has the layout and knows the course,” Kear said. “I think she’ll perform. Her driver and her irons are crisping up – it all depends on where she’s at short game-wise, but she’ll be all right.
Conant 2, Fall Mountain 1
An injury-ridden Conant team traveled to Fall Mountain Tuesday to play the Wildcats in a rematch of round one of last year’s tournament in which Conant bested the ‘Cats 1-0.
Fall Mountain came out with senior night energy and held Conant off until the 25th minute of the first period when Noah Mertzic crossed a ball to Jacob Sawyer for a goal. Play continued with Conant controlling the ball with Ethan Vitello and Austin Poikonen holding up the back line in front of keeper Garrett Somero.
Under the second-half lights, both teams would give up opportunities, but excellent goalkeeping kept the score 1-0 until a Fall Mountain cross made its way into the box. Michael Brooks played it out, but a deflection off Vitello sent Somero diving and allowed Fall Mountain to tap in the loose ball to even the score.
“It was an unfortunate play and I was happy to see us respond in a tightly contested game,” coach Tom Harvey said. And respond is what Conant did, controlling much of the play and keeping Fall Mountain pinned into their half. Harvey moved son Thomas up to the front line, and it paid off, as he received a ball at the 65-minute mark, got a shot and scored on the rebound off the keeper to give Conant a 2-1 lead that would hold up.
Coach Harvey said his bench stepped up and played well with four varsity starters sick or injured.
Conant (8-1-1) plays at Hillsboro-Deering Thursday and at Mascenic homecoming Saturday.
ConVal 4, Manchester West 0
The Cougars shut out the Blue Knights Tuesday on two goals from Nate Pimental and one apiece from Fletcher Maggs and Adrian Jimenez. Maggs, Ethan Kinney, Bennett Saxe and Owen Kotula had assists in the game.
Wyatt Beaulieu made three saves in the shutout.
ConVal (5-5) hosts Oyster River Saturday at 11 a.m.
WLC 4, Portsmouth Christian 1
The Warriors are still unbeaten after Tuesday’s trip to Portsmouth. At 7-0-1, WLC is currently second in Division IV, behind only Gorham (9-0).
WLC is at Sunapee Saturday afternoon.
ConVal 9, Manchester West 0
Madeline Shippee, Eva McCullough, Maddy Faber, Allison Burgess and Kendall Larson scored for the Cougars as ConVal blanked Manchester West Tuesday.
ConVal (3-5-1) hosts Hollis-Brookline Saturday at 2 p.m.
Derryfield 4, ConVal 0
ConVal played well at Derryfield, head coach Kelly Shirk said, but couldn’t break through for a goal.
There was some great passing and movement up field, Shirk said. Junior Hayden Kaltsas, senior Natalie Tremblay and sophomore Ellie Rupp each got shots on goal. Senior goalie Makenzie Anderson made 15 saves on the day.
Hanover 7, ConVal 0
ConVal held undefeated Hanover to one goal in the first half, with a single strike off a penalty corner the only marker.
“Throughout the first half, there was great passing, communication and overall play by the Cougars and they were able to possess th e ball often, and break through the Hanover defense, coach Shirk said.
Makenzie Anderson made 30 saves in the game, but Hanover was able to score six times in the second half.
“The score does not reflect the effort level and great playing from the Cougars to match that of Hanover,” Shirk said.
ConVal (2-7) hosts Pelham Friday at 4 p.m.
Mascenic 1, St. Thomas Aquinas 0
The Vikings scored the lone goal of the evening to win a close one at St. Thomas Tuesday, as Bella Knisley put the ball in from a Lexis Vautour assist.
Mascenic (5-2) hosts Conant for homecoming Saturday at 11 a.m.
Hopkinton 5, Conant 0
A tough Hawk team kept the Orioles at bay Tuesday, leaving Conant perilously close to the playoff bubble with six games remaining.
The Orioles surrendered three quick goals in the first period but played well after that, coach Jackie Brown said, adding that Natalie Lambert and Katy Weidner played well on defense and Maddie Bergeron also had a good game.
Conant (2-5) is currently in the 10th position of Division III’s 12-team playoff and will need to play well down the stretch to stay in the hunt. The Orioles have Kearsarge at home Thursday and at Mascenic homecoming Saturday.
ConVal 3, Souhegan 1
ConVal picked up another win Tuesday evening, holding off the visiting Sabers for a 3-1 win.
Emma Rodenhiser opened the match with a nine-ace serving streak to set the tone for the Cougars.
Rodenhiser ended with nine aces, eight kills, and two blocks while Molly Tyle added three kills, an ace, and two blocks; Kendall Sullivan had two aces, one kill, seven assists, and six digs. Defensively, Avery Swasey had nine successful serve receives and five digs and libero Samantha Henderson added 23 successful serve receives, three aces, and eight digs.
ConVal (2-7) is at Milford Thursday at 4:45 p.m.